Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is many things; An accountant who works for unscrupulous clients unravelling impossibly complex financial books in incredibly quick times, a trained killer, and a highly functioning autistic person with specific routines to manage his condition. 

Nine years on from The Accountant’s original release it is time to reassess my thoughts, especially as the sequel is very nearly upon us. I had misgivings on its original release and I will include a photograph of my original hand written review below. But let’s talk about how The Accountant stacks up now. 

The film announces itself as a puzzle twice before slowly revealing its pieces to you. We see a young autistic boy completing a puzzle with its picture side facing downward. And we hear Treasury Agent Ray King (J. K. Simmons) ask his protege, “Do you like puzzles?”. There are two story threads that will slowly join together with the aid of flashbacks and one puzzle piece that I did not like nine years ago and do not like now! 

Wolfe has been hired by Living Robotics CEO Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow) to review some irregularities in his books. But what Wolff finds leads to the deaths of senior members of the company and him having to defend the life of Living Robotics employee Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) who first uncovered the irregularities. Alongside this plot line Ray King is putting young agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) through her paces as they slowly follow a thread that leads to Wolfe (or one of his many aliases). And slowly joining the two together are a series of flashbacks outlining Wolfe’s childhood with his militaristic father and brother. 

Overall the film is fascinating… but it has issues that are puzzling in how much they prevent me from being able to wholeheartedly recommend it. 

Let’s start with those issues first…

The Accountant regularly tries to explain and discuss autism in its different forms and is clearly sympathetic towards them. But our protagonist has what can only be described as Hollywood autism. An affliction that makes Wolff almost like a superhero. Capable of impossible precision in both financial accounting and militaristic special operations. This never stopped the likes of Rain Man being a special film, but it feels at odds with the occasional serious efforts at talking about autism dotted throughout the film. 

The film features a cavalcade of superb character actors doing superb jobs. But one of those in Anna Kendrick is done a disservice by placing her in a slightly undercooked storyline. It feels as though she was originally going to be a romantic entanglement before they realised this did not suit, they give her lines about a family member with autism making her recognise his symptoms and otherwise have her play an awkward accountant, but different to Wolff. Kendrick still does well but the whole subplot feels slightly off. 

And finally there is a connection between J. K. Simmons’ character and Ben Affleck’s character revealed near the end that is the plot puzzle piece I have never really enjoyed. 

Aside from these clunky points The Accountant is incredibly interesting as a more thoughtful action movie. It contains both a financial puzzle that has betrayal and intrigue and features some rather excellent action sequences. These sequences are sparse but clinical and concise just like the film’s protagonist featuring both hand to hand and shooting combat. 

Affleck does a good job as well playing the less verbose lead and it’s clear that he has a good working relationship with director Gavin O’Connor. O’Connor has only made one other film between this film and its sequel which also happens to star Affleck – the rather good The Way Back (2020). 

But perhaps the film’s biggest boon is its array of supporting characters. Jeffery Tambor plays a white collar criminal who teaches everything Wolfe needs to know about cooking books. John Lithgow plays a seemingly benevolent robotics business owner. Jon Bernthal is Wolff’s estranged brother who was trained in the same military skills as Wolff. And J. K. Simmons plays perhaps the film’s most relatable character in the world weary treasury agent. All of them giving the whole thing a huge amount of colour and intrigue. 

It may not always work, but The Accountant is good at a number of things whilst having some intriguing flaws. I am looking forward to finding out whether the sequel takes similar risks or just wants to cash in on an action movie follow up.