At the beginning of “The Accountant” we see an autistic boy faced with a jigsaw puzzle and most of the film is a puzzle with the majority of pieces fitting together but with a few missing or not the right size. 

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is the older of two boys brought up by a military, strict father (Robert C. Treveiler) who recognizes the math genius of the older boy and that the younger son (Jon Bernthal) will have to watch over him. The father has the boys trained in the martial arts and weapons to such an extent that Christian is as good as an assassin as he is a mathematician and he wants both boys to know what their limits are. One of the missing pieces is that their mother leaves them with the father never explaining why she left.

Along the way we meet J.K. Simmons as a Treasury agent who blackmails a member of his team, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, to find out Wolff’s connection to some high connected cartel dealers, Jeffrey Tambor as a prisoner, Anna Kendrick as an accountant who works for Living Robotics where she has uncovered that $70 million is missing and John Lithgow who runs the company brings in Wolff to work with her to find out who took the money. If Wolff was capable of expressing human feelings she would be the one to bring them out in him but he isn’t and she doesn’t except for one surprising gesture.  Jean Smart’s role is one of those ‘if you blink you will miss her’ neither adding or taking away from the film and one of those jigsaw pieces that just don’t fit.

Christian Wolff is as quick and accurate with all kinds of weapons as Batman is and as sharp with mathematical problems as any genius, whose names he uses for aliases, with numbers can be. Whether he is shooting/killing a gang of guys or working on 15 years of a company’s books looking for an embezzler he is always socially awkward, stoic, unsmiling, nonexpressive and, unintentionally funny. Ben Affleck does a fine job as a nerd and hero combined.

Some of the jigsaw fitted pieces at the end didn’t quite explain all that had taken place in the past but then that is what sequels are for and the Director Gavin O’Connor and screenwriter Bill Dubuque might have already have the storyboard ready the “The Account: Adding a Chapter”.

Though the middle of the film is a typical Hollywood action film the first and last half hours make it interesting enough to hold your attention.

Movie trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBfsgcswlYQ