The Accountant

However you crunch the numbers, The Accountant doesn’t offer much of a return, regardless of the offbeat potential of its premise.

It’s a bizarre hybrid of Rain Man and the Bourne films that winds up a muddled mix of autism drama and high-tech thriller with a lot of convoluted nonsense in the middle.

Ben Affleck stars in the title role as Christian, a moderately autistic man whose math prowess leads to a proficient accounting career. But unbeknownst to his colleagues, behind his boring suits and antisocial behavior lies an assassin with supreme marksmanship and combat skills with plenty of secrets about his family history and a savant condition that he manages to disguise as mild obsessive-compulsive disorder.

He’s hired by Dana (Anna Kendrick), a young accountant for a tech mogul (John Lithgow), to investigate why millions of dollars are missing from company accounts. But once he starts digging, Christian is chased by an unscrupulous gangster (Jon Bernthal) as revenge for some of his work as a bookkeeper for suspected criminal groups. That’s also what catches the eye of a government official (J.K. Simmons) who launches an investigation.

The concept allows the disjointed screenplay by Bill Dubuque (The Judge) to extend itself in multiple directions, for better and worse. The contrast between Christian’s encounters with clients in the office by day and his nonchalant killings at night make the latter that much more impactful. At least that’s the idea.

There are some solid action sequences along the way, and some clever twists regarding character motives (although not all of them are difficult to spot in advance), even if there’s a manipulative smugness behind it all. Let’s just say there are some past demons that need to be exorcised.

Despite some stylish touches by director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior), and a performance by Affleck that’s appropriately understated yet charismatic, the film winds up straining credibility by the final act to the point where almost any emotional investment is squandered. The subplots about Christian’s autism seem trivial and half-hearted.

The Accountant offers an intriguing character that belongs in a better movie, one that emphasizes freshness over formula. While it isn’t meant to be taken seriously, the film doesn’t offer much return on investment.

Rated R, 127 minutes.