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. Christian Wolff is an efficient accountant that is usually hired to find financial deceptions and embezzlement for criminal organizations. His point of contact is a woman's voice by phone and the means of payment are sometimes valuable paintings or gold bars instead of money. Christian was an autistic child that received a rigid military training with his brother Braxton from their paranoid military father. The director of the Treasure Department Raymond "Ray" Kinghas been unsuccessfully hunting The Accountant for a long period and he blackmails the efficient analyst Marybeth Medina to identify who he is before his retirement. When the accountant, Dana Cummings, finds an embezzlement of 61 million-dollars in the Living Robotics, Christian is hired to audit the company by the owner Lamar Blackburn and his sister Rita Blackburn. The financial director Ed Chilton tells that Dana committed a mistake but soon Christian checks the books and confirms the embezzlement. During the night, Chilton is murdered as if he had committed suicide and Lamar finishes the audit affecting Christian that have not finished his work. Soon Dana and Chris are hunted down by hitmen and Christian protects her. Meanwhile Medina finds his true identity and Christian is hunted by Ray and the FBI. Who might be the person behind the embezzlement? In 2016's The Accountant, Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, a high- functioning autistic math genius usually hired to find faulty or illegal accounting practices as well as embezzlement for underworld types.<br/><br/>He is sometimes paid in valuable paintings, gold bars, comic books, etc. <br/><br/>Although as a child a pediatrician wanted him to stay with him and other children in a peaceful environment, his military father disagreed. If Christian was sensitive to light and sound, he needed more light and sound. The world was not going to accommodate him. He and his brother Braxton received training in self-protection and other skills so that they could make their way in the world.<br/><br/>Treasury department director, Ray Kinghas (J.K. Simmons) calls in Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), an efficiency expert with the department who has a police record she lied about. He blackmails her into locating this accountant and shows her pictures of him meeting with all sorts of mob bosses. He is retiring soon and he wants the man's identity known before he leaves.<br/><br/>When a young woman, Dana (Anna Kendrick) at the company Living Robotics finds a $61 million discrepancy in the books, Christian is hired to do an audit by the Blackburns (John Lithgow and Jean Smart), who are brother and sister.<br/><br/>The audit is soon called off after the financial director is murdered and it's made to look like a suicide. Dana and Christian are hunted by hit men.<br/><br/>Medina finally learns Christian's identity and she and Ray are soon on his trail.<br/><br/>This is an excellent film with a couple of very neat twists you won't see coming. The film goes from flashbacks of Christian's turbulent childhood and other events and then back to the present. The director, Gavin O'Connor, does an excellent job of pulling it all together.<br/><br/>Ben Affleck isn't my favorite actor, though he is certainly a smart man and talented in other directions. He does a good job here - it's a role that requires no emotion, and while I think he's capable of more than that, he handles it well. Plus there's always something likable about him.<br/><br/>Some wonderful actors in this cast: John Lithgow, Jean Smart, Cynthia Addai- Robinson, Anna Kendrick, and of course, J.K. Simmons - you really can't miss.<br/><br/>Highly recommended - intriguing, sometimes scary, sometimes exciting, and surprising. I just could not find something original that makes this film actually good. The main character, at first, has some cool features but they are all forgotten through the movie. Lots and lots and lots of clichés that don't really add to the narrative, are there just to make the scene happen. I read a review of someone saying that he could not guess how the movie would end and it was a surprise, therefore it was a good ending. I don't think this way. Yes, you can't "guess", but it's more because of a lack of clues and details during the narrative. Just suddenly a character, almost as a narrator, comes and explains everything that they couldn't figure how to solve in a cool way (or didn't have time?)… If you like some generic action - CSI type of movie, you probably will be OK with it. The film juggles a “follow the money” procedural with corporate espionage thriller, producing two competing tones that never reconcile into one fluid narrative.
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