Review by Siobhán Rich for Mr. Will Wong
This weekend I want you to go see a movie starring Ben Affleck as a brilliant, rich martial arts expert with a strong moral code. His character is handy with any weapon from a Gatling gun to a leather belt, has a secret identity, and despite always saying the wrong thing women still desire him. Before you don your cowl and utility belt I should probably mention that Affleck plays an autistic accountant in this Gavin O’Connor directed Film and not the Caped Crusader.
Using skills he learned in prison from fellow inmate Francis Silverberg (Jeffrey Tambor), Christian Wolff (Affleck) is a master of black money and the accountant crime families around the world turn to when they need to the track the money they’ve spent decades laundering. In an attempt to lay low for a while, Wolff decides to take Lamar Black (John Lithgow) as a legitimate client. Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick at her adorkable best), a low level accountant at Black’s Living Robotics, has been tasked with assisting Wolff as a reward for finding the discrepancy in the company’s books. Meanwhile, Wolff is being systematically hunted by both the Treasury Department (headed by J.K. Simmons) and Jon Bernthal’s mysterious assassin.
Screenwriter Bill Dubuque (TIFF ’14’s The Judge) relies heavily on flashbacks to explain Wolff’s many talents. After all, most accountants aren’t as familiar with the tax code as they are Indonesian martial arts. The lamentably predictable third act twists are curiously played for humour in an otherwise straight action/drama.
It is hard to spin a number crunching, Action Comics-obsessed, art lover as a viable action hero but The Accountant does just that. Continuing 2016’s trend as the Year of the Antihero, the Movie convinces the audience to cheer Affleck for surviving his tough love childhood rather than focus on his questionable clients or high body count. Christian Wolff is not a bad man but rather one who copes with life differently than most moviegoers are used to seeing.
Director Gavin O’Connor sustains the brisk pace of the Movie never allowing the audience time to realize he has made them watch a two-hour action movie about filing taxes. On behalf of CPAs everywhere who wish they were superheroes go see The Accountant this weekend.
Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release THE ACCOUNTANT on Friday, October 14, 2016.
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