Dana (Anna Kendrick) watches in amazement as the accountant, Chris (Ben Affleck), solves a complex problem.
THE ACCOUNTANT
Film Review by Marlene Ardoin
Ben Affleck breaks the geek mold in “The Accountant” as an autistic, mathematics savant. If you know anything about high functioning autism, you may find this an interesting human study.
One of the things that doctors are very careful not to suggest in autism is that it is not caused by poor parenting. This film, however, is very politically incorrect.
In this film, our main character (Ben Affleck as Christian “Chris” Wolff) and his normal brother (Jon Bernthal as Braxton “Brax”) are deserted by their mother, and their colonel father has child abuse badges on his uniform.
The accountant, Chris, has the typical autistic focus and detail orientation, which suits him to a career as an accountant. And, thanks to his father, both brothers develop exceptional abilities in the self-defense arts.
Autistics are famous for feelings disconnect, so it is not surprising that Chris and his brother, equally share this quality, when it comes to killing or hurting others.
Chris’s skillset suits him for working with some pretty shady and powerful types. The world he creates for himself is as a loner, who needs to recover from human interaction and who can disappear at a moments notice.
Autistics are blunt and honest to a fault, and so is our accountant, Chris. His blunt communication style gives rise to many humorous moments in the film. The climax of this film is also such a moment.
His odd behavior is accepted by a sweet, Mid-West couple, who are very grateful for his tax help. They humorously discover his other skills, when he takes up their invitation to come to their property to shoot.
There is romance in this film. Anna Kendrick, of the Twilight film series, plays an accountant, Dana Cummings, who discovers a discrepancy in the books. Chris is called in to track it down. She expresses amazement of his focus and skill.
Our accountant, Chris, responds to kindness. Because of his tendencies, I found their relationship very similar to the vampire series, Twilight, very romantic and very dangerous. I loved the scene where Chris slowly closes the door, as he watches her sleep.
After doing a little research on autism, I discovered that many famous individuals and NFL players have autism. Amadeus Mozart, Charles Darwin, Thomas Jefferson, Michelangelo, Andy Warholl, and Albert Einstein, were all famous autistic adults.
And, famous autistic athletes include Michael Phelps, Terry Bradshaw, Pete Rose, Bruce Jenner, Magic Johnson, Jackie Stewart, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Nolan Ryan, Jason Kidd, Greg Louganis, Andy LaRoche, Alex Trevino, Derek Lowe, Scott Eyre, and Tom Gorzelanny.
I found “The Accountant” to be very thought provoking and entertaining.
Famous autistic people:
http://autismmythbusters.com/general-public/famous-autistic-people/
Diagnosis, Causes & Symptoms of autism:
https://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/100-day-kit/diagnosis-causes-symptoms
10/18/16 # The Accountant