This was taped in the same block of HBO programming as Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and The Simpsons Movie on July 23rd, 2017. Ben Affleck stars as the titular accountant assigned to audit a giant robotics conglomerate. He has autism which he has overcome thanks to his father’s intense military education, which includes forcing him into Ninja training at a young age. When the owner of the company is murdered, Affleck looks for answers (no pun intended). Soon, he finds himself on the run when some mysterious men in black come looking for him. Little do they know this accountant is basically The Punisher with a pocket protector.
You know, it’s kind of funny to compare this to Good Will Hunting in which Affleck’s buddy Matt Damon played another math savant. Both characters have awkward social interactions with women and spend a lot of time writing big ass math problems on the wall. You can see how different Affleck is from Damon though because you can almost hear him saying, “I wanna play a math whiz like Matt, except, you know… maybe I can kill a lot of people? Ooh! And can I have a Batman-style origin story too?”
The Accountant has a dreadfully dumb premise, but it could’ve been enjoyable if it wasn’t so dead serious about it. Think Rambo Meets Rain Man. However, director Gavin (Miracle) O’Connor treats the autism angle so sensitively that the movie never once becomes fun.
Affleck is OK in the lead role, but since we can never quite buy his performance, it makes the goofy premise a hard sell. The supporting cast is a bit of a mixed bag too. Anna Kendrick is annoying as his nerdy accounting sidekick, Jon Bernthal and John Lithgow are pretty much wasted as the villains, and J.K. Simmons is tasked with the thankless role of the Fed on the case. His scenes are most expendable, and his longwinded flashback scene late in the game is pretty much the final nail in the coffin for the movie.
The first hour or so isn’t much better as it heavily involves a lot of math. Not the most cinematic of activities to be sure. Once Affleck and Kendrick go on the run, things improve slightly. It’s here where the movie kind of feels like an updated variation on the old ‘70s political thriller, but with a 21st century paintjob. Too bad the action is lackluster, and the twist ending is predictable.
If The Accountant wanted to be a memorable experience, it would’ve went whole hog on the nuttiness that it only hints at. We needed less math solving and more autistic Ninjas. I can understand why they held back though because nobody wants protest groups banning the movie for insensitively portraying people who are differently abled. It’s just that when you mix such an odd premise with an overly serious tone, nothing ever… ahem… adds up.
AKA: Auditor. AKA: Mr. Wolff. AKA: The Consultant.
I disagree, as someone with autism I did find this film quite fun and I thought the action was quite well done, I thought Kendrick was good and annot annoying in the least and I bought Affleck's performance no problem.
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