Ben Affleck headlines in this solid actioner that co-stars Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons, John Lithgow, Jean Smart and Cynthia Addai-Robinson.

Intercutting with flashbacks to his childhood, we are introduced to Christian Wolff (Affleck) a forensic accountant who has no problem working for the underworld, and occasionally clashing violently with them as well.

Wolff is on the autism spectrum, and his incredibly focused on his tasks, no matter what they are. But numbers, numbers speak to him.

When he is brought in to investigate Lamar’s (Lithgow) robotics company, he finds a huge disparity. One that puts him, and the young accountant who initially tumbled across it, Dana (Kendrick) directly in harm’s way.

In the flashbacks we see Christian and his brother, learning to fight to survive under the rough tutelage of their military father. That also means that the audience is one step ahead of Christian in one regard. We know that the team leading the hunt for he he and Dana is headed by his brother, Braxton (Bernthal).

Throw in a young treasury agent, Medina (Addai-Robinson), who is ‘recruited’ by her superior, Ray King (Simmons) to learn who the Accountant is, and you’ve got a solid mix of action, some fun character work, and an engaging narrative.

We spend most of the movie waiting for Affleck and Bernthal to share the screen, but it pays off nicely. Kendrick is, as always, a favorite of mine. And Simmons is always a delight.

The action sequences are weell-orchestrated and shot, from firefights to hand-to-hand combat, this one has a but of everything, and Affleck has the physical presence to pull it off.

It also helps that the cast is stacked with solid performers, and the story has a reality to it that some action movies just lack. I enjoy seeing Affleck in action roles, h can handle them, brings a believability to them. He also, as far as I can tell, solidly portrays Christian as being on the spectrum.

This is one of those that I should have seen when it came out, or shortly there of. Why didn’t I see it sooner? Again, Affleck is the answer. He’s not always my favorite actor, though I do like him in the films I’ve seen (Dogma is my favorite).

So now that the second one is rolling up, am I gonna race out and see it in the theater? No. I get very particular about what films I have to see on the big screen. They just release too many films, and one has to be very careful with disposable income when it comes to going to the theatre. But I will rush to watch it a lot sooner than I did the first one.

But this one was definitely enjoyable. Recommended.