A high-stake thriller with an interesting premise. If you learn one thing from the film it’s that you never should bully the autistic kid!
Christian Wolff (Affleck) is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (J.K. Simmons), starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk (Anna Kendrick) has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise. (Warner Bros.)
Gavin O’Connor (“Miracle,” “Pride and Glory,” “Warrior”) always directs heavy family drama’s with a twist. “The Accountant” fits right in his wheelhouse. But the film is more a mainstream Hollywood thriller than his other features and will be more accessible thanks to the action and the suspense. O’Connor gives with his dramatic tone and depth another dimension to this film which could have been a very simple action film. This elevate “The Accountant” to become a very entertaining and intelligent action thriller except for the end twist which seems far-fetched.
The acting in the film is impressive with a sublime cast led by Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air,” “Pitch Perfect”), Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash,” the “Spider-Man” films), Jon Bernthal (“Fury,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (“Star Trek: Into Darkness”, TV show: “Arrow”), Jeffrey Tambor (TV’s “Transparent,” “The Hangover” films) and John Lithgow (“Interstellar,” “Terms of Endearment,” “The World According to Garp”).