THE ACCOUNTANT (Rated R)

As the titular character in “The Accountant,” Ben Affleck’s Christian Wolff is not your ordinary action-fueled protagonist who is keenly adept with high tech weaponry and hand combat skills.

To think of “The Accountant,” though it has great action scenes and a high body count, as just an action thriller would be erroneous. There is an unexpected wrinkle to the unassuming Christian Wolff’s demeanor.

At first glance, Christian seems to be nothing more than a storefront CPA, right down to his spreadsheets and pocket protector. But there’s much more to this apparently mild-mannered numbers cruncher than meets the eye.

On one hand, the accountant is a math savant, and on the other, he’s an effectively trained fighter as the result of his childhood upbringing at the hands of a harsh military father.

Christian’s autism is explored in flashbacks where his ability to solve puzzles could lead to a complete meltdown if one piece happened to go missing. The flashbacks frame vital clues to his unique character aspects.

Delving into Christian’s past is not just about his difficult childhood. A stretch in prison allowed for him to be tutored about “black money” from his cellmate Francis Silverberg (Jeffrey Tambor), a notorious mob accountant.

Everything learned on the inside proved valuable for Christian to be able to practice forensic accounting for a clientele that are among the world’s most powerful crime lords.

As a result of his special skills, Christian lands on the radar of U.S. Treasury inspector Ray King (J.K. Simmons) who is keen to discover the accountant’s true identity and whereabouts prior to his upcoming retirement.

We don’t know how Christian gets his assignments, but the unseen voice of his handler tells him it is time to lay low, and so he takes an assignment to review the books of Living Robotics, a legitimate electronics company.

Set up in a glass-walled conference room, Christian meets Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), the junior accountant who uncovered balance sheet problems. Together, they work on solving the puzzle until roadblocks affect their work.

The Living Robotics founder Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow), despite promoting a humane mission to help people who lost limbs, may have sinister or ulterior motives.

A person with inferior social skills, Christian doesn’t know how to connect with Dana on a personal level, and he’s barely able to make eye contact during their awkward conversations.

However, Dana’s life is put in danger when a slew of bad guys, organized by hired muscle Braxton (Jon Bernthal), coming gunning for her. Fortunately, Christian offers a lifeline by becoming Dana’s well-armed protector.

Whereas the first half of the story primarily revolves around a series of complex plot devices and character revelations, the latter part sets in motion vigilante-like lethal retributions by the gun-toting accountant.

Portraying a character with enough quirks to fill an Airstream trailer, Ben Affleck delivers the goods as an autistic version of Jason Bourne, a relentless killing machine with a peculiar set of vulnerabilities.

When the action arrives in full force with climactic certainty, “The Accountant” should not disappoint action fans, as it proves to be better than most in this genre.

TV Corner: 'Killing Reagan' on National Geographic Channel

Bill O’Reilly, political commentator and TV host, has created a cottage industry of books about historical figures, including a series about assassinations of popular U.S. presidents.

First, it was the “Killing Lincoln” and “Killing Kennedy” books, and then followed by “Killing Reagan,” which relates the attempt on the 40th president’s life, one which proved to be far more serious than initially thought.

Outside the orbit of politics, there was also the book “Killing Jesus.” Now in its fourth collaboration with O’Reilly, National Geographic Channel brings forward a two-hour TV movie for “Killing Reagan,” starring Tim Matheson as Ronald Reagan and Cynthia Nixon as the First Lady.

“Killing Reagan” starts during the waning days of the 1980 presidential campaign, when then candidate Reagan was in a tough battle with incumbent Jimmy Carter. Much time is spent on political advisors fretting about the election and the one and only upcoming debate.

Previous controversy over Bill O’Reilly’s portrait of the president as not being the same person after the shooting is glossed over here, though one may try to square that with Reagan returning to form less than a month later in a speech to a joint session of Congress.

In any case, much of the movie focuses on would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr (Kyle More), a pathetic case of a man with deep psychological issues as the result of his deranged fixation on actress Jodie Foster.

“Killing Reagan” could have made a case for really good drama, given that Secretary of State Alexander Haig (Patrick St. Esprit) famously claimed to be in control as the vice president was out of town during the time.

Moreover, there seems to be little new light shed on events at the time. Yet, the Reagan sense of humor shines through when he tells the doctors about to perform surgery that he hopes they are Republicans.

Granted the cachet of another Bill O’Reilly production, National Geographic Channel could score on “Killing Reagan” during a chaotic election season.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.