Epic paradoxes like
The Accountant don't come down the Hollywood pipeline too often, but when they do it's a glorious occasion for fans of overwhelming irony everywhere. The titular accountant (Ben Affleck) is an autistic math wizard/covert military-trained assassin that is hired by criminal organizations to "uncook the books" and figure who or what is responsible for their lost funds. However, the movie surrounding this mathematical prodigy seems to have been constructed by a braindead teenager with a severe case of ADHD. Screenwriter Bill Dubuque (
The Judge) is content with introducing a whole bunch of supporting characters (J.K. Simmons' U.S. treasury agent, Anna Kendrick's love interest/unintentional sidekick, Jon Bernthal's rival hitman) and subplots that are either not fleshed out or completely inconsequential for a majority of the film. Thanks to the plot twists revealed in the last 20 minutes of the film, all of the poorly-conceived storylines suddenly collide and yield an avalanche of mind-numbingly absurd resolutions that was more than enough to conjure up an extended expletive-filled rant as soon as I exited the theater. These types of narrative contrivances and gaps in logic usually don't bother me, but when a film is as stone-serious and plot-driven as
The Accountant, it's impossible for me to not get frustrated by them.
Labuque's gross incompetence is salvaged by the force of Ben Affleck's performance. Affleck is convincing as both the man whose autism and rough upbringing have left him completely disconnected from the world and the ruthless assassin who can dismantle a team of skilled mercenaries without batting an eyelash. Between this and
Batman v. Superman:
Dawn of Justice, 2016 deserves to go down as the year Affleck overcame shitty scripts to deliver a pair of terrific, layered performances. While its narrative flaws are crippling, the quality of the acting and the fight scenes are just enough to make
The Accountant a passable autumn thriller.
3/5 Stars
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