As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities, and the body count starts to rise.As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities, and the body count starts to rise.As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities, and the body count starts to rise.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 5 nominations total
Robert C. Treveiler
- Young Chris' Father
- (as Rob Treveiler)
Susan Savoie
- Dolores Rice
- (as Susan Williams)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Summary
Reviewers say 'The Accountant' is lauded for Ben Affleck's compelling performance and thrilling action scenes. The film's mix of thriller and drama offers a unique take on the action hero. However, the plot is criticized for being convoluted and hard to follow. Mixed reactions exist towards supporting characters and subplots, though the ensemble cast and portrayal of autism are appreciated.
Featured reviews
It's as if John Wick is the savant janitor from Good Will Hunting, and surprisingly, it worked.
What should you expect? It has flashes of John Wick action, but it most certainly isn't an all out action movie, however, it also isn't primarily a drama focusing on his autistic/accounting side of things; I felt they did a really good job of combining both elements into a movie that swings back and forth between the two.
I thought the acting was great all around; I found the plot solid and enjoyable.
Here is the bottom line: Yes, this movie is worth your money to see in the theater.
p.s. I'll be the first to admit I have no idea how autism really affects people and how accurate it is or is not portrayed in this movie; I saw this movie as nothing more than what it is: a fictional story to entertain.
What should you expect? It has flashes of John Wick action, but it most certainly isn't an all out action movie, however, it also isn't primarily a drama focusing on his autistic/accounting side of things; I felt they did a really good job of combining both elements into a movie that swings back and forth between the two.
I thought the acting was great all around; I found the plot solid and enjoyable.
Here is the bottom line: Yes, this movie is worth your money to see in the theater.
p.s. I'll be the first to admit I have no idea how autism really affects people and how accurate it is or is not portrayed in this movie; I saw this movie as nothing more than what it is: a fictional story to entertain.
This film is utterly incredible. The acting is amazing, I loved the plot, the action was brilliant. As a person with autism I can say that Affleck portrayed autism perfectly, I don't understand why this film gets so much controversy. Every person with autism is different and acts different to one another. I never liked action films before this but this film is just so amazing and original that I came to like action films. I have watched this so many times and never get bored of it. I hope the sequel is as good as this, love to see more films like this. Would definitely recommend this film to anyone, no matter what genre they prefer. 10/10.
A thriller should be entertaining and smart, both of which The Accountant is. Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is not Christian in the traditional sense, but he is a wolf of a hunter, about as accurate as anyone behind a telescopic gun barrel could be.
Yet he's a brilliant accountant at the same time, thank you, autism: He has a savant's grasp of facts and numbers (think Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man) but a serious deficiency in the affective and communicative categories. Affleck plays him with a grasp of disaffection that is almost humorous, in fact is with some of his straight-arrow responses: "I don't guess," he says when queried if he had a hunch about the perpetrator of a fraud.
You see, he is hired by all kinds of wealthy and criminal business people and governments to uncook their books or whatever is necessary to discover fraud or put the books in order. These jobs lead to situations where he is wanted by bad guys or the IRS or whomever. Wolff's legitimate, current job for a robotics company is complicated enough for him to need several glass walls to write on (think Affleck's buddy Mark Damon in Good Will Hunting), taking in hours what would consume days for a host of professional accountants.
And so it goes according to the thriller formula that the bad guys will be on his trail, and he will be made vulnerable by a cute co-worker, Dana (Anna Kendrick), who has some of his math savvy and maybe a bit of sweet for him. The Accountant veers from formula because that romance is of the "chaste-and-from-afar" kind, almost but not quite at the kiss stage. It's pleasant not to be bothered by heavy sex when the complications are of the cerebral, themselves the core of pleasure in this brainy, but not too, action drama.
Unfortunately our autistic hero, trained by a merciless military father to defend himself because dad knew son would always be treated as different, slips into thriller stereotype, e.g. Christian puts down too many hired guns at one time, albeit in the service of a noble retaliation for a prison friend. Although the action is within the parameters of the genre, it here feels overdone given the cerebral contexts that otherwise provide plenty of thrills.
One of the joys of this film is to see Affleck show some acting chops; he may never be like Dustin Hoffman, but he's memorably stoic here, a long way from J.Lo and Gigli.
Yet he's a brilliant accountant at the same time, thank you, autism: He has a savant's grasp of facts and numbers (think Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man) but a serious deficiency in the affective and communicative categories. Affleck plays him with a grasp of disaffection that is almost humorous, in fact is with some of his straight-arrow responses: "I don't guess," he says when queried if he had a hunch about the perpetrator of a fraud.
You see, he is hired by all kinds of wealthy and criminal business people and governments to uncook their books or whatever is necessary to discover fraud or put the books in order. These jobs lead to situations where he is wanted by bad guys or the IRS or whomever. Wolff's legitimate, current job for a robotics company is complicated enough for him to need several glass walls to write on (think Affleck's buddy Mark Damon in Good Will Hunting), taking in hours what would consume days for a host of professional accountants.
And so it goes according to the thriller formula that the bad guys will be on his trail, and he will be made vulnerable by a cute co-worker, Dana (Anna Kendrick), who has some of his math savvy and maybe a bit of sweet for him. The Accountant veers from formula because that romance is of the "chaste-and-from-afar" kind, almost but not quite at the kiss stage. It's pleasant not to be bothered by heavy sex when the complications are of the cerebral, themselves the core of pleasure in this brainy, but not too, action drama.
Unfortunately our autistic hero, trained by a merciless military father to defend himself because dad knew son would always be treated as different, slips into thriller stereotype, e.g. Christian puts down too many hired guns at one time, albeit in the service of a noble retaliation for a prison friend. Although the action is within the parameters of the genre, it here feels overdone given the cerebral contexts that otherwise provide plenty of thrills.
One of the joys of this film is to see Affleck show some acting chops; he may never be like Dustin Hoffman, but he's memorably stoic here, a long way from J.Lo and Gigli.
This is a wonderful movie. A lot more of an action flick than title suggests. Was a pleasant surprise as plot unfolded. Ben Affleck is perfect for this part. Well written script and good acting by all. Nice use of flashbacks for character development. Many twists and turns and a bit of a surprise ending. Watch it! You won't be disappointed.
Gavin O'Connor, the director of my favorite movie Warrior. Ben Affleck, the once ridiculed but now stupendous entertainer. J.K. Simmons, the distinguished actor from Whiplash. Jon Bernthal, the rising star from The Walking Dead who's a known but yet still unknown actor, and he's great by the way. John Lithgow, an actor who delivers uncanny especially when he's the villain. Bill Dubuque, who the hell is this guy, but he wrote this movie, and this appears to be his first major project besides Robert Downey Jr's The Judge. I enjoy all of these people's work one way or another. This movie has a good director, good leading man, and an all-star cast. From the trailers, this movie seemed like an intellectual movie about a young boy growing up with mental problems, the boy grows up and becomes an accountant, through his work he does business with shady characters, for some reason his clients want him dead, but we know The Accountant is far more capable of much more than they know. I was anticipating this movie based on all the information I just provided. I thought this movie couldn't miss. Is The Accountant a good movie? The Accountant is a good movie.
The direction of this seems rather simple, but as the story progresses, things become a bit too complicated, and maybe not for the better.
I understood the main story and what was happening. The subplot of the movie is what threw me off. I thought the secondary plot was a bit messy but yet still engaging.
The acting in this movie was excellent. I think Ben Affleck as Christan Wolff is the best character he's ever played. Affleck's performance is both engaging and mesmerizing. Everyone does their job here, but Affleck steals the show.
The violence feels ultra realistic. I love action movies, but none have felt as real as this in a long time. When The Accountant kills people, he kills people, and it's not pretty.
There's a lot of jump cutting that's present here. This movie constantly jumps from the past to the present without warning, but the transitions are fluid.
The execution of the story at times feels tedious due to its consistent jump cutting, multi-layered plot, and abundance of characters.
Each character gets their moment, and everyone plays a part, but it's the coincidence that brings them all together.
I think this movie is trying to be more than what it is, and it succeeds. The Accountant movie has a multi-layered engaging main plot about mental illness in young children and how they cope with their situations. The secondary plot is about The Accountant doing business with the wrong people. There's another plot to this movie with J.K Simmons and his story's compelling, but it lacks conviction.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie. The fight scenes and choreography were breathtaking. The main plot was engaging. Ben Affleck delivered the best performance of his career. Every actor played their part. This movie suffers from sensory overload, but regardless, I believe that it will stimulate not only intellectuals but white-knuckled action junkies as well. The main plot, Ben Affleck, and the violence is ferocious.
Final Grade: A-
The direction of this seems rather simple, but as the story progresses, things become a bit too complicated, and maybe not for the better.
I understood the main story and what was happening. The subplot of the movie is what threw me off. I thought the secondary plot was a bit messy but yet still engaging.
The acting in this movie was excellent. I think Ben Affleck as Christan Wolff is the best character he's ever played. Affleck's performance is both engaging and mesmerizing. Everyone does their job here, but Affleck steals the show.
The violence feels ultra realistic. I love action movies, but none have felt as real as this in a long time. When The Accountant kills people, he kills people, and it's not pretty.
There's a lot of jump cutting that's present here. This movie constantly jumps from the past to the present without warning, but the transitions are fluid.
The execution of the story at times feels tedious due to its consistent jump cutting, multi-layered plot, and abundance of characters.
Each character gets their moment, and everyone plays a part, but it's the coincidence that brings them all together.
I think this movie is trying to be more than what it is, and it succeeds. The Accountant movie has a multi-layered engaging main plot about mental illness in young children and how they cope with their situations. The secondary plot is about The Accountant doing business with the wrong people. There's another plot to this movie with J.K Simmons and his story's compelling, but it lacks conviction.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie. The fight scenes and choreography were breathtaking. The main plot was engaging. Ben Affleck delivered the best performance of his career. Every actor played their part. This movie suffers from sensory overload, but regardless, I believe that it will stimulate not only intellectuals but white-knuckled action junkies as well. The main plot, Ben Affleck, and the violence is ferocious.
Final Grade: A-
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile for dramatic effect, the script calls out the repeated use of the number "three" as an indicator of fraudulent numbers, the theory behind fraudulent number detection is known as "Benford's Law." The law states that in numbers, such as account transactions, the probability of a number occurring naturally drops, as one moves from smaller numbers to the larger numbers following a logarithmic scale. This law has been successfully used to detect fraudulent accounting transactions.
- GoofsWhen Sorkis was giving Marybeth information on the face recognition of The Accountant, he plays the recording of when Little Tony was killed, saying that the place was bugged. When Little Tony dies by getting kicked in the head, the audio file loses the signal and goes to static. Unless the bug was on the face of Little Tony, the signal would not have died.
- Quotes
Dana Cummings: What is this place?
Christian Wolff: Panamerica Airstream, 34 feet 7 inches long, 8 feet 5 inches wide. Dimensions which are perfectly adequate for one person. Preferable, even.
Dana Cummings: This is where you live?
Christian Wolff: No, I don't live here. This is a storage unit. That would be weird.
- SoundtracksHotell 2
Written and performed by Andreas Söderström and Johan Berthling
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- El contador
- Filming locations
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA(stand in for Plainfield, Naperville, & Chicago, Illinois)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $44,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $86,260,045
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $24,710,273
- Oct 16, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $155,560,045
- Runtime2 hours 8 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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