Movie Review: The Accountant


Based on its trailer, I had been looking forward to seeing The Accountant, and the film is definitely worth watching; with a cast of Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons, Anna Kendrick, and Jon Bernthal, though, that's not entirely surprising.

Christian Wolff (Affleck) has struggled with autism his whole life. As a child, he was put through training so that he could interact normally with the world, and as an adult, he continues to put himself through that same training. On the outside, he works as a freelance accountant, but in reality, he works as an accountant for dangerous men, such as the mob, and gets paid very well, both in cash and "in-kind payments," such as expensive paintings. When a company that is about to take itself public hires him to find out why approximately $60M is missing from its books, he meets Dana (Kendrick), and soon finds out that they're both in danger, based on the information they know about the missing money.

I forgot to mention more of the cast here: John Lithgow, as the head of the company that hires Affleck's character; Jeffrey Tambor; and Jean Smart, as Lithgow's sister, who also helps run the company. Cynthia Addai-Robinson also does well here, as a government agent whom Simmons's character blackmails in to helping find Affleck's character, and J.K. Simmons, as her "boss" of sorts, is also very good in the movie.

Yes, see this movie. It probably deserves 4 out of 5 stars, but it was a little slow throughout, and also could have been shortened a bit; its runtime is 2 hours and 8 minutes. There's a twist at the end that I didn't see coming - I did guess it, but with the wrong character, actually - and that was pretty interesting too. This is a different sort of role for Affleck, and he plays it well; I'll be curious to see if he gets any award nominations for it.

The Accountant is in theaters today, October 14th, and is rated R with a runtime of 128 minutes. 3.5 stars out of 5.

Popular Posts

Review: Polar Pizza at Baskin-Robbins

Upcoming and GIVEAWAY: MJ the Musical, Oct. 23–Nov. 3, Fisher Theatre, Detroit {ends 7/8}

GIVEAWAY: Duel in the D, February 10 at Little Caesars Arena, Detroit {ends 1/10}