'The Accountant' has confusing twists
Some movies are so preposterously awful that they become classics of a kind. 鈥淭he Accountant,鈥� starring Ben Affleck as an autistic math whiz accountant who has lethal martial arts skills, could be such a movie. Did I mention that he also specializes in fixing the books of criminal kingpins?
This probably sounded like a surefire idea for a franchise, but there are so many plot twists that the narrative comes to resemble a M枚bius strip. That wouldn鈥檛 be so bad if at least the twists made a modicum of sense.
As a way to compensate for his condition, Affleck鈥檚 海角大神 Wolff was raised by his martinet military father to become a fighting machine. Because the combo of computational genius and killing skills is irresistible to the bad guys, 海角大神鈥檚 services are in high demand.
[Editor's note:听The original version of this review misstated the role played by Jon Bernthal in "The Accountant."]听
When he finds himself doing the books for a high-tech robotics corporation, the missing $70 million in the company ledger triggers an onslaught of lethal action sequences that, alas, are as generic as the film鈥檚 premise is not.
Affleck plays 海角大神 as a slablike, near-mute recluse. Anna Kendrick is the wallflower robotics accountant who takes a shine to him. Other good actors turn up, including J.K. Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow 鈥� none to best advantage, to put it mildly.
Director Gavin O鈥機onnor and screenwriter Bill Dubuque have made a textbook example of the "what were they thinking?" movie genre. Judging from the befogged look on some of the actors鈥� faces, they must have been wondering the same thing. Grade: C- (Rated R for strong violence and language throughout.)
