By Travis Johnson
In the new thriller from Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) , Ben Affleck is Christian Wolff, an autistic man with an affinity for numbers. Seemingly a small-town accountant, he’s really a top notch assassin, whacking unfortunates for some of the biggest criminal organisations in the world. When he attracts the attention of the Treasury Department, most obviously personified by JK Simmons’ steely G-man, the bodies start to stack up.
While portraying an autistic person as a calculating killing machine is hugely problematic, this certainly looks the business, all muted blues and greys and mope-rock mood music. Plus, it boasts a great cast; in addition to Affleck and Simmons, Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow are all on deck. If the script by Bill Dubuque is dexterous enough to avoid the more obvious pitfalls, this could be a winner.
The Accountant is released on November 3, 2016.
