WASHINGTON 鈥� Imagine Matt Damon handing his bud聽a mash-up聽of roles.
Take the聽IQ of “Good Will Hunting” and combine it with聽the combat skills of “Jason Bourne” and you get Ben Affleck’s latest action聽vehicle “The Accountant,” which is as erratically entertaining and surprisingly comical聽as it is maddening for its over-plotted script that tries too hard to outthink itself.
Christian Wolff (Affleck) is an autistic math savant who has trouble relating to people in social situations, but is the go-to guy to聽cook the books for聽dangerous criminal organizations. Operating out of a strip mall C.P.A. office and working with new partner Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), he takes on a new client with a聽robotics company run by the wealthy but shady Lamar Black (John Lithgow).
As Christian and Dana investigate a financial discrepancy worth聽millions of dollars, the Treasury Department launches an investigation by agent Ray King (J.K. Simmons), his determined prot茅g茅 Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and witness protection聽informant聽(Jeffrey Tambor).
For much of the movie, the film is an absolute riot for audiences thanks to the hilariously awkward interactions between the well-meaning Kendrick and the socially awkward Affleck. It’s an against-type casting choice, as聽Affleck is much quieter than聽his hero in聽“Argo” (2012), not to mention still jacked from聽Batman, having shot this聽concurrently聽with “Batman v Superman” and “Suicide Squad.”
The distant, stone-faced聽expressions may very well be an extension of his聽“Gone Girl” (2014) role, where his poker face was admirably hard to read in determining his guilt. Now, his expressionless look is the result of the autism spectrum,聽which would be聽a trap for most actors. Thankfully,聽it聽never once feels like it’s poking fun, mining聽empathy like “Rain Man” (1988) or “Forrest Gump” (1994).
This careful sense of humor is pleasantly surprising for a film presented as a white-knuckler in the trailers. Props to聽screenwriter Bill Dubuque聽(“The Judge”) for witty dialogue and director Gavin O’Connor (“Warrior”) for coaching memorable聽performances out of a subject filled with landmines.
O’Connor also directs some impressive action that’s surprisingly easy to follow from cut to cut. The fight scenes are well staged with tense shots fired from gun scopes and crowd-pleasing聽hand-to-hand combat with killer聽finishing moves.聽While most action directors throw out the proverbial聽kitchen sink to the point of dizziness, O’Connor carefully choreographs his battles聽鈥� right down to聽a聽kitchen sink.
His directorial flair is best on display in Affleck’s bedroom, using a strobe light and hard rock music as he聽toughens聽his shinbones聽with a masochistic routine聽to聽turn his body into a human weapon. It’s a training regiment steeped in the director’s sports films聽“Miracle” (2004)聽and聽“Warrior” (2009), but with a dangerous edge that recalls a chiseled Max Cady hanging upside-down in “Cape Fear” (1991).
Between the action, O’Connor offers clever compositions, such as a victim’s face reflected in a聽picture frame, or an聽engrossing shot-reverse-shot sequence through the crack of a closing door.
Still, for all the directorial prowess and snappy dialogue for the first two thirds of the film, the script soundly jumps the shark with an extended back story flashback sequence narrated by J.K. Simmons. Not only is it confusing with a聽convoluted, out-of-order account of past events, it seems to go on forever, like its own mini-movie that pulls focus from the enjoyable movie we’ve been watching.
The more we learn about Affleck’s family back story 鈥� from his childhood combat training to a ridiculous occurrence at a聽funeral home 鈥� the more implausible and random it all begins to feel.
Making matters worse, this聽flashback sequence聽is followed by聽a聽preposterous聽twist at the climax that robs us of a dream “Batman v Punisher” death-match we expected between聽Affleck’s hero聽and Jon Bernthal’s brutal villain Brax. This twist feels more like a zany comedy than the action-crime-drama it claims to be. The studio should pull the posters and re-cut the trailers to tease an action comedy.
Tonal shifts aside, the film聽leaves us with too many pieces to the puzzle聽that don’t add up. For a movie all about “Everything In Its Right Place,” as the soundtrack hints, the end result doesn’t feel that way.
Thankfully, after all the preposterous twists have run their course, Act Three saves the day with a truly heartwarming finish.聽Kudos to an action movie with the guts to actually take on autism! This resolution sends us out of the theater with a smile, even if we scratch our heads unpacking all the logic questions on the way home. Great movie? Nah. Good聽fun? Book it. Just don’t cook the books.
