‘The Accountant:’ Hard-Hitting Action, a Good Ben Affleck, and Deference Towards Neurodivergence

Released in 2016, “The Accountant” feels like it was filmed for a different time. Although it wasn’t. It’s a hard-hitting action movie, with Ben Affleck—best of late known for award-garnering directorial pictures—doing his best Jason Bourne. He equals it really, remarkable given he and Matt Damon blasted into the spotlight with their emotional “Good Will Hunting.” But what’s intriguing about “The Accountant” is what should have been a dime-a-dozen action/thriller becomes something more by infusing dolor and introspection into a film replete with themes of trauma, loyalty, and familial love. 

“The Accountant” is also right for the time. It features a rather bloody opening. A den of mob types has been assassinated, and Director Gavin O’Connor and Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey infuse con-fuddling elements that keep you guessing. But the film also starts in an odd way, highlighting parents (Robert C. Trevelier, Mary Kraft) trying to raise an Autistic child alongside a ‘normal’ neurotypical brother in what looks like the ‘80s, when Autism Spectrum Disorder wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Mom is mostly awol and dad is militant (he’s in the military, after all). He thinks he can fix his son, Christian’s, disorder with tough parenting. A neurologist (an excellent Jason Davis) tries to sell them on not viewing their son as disabled, but different. And while such terms are commonplace modernly, this was a different time. In time, mom leaves and dad militarizes his kids, trauma be damned. 

Just an Accountant?

The film juxtaposes these proceedings—Christian and his brother, Draxton as kids—with Christian as an adult. He’s an accountant, and is fantastic with numbers and the angles. In the opening scenes he helps an about-to-be-bankrupt farmer save his property by creating tax deductions out of thin air. The farmer invites him to their house for Chris to practice his pastime—shooting—and balks at him hitting mile-out targets with ease. For an action/thriller, however, what interested me was O’Connor and Writer Bill Dubuque’s attempts to normalize and empathize with neurodivergence. I’m not sure if they nailed it fully, but there’s more awareness and truth to this film than “Rain Man” or the bizarre “Roman J. Israel Esq.,” and this is an actioner, not an Oscar-seeking drama. 

The film introduces people we grow to like, such as J.K Simmons, playing an integral Federal director, Anna Kendrick playing an accountant who discovered a grievous error in a robotics firm’s books, and Jon Bernthal as a hitman who seems to have a soft spot for teaching bad guys lessons. All three are very likable—despite some of their less colorful sides (save Kendrick, who’s a saint)—and add to the film in unlikely ways. Simmons is his usual immovable force, but more good than bad. And while Bernthal is very bad, he still makes you like him regardless. He’s not the moral Punisher here, but a man who does what he’s paid to do… kill and intimidate people. His connection with Christian is teased throughout but taken long to reveal. It’s success is it takes at least half the film to see it coming. Alongside these, a Treasury analyst with a past (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) propels the plot along, and has some nice scenes with Simmons later on. 

Empathy for Autism is Palpable

But the treat here is Affleck, who infuses an immovable quality, much more stoic than Jason Bourne. He’s playing a textbook version of Autism here: he dislikes eye contact, has trouble reading social cues, has the savantism of a photographic memory (savantism is actually very rare), and delivers all his lines in near monotone. I don’t think he raises his voice once in the entire movie. He shows excitement—just once—as he discovers the scope of the financial fraud in the company he’s hired to investigate. Christian wants Kendrick’s Dana Cummings to share his glee, but it’s over her head. He went though 15 years of financial history in one night, and is in a league of his own. But the exciting thing about Affleck here is we like him. His math and his combat skills (he’s basically a Navy SEAL) are cool and emotionless. His one emotional admittance to Kendrick at the film’s midway point is even calm and steady. He cares about her, though. We glean this through conversations with his handler—a mere voice on a telephone—which O’Connor and Dubuque make us think, wrongly, is AI—and looks in his eyes which Affleck handles with perfection. 

What also works about “The Accountant” is it focuses on Christian’s awakening—alongside the forces trying to bring him down—with excitement and tense action. His combat takedowns and kills are high-skill. However, he doesn’t perform them with the detachment of Chris Hemsworth in “Extraction” or the fear-induced blindness of Jason Bourne. The things he does are out of necessity. However, some of that necessity comes from putting himself in situations he ought not to, and the reason for that is his protective nature toward Dana Cummings, his trade, and concern for others. “You don’t seem happy to see me,” a kindred character says at one point. When Christian insists that he does, we glimpse he’s telling the truth, but it’s not something others can see. 

Along with Top-Notch Action

But what works most about “The Accountant” is it balances these themes with action like the aforementioned movies (“The Bourne Identity,” “Extraction”), but the action isn’t the point of the film. It occurs despite it, as an afterthought. Christina Wolff doesn’t think he’s cool, and his violence is not something he gets off on. It’s a reflex, like catching a glass falling off a table, or avoiding ice on a winter walk. And it works. While the other players are fun (especially Kendrick, who—alongside last year’s “Woman of the Hour” is cementing herself as an unforgettable talent), Affleck is the most fun to watch. And along the way the film’s treatment of neurodivergence is deferential, and does much to garner empathy for the condition along the way. 

I’ll be honest—“The Accountant” escaped my attention when it came out in 2016. I probably thought it was a boring financial movie or something of the sorts. The release of the trailer for “The Accountant 2”—9 years later—made me want to watch it. It’s a mixed bag, but it’s tight. The direction, acting, focus, and scope are very much like Christian Wolff. It makes me excited to see Part 2 this April. And if you’re looking for an action/thriller that’s smarter and better than it ought to be, “The Accountant”—now streaming—is as good a bet as any.