This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Action movies don't get weirder or more nonsensical than "The Accountant," which straddles corporate chicanery and psychological thriller in the dumbest ways possible.
Ben Affleck stars as the title character, a detail-obsessed number cruncher who ferrets out the cooked books for corporations, mobsters and drug cartels — which may be why he also has an Airstream trailer loaded with cash, a Renoir and an arsenal of weapons. When a robotics CEO (John Lithgow) calls him in to follow up on an error found by a low-level clerk (Anna Kendrick), Affleck's character starts digging, only to find he and the clerk are now being targeted by an ace hitman (John Bernthal), all while a Treasury agent (J.K. Simmons) puts a junior agent ("Arrow's" Cynthia Addai-Robinson) on the guy's trail.
Director Gavin O'Connor ("Warrior") and writer Bill Dubuque ("The Judge") create a superhero origin story that, amazingly, is less plausible than the one where Affleck patrols Gotham City in a black cape. Using some jaw-dropping plot points, the most egregious being the use of the lead character's autism as a story device, "The Accountant" throws together a mess of action set pieces and character turns that look cool but don't add up.
'The Accountant'
Opens Friday, Oct. 14, at theaters everywhere; rated R for strong violence and language throughout; 128 minutes.