The Accountant: Is Christian Wolff the most unique action hero of the 21st century?

Ben Affleck’s Christian Wolff from The Accountant is one of the most unusual action heroes to emerge over the last decade or so. Now, let’s face it – when people think of accountants, they don’t think of action heroes. Indeed, that’s one of the trademarks of the series, with Affleck’s unassuming-looking Wolff deliberately made up to look non-threatening or nerdy, only for him to possess skills that make him an unstoppable badass when push comes to shove. But, not only is he “nerdy”, but he’s also autistic. Unlike most films that would be about this condition, it’s not presented as a handicap, but rather an essential part of who he is, both good and bad, making the film a refreshing change of pace from other movies about the condition. With The Accountant 2 now in theatres, we thought now would be the perfect time to examine why, against all odds, Christian Wolff has quietly become one of the greatest action heroes of the 21st century.

The Accountant originally started as a script by Bill Dubuque. Initially a corporate headhunter, he was approached by a producer named Mark Williams to develop the rough idea into a script, which wound up on the 2011 Blacklist – a competition for the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. By the time the film came out five years later, Dubuque would be well-established, having co-written the Robert Downey Jr drama, The Judge, and a semi-autobiographical account of his own career called A Family Man. 

The Accountant came along at an interesting time for Affleck, in that he’d re-established himself as both an actor and a director with the back-to-back hits, The Town and Argo. He also had a smash with Gone Girl, and had just been cast as the Caped Crusader in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman. One can see why The Accountant must have been an irresistible role for Affleck, in that not only would it allow him to flex the action chops he picked up as Batman, but it would also allow him a major challenge, with Wolff’s Autism a primary component of the story.

Up to then, autism in films was portrayed mainly as a disability, while the characters were also often given savant-like expertise, such as Dustin Hoffman’s ability to count cards in Rain Man. While some have criticized The Accountant for playing into the same tropes, there is a key difference. Wolff’s character isn’t a savant who automatically acquires skills. Instead, he’s a man who’s used his neurodivergence as an asset, training himself in a variety of skills, with the movie positioning him as a forensic accountant for the mob, He makes millions doing this, but he also has a hidden altruistic side, with him using his skills to help those he feels have been victimized out of trouble. He also feeds tips about his clients to his contact at the Treasury, using his deadly training in martial arts and military tactics, which he learned with his brother Braxton (played by Jon Bernthal), to fight off any physical threats.

All this makes Wolff both typical and atypical of the genre. Sure, he fights and shoots like John Wick, but he also has a deeply human side, aided in part by students at a Neurodivergence institute that he funds, which becomes a big part of the sequel. Wolff also struggles with loneliness, finding it difficult to have any relationships. Usually, Affleck is presented as a kind of super-stud in his movies, but Wolff isn’t like this, to the extent that there’s never even a hint of romance between him and his female co-star in the first film, Anna Kendrick’s Dana. 

However, Wolff is also shown to be extremely loyal, regularly feeding information to an agent he admires at the Treasury, played by J.K. Simmons. He also avenges the murder of his former mentor, another crooked accountant, played by Jeffrey Tambor, who taught him how to launder money when they did a stint in prison together.

This makes him a hero that’s easy to route for, with the sequel doubling down on an aspect the first film only dips its toe into – his relationship with his non-autistic brother, Braxton, played by Jon Bernthal, who’s less of a egghead, but just as deadly in combat as he is. In The Accountant, Braxton’s true identity is only revealed in the climax, while in the sequel, the two are paired in what’s essentially a buddy comedy road trip film – to excellent effect, I might add.

Surprisingly, The Accountant was not a smash hit when it came out in 2016. It did well, making $86 million domestically, on a $44 million budget. Worldwide, it made close to $155 million, allowing it to turn a profit. Yet, apparently, it was on DVD/ Blu-ray and streaming where the film became a major success. It earned mixed-to-negative reviews, but it also seems like a movie people tended to appreciate more in hindsight. Maybe this is because director Gavin O’Connor made an incredibly re-watchable movie, with it having the same kind of meat-and-potatoes vibe you’d find in an action thriller from the eighties or nineties. It’s not too frenetic or overwhelming. It’s the kind of movie you can watch repeatedly as comfort viewing. 

To that end, Affleck, who’s only now re-emerging after a self-imposed hiatus, is back with The Accountant 2, hoping to launch Christian Wolff as a franchise character. Indeed, given the film’s amazing reception at its SXSW premiere, which I attended, this could happen as the sequel is just as much fun as the first movie. If anything, it doubles down on everything that made Wolff so unique as a hero, with the added benefit of making Bernthal’s Braxton perhaps his most memorable big-screen role to date. Here’s hoping it’s another hit!

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