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The Accountant

14 October 2016English2h 8mPart 1 of The Accountant series
out of 10
Mixedlukewarm or divided
Monk Score · 6 scored reviews · 2 not rated

Affleck's turn holds it together, but the autism angle rings false.

Verdict tier Mixed, lukewarm or divided, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.

  • Praised: Affleck's performance and thriller craft
  • Criticised: Romanticized, incoherent autism portrayal

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Critic consensus

What 8 critics are saying

Critical reception for The Accountant is mixed, with most reviewers landing in moderately positive territory. Several critics praised the film's compelling thriller mechanics, detailed filmmaking, and Ben Affleck's performance as its strongest assets. The most consistent criticism targets the screenplay's overlong runtime, narrative incoherence from over-contextualization, and the film's romanticization of autism as a superpower rather than a nuanced portrayal of the condition.

How the 6 scores spread

2 not-rated reviews aren't plotted

Positive / mixed / negative reviews

Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10

AI-generated summary of 8 critic reviews · may contain errors

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From the papers

Critic reviews (8)

Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated

  1. Top critic

    Indian Express

    Film review ·

    Director O'Connor has factored in mathematics too to give us a hero who multiplies numbers as fast as he eliminates people, who beats himself literally to sleep while gazing upon a Pollack fixed on the ceiling.
  2. CatchNews

    Film review ·

    It's an unusual thriller - the body count is high, and the kills are straight from a video game - and has its fair share of flaws, but it's far more compelling than it possibly had any right to be with its mixed bag of number crunching and bone crunching.
  3. Deccan Chronicle

    Film review ·

    Gavin O'Connor has been so detailed in his filmmaking process. If you are aware of OCD or suffer one yourself, you would find some more solace in this, and perhaps your friends would be able to understand why you behave like you behave.
  4. Times Of India

    Film review ·

    Like WoIff, if you as intrigued by incongruity and inconsistencies in people's behaviour, you will love this wonderfully made thriller, that unfolds like an enchanting fictional puzzle.
  5. Filmfare

    Film review ·

    The Accountant is an out-and -out action film and action film buffs won't be disappointed by the use of heavy duty guns and armour piercing bullets which turn the climax into a veritable battlefield. The lost and found premise in the end adds just the nice emotional touch to the heavy duty action.
  6. Mid-Day

    Film review ·

    The runtime feels overly long while incoherence looms large due to O'Connor's over zealous efforts to contextualize. But for the actors and their heavy-duty efforts this would be just another jaded wearisome actioner!
  7. BookMyShow

    Film review ·

    Ben Affleck rocks it with changing between a common accountant who is brilliant and a trained assassin who is equally brilliant. Watch it for all the answers to the questions and all the solutions to the puzzles. Everything is so well-made that you won't go home with any pending questions!
  8. The Hindu

    Film review ·

    As is only expected of a film that deals with a disorder, a narrator explains at the end that autism—which is what Chris supposedly suffers from—affects a sizeable percentage of the population, and tries to encourage sensitivity towards the condition. But considering that Affleck's character almost romanticises it as a superpower, the narrator may well have not bothered.

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Cast & crew

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