The movie, directed by Gavin O’Connor (the same filmmaker behind Warrior and Miracle), follows Wolff as he takes on a “legitimate” client after years of uncooking the books of arms dealers, dodgy politicians, and other dangerous figures. Initially, it’s to throw an FBI investigation off his scent — but as he digs into the numbers, shady dealings emerge with fatal consequences.
Affleck’s role was criticized; his character is autistic, and reminiscent of people’s concerns over Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man, some people felt iffy about Wolff being a savant for both maths and violence. That, and its 53% score on Rotten Tomatoes shows a fair bit of division in its original reviews — which is a shame, because it’s a taut, slightly silly, and hefty thriller that’s pretty touching, and it has superb performances all-round.
While Affleck is terrific as Wolff — quiet, taciturn, swinging between torture and focus in his head — the other stars are great too, like Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, and Jon Bernthal.
Fortunately,Netflixviewers have been enjoying it too, rocketing it to number one on the streaming platform’s chart. “The Accountant on Netflix. 10/10. He’s a bad mf,” one usertweeted.
“The Accountant on Netflix is the best movie I’ve seen in a min,” anotherwrote. “Ben Affleck’s finest film, The Accountant, is on Netflix. I am not even joking, I love this movie,” a thirdposted. “The Accountant is a great movie. Not only just for being badass, but as a major motion picture addressing spectrum disorders in an appropriate and educational way. It’s on Netflix. Watch it,” a fourthwrote.
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As well as The Accountant, you can also find out what othermovies you should be streaming on Netflixand othernew films coming out in April.
Cameron Frew is Deputy TV & Movies Editor on Dexerto’s UK team. He’s an action movie aficionado, ’80s obsessive, and Oscars enthusiast. He loves Invincible, but he’s also a fan of The Boys, the MCU, The Chosen, and much more. He has previously written for LadBible, UniLad, and Flickering Myth. You can contact him at: cameron.frew@dexerto.com.
