The Accountant

When we first meet Christian Wolff, he's a troubled youngster, working on a jigsaw puzzle. Rather than cater to Christian's Asperger's syndrome diagnosis, his sadistic, domineering military father forces him to confront it, training him in martial arts combat and survival skills, thereby turning his developmental disorder from a liability into an asset. As a result, now-adult Wolff (Ben Affleck) launders money for various criminal organizations, disguising himself as a mild-mannered CPA with a nondescript office in a rural Illinois strip mall. Ostensibly dwelling in a suburban tract house, Wolff keeps his valuables—original paintings by Renoir and Jackson Pollock, along with cash and an armory of weapons—hidden in a storage locker. But soon-to-retire U.S. Treasury Agent Raymond King (J.K. Simmons) is determined to unmask the mysterious accountant, enlisting the help of Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), a savvy financial analyst whose dogged determination is propelled by a need to cover up her own felonious past. Their paths cross when Wolff is hired to balance the books by a robotics CEO (John Lithgow) after his company's overeager accounting clerk (Anna Kendrick) discovers a discrepancy involving millions of dollars, a development that eventually makes Wolff a target for a hired killer (Jon Bernthal). Unfortunately, as director Gavin O'Connor's cryptic, character-driven saga unfolds (via numerous flashbacks), it also grows increasingly complicated and fragmented—and ultimately fails to add up. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an “Inside the Man” behind-the-scenes featurette (11 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are production segments on “Behavioral Science” (8 min.) and “The Accountant in Action” (7 min.), as well as bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing drama.] (S. Granger)