JAMIE EAST AT THE MOVIES The Accountant review – Ben Affleck’s new movie is bizarrely bonkers but entertaining

THIS film is nuts. I went in expecting a mix between A Beautiful Mind and some John Grisham thing.

I was not prepared for an autistic, kung-fu superhero.

WTF is going on and why does it work better than it should?

2

Ben Affleck’s autistic hero is an expert in kung fu as well as accounting

Ben Affleck is Christian Wolff, a genius accountant who spends his time un-cooking the books for dodgy criminals.

He’s also into self-torture and, thanks to his martial arts skills – absolutely nails this art.

Hot on his heels are a bunch of government officials, keen to identify and arrest him.

2

The relationship between ­Affleck and Anna Kendrick, who plays his kind-of assistant, is fun and refreshing

In order to deflect some of the heat, Wollf (on the advice of the mysterious ‘Voice’) takes on a supposed ‘clean’ client – a huge conglomerate who are convinced millions of dollars are being syphoned off.

Which carries a whole set of new problems.

h

Watch the trailer for Ben Affleck's new action thriller The Accountant

There are plenty of funny moments, some great set pieces and the relationship between Affleck and Kendrick (his kind-of assistant) is fun and refreshing (they don’t bonk).

You're never quite sure what kind of film you’re watching - at times funny, other times brutally violent - but actually, it’s pretty entertaining.

His Batman could have been this good.

Completely bizarre, but all the better for it.

★★★☆☆

Top five films this week

1. Doctor Strange
2. Trolls
3. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
4. The Girl On The Train
5. Bridget Jones's Baby

---

Catch Jamie’s Virgin Radio show every morning between 10am and 1pm. Listen on DAB, online or on the Virgin Radio app.