Ben Affleck proves that being different has its advantages, in Gavin O Connor’s newest picture “The Accountant”. Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (J.K Simmons), starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian un-cooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise. The movie also stars Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow. It is rated R for strong violence and adult language throughout.

“The Accountant” surprisingly served as a practice run for Affleck with his upcoming role directing and starring in the next Batman film. I say that because I was quite astonished at just how similarly structured that this movie is to a superhero saga. We’ve got a troubled child seeking solutions to the very problems that plague his everyday experiences, an origins story on how said child trains to become the tough and gritty superhero who he desires to be, and a step-by-step telling of the boy’s history that feels very in-sync with that of a Netflix Marvel television series, and that’s exactly what we have here. Because of this and the fact that I’ve seen every Netflix superhero series to date, everything felt very predictable, especially in a third act plot twist that I happily called halfway into the movie. For a movie with so many contrasting directions in tone, what this movie really comes down to is a by-the-numbers dramatic piece with some energetic scenes of action sprinkled in between to keep the audience at bay. It doesn’t always mesh well together, and can sometimes come off as feeling desperate to satisfy every audience equally. That’s not to say that I didn’t have fun with this movie. I feel like O’Connor is always someone whose visual spectacle certainly paints a picture in so much more than just story, and because of that, there’s plenty of ways to make up a so-so story with subtle artistic symbolism.

When you compare this movie to O’Connor’s earlier prized piece “Warrior”, you start to see the similarities that he uses to paint a cold and empty world for the protagonists of each respective film. Here, we soak in a very pale and colorless backdrop because it is quite representing to Christian’s demeanor and that quiet that envelopes him like a suffocating cloud. There’s much to be said about the set pieces of Christian’s own house, mainly in the rooms being portrayed as a metaphor for that of everything missing in his life. We see no pictures or distinguishing personality that ever nails down that someone actually lives there, and instead a place of peace serves more as a panic room for this enigmatic character. Gavin’s practicality here is a little obvious, but it does add some artistic merit to an otherwise formulaic action movie.

The storytelling is creative, mainly in that it dabbles in back-and-forth transitions to take its time with such a concentrated story. We get many fine examples of Christian as a child, and very much like his desire to solve puzzles, we get start to break down this boy piece-by-piece until we see the bigger picture. I greatly enjoy this aspect of structure when a movie can do this, even more so here because those scenes will only make sense when you conjure up what you’ve learned to this point. It certainly adds a necessary measure to pay attention and soak up everything that you are presented in this two hour offering, because to miss one thing is to be lost without a compass. Some subplots are kind of mentioned once and never again for an abundance of screen time, and I did feel like there were better ways to measure out the usage between each goal in character development. For instance, there’s a kind of out of nowhere romance between Affleck and Kendrick’s characters, but it’s usage should only be at superficial levels. The idea is to slowly show Christian coming out of his shell. I wasn’t in favor of their on-going subplot turning into cute levels of bonding because it did kind of create a jaded affair of tone contrivances that don’t go much further. These subplots don’t have much gas in the tank to last for the whole movie, and are carelessly dropped, lacking meaningful definition in the first place.

The fight scenes and action are electric and carefully deposited, therefore pushing the pacing a little further with the story when used sparsely. The choreography is magnetic, often keeping you glued to the screen for what transpires in the shadows. The Mixed Martial Arts style of hand-to-hand combat communicated in so many actions that these characters are all brilliantly trained in their instruments of destruction, and it made for an equally riveting ground attack to go with the live rounds of ammunition that served as the appetizer for the bloodier main course. I was trembling in my seat due to the unapologetic nature that some of these graphic scenes depicted their brutal intentions. The sound editing/mixing here is enthralling, firing off round after round of impactful carnage that blows apart anything in the way of the gun.

As for the performances, we get a wonderful Grade-A cast that all get their time to equally shine. Affleck’s comeback over the last few years continues with a new side to the charismatic actor. We rarely get to see action Affleck, and what’s most compelling about his turn as Wolff is that he has to play it mostly hushed. Not many actors can pull off a character who you hang onto every word, let alone action, but Affleck here captivated with so much bravado that really provided a human shield to the very non-conventional things we were seeing for a character with his traits. J.K Simmons once again makes the most of what little time he is given. Perhaps my favorite part of the movie is when we find out early in the third act his character’s motivations for undertaking this case. Simmons has that earnest delivery that graced the silver screen during the golden age of cinema. He manages to come across as arrogant, yet commanding in each line of delivery that prove he is one of the Hollywood’s very best weapons today. Jon Bernthal also savagely stimulates as an off-example of his Punisher portrayal. Bernthal easily slimes his way under your skin, but there’s so much to like about a man who can look badass while devouring a slice of Lemon Meringue Pie that he stole from a victim’s fridge. The chemistry between he and Affleck make for a satisfying-yet-predictable conclusion, but it’s the good time that both actors are having that radiates our senses, sending us home satisfied even through so hokey scenes of dialogue that left me rolling an eye or two.

“The Accountant” doesn’t always add up to the exact number we were hoping for. The over-compromising of tone equality, combined with torturous twist didn’t always accurately depict the film I was hoping for. But, the candor of character-psyche cinematography and shoot-em-up offerings certainly made for too much fun to ever degrade this movie entirely. It’s a stylish thriller with a sensitive side for what and who is different. A moral integrity to embrace such a side. That perhaps it is us who is misjudging them.

7/10