Review of The Accountant (2016) by Spangle — 19 Feb 2017

If I were Gavin O'Connor, I would get down on my knees everyday and thank the good Lord that He allowed me to make Warrior. For if it were not for Warrior, he would be one of the most bland and consistently average directors working in Hollywood today. His resume is also bolstered when viewed alongside that of Peter Berg or David Ayer. That said, The Accountant is just fine. It is a modern day action thriller that screams of O'Connor having finished a viewing of Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive and thought to himself, "What if the whole movie had the level of tension of the opening heist in that film and my autistic assassin actually talked a bit?" The end result is The Accountant, a film that passes the test and delivers good entertainment, but is hardly brilliant and is maligned by major problems. In essence, this is not a film requiring a forensic accountant. Anybody can plainly see the faults lying beneath the heart of this film.

To the film's credit, however, it is incredibly thrilling. The action is modern and stylish. It is silent, precise, and well-choreographed. Ben Affleck's Christian Wolff is autistic and a savant when it comes to accounting and putting a bullet between a man's eyes. As a result, the kills are thrilling and simply cool. For action junkies or the general public that is merely looking for a good action thriller, The Accountant more than delivers. It is no surprise it has become a champion of the people and made a lot of money at the box office. For a bloody action thriller, it is palatable and easy to digest. It does not entertain a higher purpose beyond advocating for people with autism. It is smart, well-plotted, and delivers the goods when it comes to action and thrills. O'Connor may not be a good director, but he knows his way around an action sequence and shows it here. With constant one-liners and a distant hero that is against the system, comparisons to old school 1980s action movies are incredibly fair. Wolff goes about his business professionally and without fanfare. It is all a matter of fact. He is an easy killer to support because he kills bad men out for themselves, while seeking revenge for those they harm. In essence, he fights for the common man, real salt of the Earth people, and loves his family. The only thing separating him from the average American is he has autism and kills people with precision.

Sadly, the film is maligned with odd transactions. To the film's debit, it is incredibly contrived. Introducing us to federal agent Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), she is threatened with being thrown into jail for lying on her applicatio if she does not find the accountant's true identity within a month by boss Raymond King (J.K. Simmons). Throughout the film, we see her figure out information on Wolff, following mere plot coincidences and contrivances. The most egregious being when she is searching for men that fit her suspect's description and randomly selects a man who does not meet the description, looks into his business, and all the businesses in the same plaza. Slowly, she realizes it is her man: the accountant. How convenient. With no evidence pointing to that fact until the hand of God guides her down the right path, Medina find her man. But oh wait, she did not need to. King knew it all because he had been in contact with the accountant forever, tracked him before, and could seemingly care less who he is and what he does, in spite of pretending to care earlier in the film. It is as if O'Connor changed his mind halfway through and decided that King should work with Wolff, not against him. Ignoring how cliche that is, it is a convenient way to avoid conflict between the government and Wolff, which would make him a bad guy in the eyes of the same general public audience the film was trying to appeal to throughout. Sadly, the fact that the investigation by Medina was pointless, all of the treasury department scenes are useless. Neither King nor Medina add anything to the film beyond another character and supposed depth. In reality, it is bloat, highlighting how overlong this mindless action thriller truly is.

The film punishes the audience further with useless melodrama and backstory on Christian. Used to show how good of a person he is and how important family is to him, the scenes honestly go nowhere. From his mother's funeral, training, and reuniting with his brother, the whole thing is so contrived and oddly manipulative. Once more, it contributes to the film's bloat, not adding depth. The scenes feel useless and exposition heavy for a film that demonstrates its willingness to use its typically silent protagonist as an exposition machine when the plot demands some explanation. Sadly, despite all the bloat, O'Connor never found a use for Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick). Why get Anna Kendrick if all she is there for is to look good and say some bad lines that are going to be used in the trailer? She never even kisses Affleck in the film.