Review: The Accountant 4K/BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE — 3.75/5

Note: This review contains some spoilers so avoid if you don’t want to know plot points.

The Accountant has a conventional storyline with an unconventional main character and if not for star Ben Affleck and a respectable supporting cast, and solid direction from Gavin O’Connor, this would be a forgettable crime-thriller.

The film focuses on Christian Wolff (BEN AFFLECK), a man with high functioning autism is a genius but lacks social skills. By day he’s a low key CPA but he has another job: killing bad people including mobsters. On his trail is Ray King (J.K. SIMMONS), head of the Treasury Department’s Crime Enforcement Division (no, I didn’t realize there was such a thing) who assigns, well technically blackmails, analyst Marybeth Medina (CYNTHIA ADDAI-ROBINSON) who has a checkered juvenile past which she lied about.

After getting noticed by the authorities following his latest assignment, Christian takes on a legitimate client at Living Robotics, headed by Lamar Blackburn (JOHN LITHGOW) where Dana Cummings (ANNA KENDRICK) found a major accounting error or fraud and he’s been hired to track it down and discover the exact amount and where, or who, it came from. Using his set of skills, he manages to go through 15 years worth of records overnight finding $61 million missing.

Meanwhile, there’s a concurrent side story involving an Assassin (JON BERNTHAL) who’s doing his own hunting down some of the scum and is hired to take out both Christian and Dana for their uncovering the accounting issues.

The film outlines Wolff’s troubled childhood, after being diagnosed with being autistic, finds his mother walking out on him and his brother but his military father who was, at the very least, abusive in his attempts to ready his son for the bitter real world and teaching how to blend in with social cues.

The Accountant is a movie that probably should’ve been better, especially on the script level as the performances by Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons (although I wish he had a larger part) and Jon Bernthal were pretty good, even Anna Kendrick wasn’t half bad in her limited role; heck, the direction by Gavin O’Connor, whom I’ve become a fan of in the last few years, was more than competent. The problem is, it’s not exactly the most compelling plot but is made up with the character moments only to almost be overturned with one big major coincidence which was the film’s quasi-twist at the end.

Still, at the end of the day, or night, The Accountant is a solid drama-thriller that excels thanks to Affleck’s amiable performance and the direction by O’Connor, though don’t go in expecting anything high-end and is probably worthy of a rental.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5

This release comes with a semi-glossy slip cover. Inside is a Blu-ray Copy and a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

Inside the Man (10:38; HD) – Uncover the secrets behind a unique action movie hero; breaks down the main character and includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew.

Behavioral Science (8:04; HD) is an inside look at how Christian Wolf’s condition affects his behavior.

The Accountant in Action (7:14; HD) – Stunt and weapon specialists detail how specific training draws out Christian Wolf’s one-of-a-kind talents and skills.

All told, there’s only about 26 minutes worth of a material.

4K UHD VIDEO – 4.75/5, BD VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 4.5/5

OVERALL – 3.75/5

Overall, The Accountant is a well done, albeit short of greatness, suspense-thriller from director Gavin O’Connor featuring a great performance from Ben Affleck with honorable mention for J.K. Simmons. The UHD released by Warner Brothers offers up great video and audio transfers but short on bonus material.