by Caleb Quimby

The movie “The Accountant” is a crime thriller with a run time of two hours and 18 minutes. The film kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and there was never a dull moment.

The film follows the life of Christian Wolff, played by Ben Affleck, who is a genius with numbers as well as deception; he is not a normal account. Affleck’s character works for his own accounting agency that does work for divisions that wouldn’t go to a normal accounting agency. His main job is to learn why these companies/organizations are short on money and where the money went. All organizations, no matter how suspicious, need an accountant and Wolff is the guy for the job.

Wolff is able to go through years of books in one night and figure out where the lost money went. He has skill surpasses everyone else in the world due to his autism. His autism made Wolff focus entirely on the project at hand and would force him to finish it in a precise and fast matter.

Since Wolff has autism, his father, played by Robert C. Treveiler, wanted to insure that he grew up knowing how to handle dangerous situations because he was different from other children. His dad, who was a military man, made him fight until he couldn’t fight anymore.

He would do things that a kid with autism would never be forced to do. His dad wanted him to be able to function in the world on his own free will; he taught Wolff the skills he would need to overcome his disability.

The movie showed Wolff could do anything he wanted to despite his autism. Having a disability didn’t make him useless; it made him stronger.  

“The Accountant” showed that a disabled man just had to find a skill that suits him in order to be successful. He takes full advantage of his disability to become a brilliant accountant as well as a person that can take care of himself in dangerous situations, all while avoiding the law.

He has a strict set way of doing things. But when he’s unable to finish a task, everything crumbles. It’s as if he is off his game and a whole different person.

Wolff does struggle with one particular aspect of life through the whole movie due to his autism, he’s not great at social cues or socializing even though he really wishes he could be.  

Throughout the film, there are intense fight scenes that left me speechless. The movie displayed that a disability shouldn’t hold anyone back, but can actually make a person better than someone without disabilities. The film shows that disabilities can be used to overcome obstacles as well as be used to an advantage.

There are several plot twists that have to be experienced first hand. After watching it I want to see it again. I would say this is the best movie I have seen since Suicide Squad, which is why I give “The Accountant” a 4.5 out of 5 stars.