The film The Accountant featuring Ben Affleck and the main character, Christian Wolff, was released recently in theaters. It is action packed and has a dash of humor here and there. Despite the so called “boring” name, the plot is very complex.

The film is in fact about an accountant, but he is far from the “ordinary” accountant the audience is used to seeing. Christian Wolf is a man who was born with high-functioning form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. This complex form of autism is the cause of Christian’s brilliance when it comes to math. His senses are heightened and he is unbelievably smart, especially when it comes to math. He is a walking calculator which makes him the perfect accountant.  

Wolff uses his math skills for both the good and the bad. On one hand, he helps struggling families out of sticky financial situations. On the other hand, he is considered the world wide accountant for many criminals, drug lords, and just very bad, powerful people. Christian Wolff works in a tiny office in a strip mall in Illinois in the middle of nowhere. In his office,there are very expensive painting and things that are worth more than a house. How does an ordinary accountant own such extravagant things? The art turns out to be payment for his work as a forensic accountant and money launderer hired by drug cartels and mobsters. Conveniently, Wolff’s face is never visible in any of the pictures the FBI have of him as he is making “transactions” with these powerful people.

No one really knows how an accountant can handle these powerful people without getting hurt, or worse. While his character shows that people with autism aren’t lesser than others, he is  extremely violent and surprisingly trained in the fighting department. Christian is trained in fighting because when he was young he was bullied so his father hired a trainer to teach him how to defend himself. Another reason he stays alive and well is his condition is the source why he is a genius at math and his proficiency with numbers makes him so valuable to these “mobsters.”

Allen Salkin from New York Daily News says,

“The Accountant can’t pass this audit without a penalty. The problem is that endings matter. When the plot devolved into nonsense for the final stretch, it left  me wanting to garnish the filmmakers’ wages.”

However, anyone would agree that The Accountant is a truly amazing film. The end of this action packed movie is filled with suspense, plot twists, and even some tear jerking moments.