The Island Cinephile

The Accountant: Rain Man meets Jason Statham

Directed by Gavin O’Connor

“Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Grew worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday. That was the end, Of Solomon Grundy.”

Christian Wolff

The Accountant, released in 2016, under the direction of Gavin O’Connor is a solid action-thriller flick. Our protagonist, Christian Wolff (an alias), is an autistic savant that has a penchant for mathematics versus creating emotional bonds with others. Growing up with a tumultuous childhood and a militant Father, Christian’s ability as a savant turned him into a lethal weapon that functions without remorse and follows an internal moral code. By profession, he is a certified accountant that uses an unassuming accounting office as a shell to clean records from high-end, illegal clients. The issue arises when the department of Treasury becomes suspicious of Wolff’s schemes, because of him being pictured with high-profile clients yet he seems to live a normal life. It continues with a plot that is uncomplicated with surprising twists. Some coincidences occur unnaturally but it still works well. The pacing is wonderful as it keeps momentum to maintain the audience’s attention. The writing is attributed to Bill Dubuque and has its strong points of dialogue i.e. the scenes between Christian and Dana Cummings. Admittedly, a shortfall with the writing appears toward the end when the audience receives a lengthy exposition regarding the identity of Christian Wolff. That seemed more of an easy way out to than an attempt at storytelling. Nevertheless, the film still manages a strong score in potency. 

Considering the actors, Ben Affleck starred as Christian Wolff, and he did a stellar job in this role. I have watched a few other films with Affleck, but the accountant seems to be the most like himself. He does disinterest and discomfort well. As what was necessary with an autistic character that avoids eye contact, misinterprets social cues and has difficulty with building emotional connections. His character is developed but remains a bit mysterious in the audiences’ mind and this is why the first film fares better than its successor. Jon Bernthal as Braxton, is a wild card assassin with a heart of gold – which is as contradictory as it gets. Bernthal does a great job and the scenes with him and Affleck really shine through. Anna Kendrick portrayed Dana cummings as an enchanting young accountant that ends up in a situation she is not built for. Her and Affleck’s dialogue scenes are written so cleverly. With other supporting characters like J.K. Simmons, John Lithgow, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson, the film is carried well and with bouts of tension. 

However, when it comes to representation of autistic characters in media, there is often a disconnect between the community and Hollywood’s rendition. The last memorable movie that attempts a true portrayal of the struggles of caring for an autistic savant is Rain Man – and Dustin Hoffman did a stellar job at conveying the tough reality of caring for an autistic individual. The problem with the portrayal seen in the accountant stems from the fact that Christian’s autism is presented as a Jason Statham-esque savant. His condition is seen as the rule rather than the exception. The needs of autistic individuals vary and most of them may not possess the same genius-like qualities portrayed by Wolff – in fact, it is usually a rarity that many present this type of autism. Though in film, we do not always request them to be realistic as they are a creative art forms – so if one looks at Wolff’s character as a superhero for the autistic community, many of the issues mentioned are non-starters.  

The Accountant wades through difficult waters as they navigate the responsibility of relaying a story centered around a protagonist dealing with non-visible disabilities. With superb acting and clever writing being strong facets to its success, there is less room for error in terms of creating a solid movie, Though, it struggles on the account of a few areas of weak dialogue and plot contrivances. There has also been a substantial amount of disdain toward the movie from the autism community about representation. Despite all this, it fares well and is a well-produced movie that attempts to add more to the conversation about autism. 

---