by Frank Calvillo
There’s a sequence that takes place midway through The Accountant, in which Ben Affleck’s character races through Chicago in order to take out four armed assassins in a loft apartment before they take him out first. During the sequence, the thing that caught my eye most of all was the fact that Affleck was wearing the same shirt I have at home — a blue and grey checkered flannel from Banana Republic that, while on me looks hipster, makes Affleck appear refined. If this mention appears trivial, it’s because it is. Yet, it was that minute detail that lingered in my mind from the entire set piece, which is just one of a handful serviceably executed, if unspectacular, action sequences that takes place throughout this jumbled and bloated unengaging mess of a film.
Director-for-hire Gavin O’Connor helms The Accountant, the tale of an autistic man calling himself Christian Wolff (Affleck), whose penchant for numbers has made him one of the most secretive and sought after forensic accountants in the world with his clients ranging from Italian gangsters to high-powered businessmen. Because of the dangerous nature of some of his clients, Christian is forced to change his identity from time to time and enjoy a little Jason Bourne action when certain associates of his clients come looking for him.
The main problem with The Accountant is the fact that its overpacked script tries to fit in a number of movies into one. It would have been enough to fashion a cohesive film just from the story of Christian’s life. But The Accountant stupidly dares to go even further by inserting a wannabe love story involving Anna Kendrick as an in-house accountant of one of Christian’s clients, a family drama (with a surprise twist that feels both obvious and preposterous), a tale involving an admittedly entertaining hitman hired to kill Christian (Jon Bernthal), and an FBI procedural involving J.K. Simmons and Cynthia Addai-Robinson, a storyline which would work in most any other context but feels awkwardly inserted here. All of this is anchored by a finale which piles on mindless revelation after mindless revelation until the final credits (thankfully) appear.
The Accountant is never at its worst, however, than when it tries to function as a comedy. Yes, with everything I’ve just described above, the film has the gall to ask us to laugh at the dark and dreary quality of the story. With nearly every laugh coming courtesy of Christian’s condition and the other characters’ stupefying cluelessness to recognize it, there’s nothing but one awkward moment after another as the script seems hell bent on having the audience laugh at the traits of an autistic person. Personally, seeing an autistic person tends to draw emotions such as empathy and understanding from me. The last thing I would ever do is laugh at the fact that they are uncomfortable with making direct eye contact or sitting too close to me.
I’m sorry to say that Affleck is not at his best in The Accountant. This isn’t his fault, but rather that of the screenplay, which is dead set on not developing Christian beyond tics, habits, and tastes. Most cite this as giving a character mystery, when really it’s just lazy characterization. Thankfully, the rest of the actors score across the board with Simmons, Kendrick, Bernthal, and Addai-Robinson inhabiting their characters, breathing life into them, and, by extension, the otherwise joyless film.
Apart from the acting, The Accountant suffers from virtually every type of misstep a movie of its caliber could take. At one point, the film seems to be trying to redeem itself by showing a scene between Christian and Dana (Kendrick) in which the latter is describing a time in high school when she went to great lengths to feel confident and noticed. It’s an honest and telling moment in which Christian recognizes this as a crucial life-affirming instance in Dana’s life. In a rare moment, Christian finds himself able to connect with another person on a purely human level. Unfortunately, its also pretty much the only time The Accountant is able to connect with us.
