How the Hell Did This Happen?!

The family who made Christian Wolff, The Accountant

Christian @ martial arts 'camp' and in airstream 'locker'. Courtesy IMDb and Chuck Zlotnick

When I conceptualized a summer book club whose topic was a movie, I anticipated a potentially unique but participatory adventure not unlike a traditional book club that many of us have enjoyed. However, it’s been my most challenging writing attempt to date because I’ve struggled to adequately articulate my emotional response to this film, ending each attempt with a feeling of coming in second place. This one is no different. My fervent wish is that you’ve watched the film by now and at a minimum find my words thought-provoking.

Let’s start this week with a survey about Christian Wolff’s father, the colonel.

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Good and bad are so subjective, aren’t they? It’s natural for us to subconsciously compare other parents to ours, placing each on a continuum from good to bad, left to right, with one better or worse than the other. If only real life were this black and white, humans might actually act like AI, thinking in 1’s and 0’s. But it’s not black and white is it? Life, parenting, judging. They’re all subjective, muddy ponds filled with all the angst of our inner children who come out from hiding under the blankets to say “no”, “yes”, “stop”. Make it stop.

When I asked my sister Beth about the colonel, she said “Oh my God! What a bastard that guy was!” When I asked a coworker who loves this movie, if the colonel was a good father, he said “No.” When I questioned that he said “He was wrong in what he did, but he ultimately forged his son in so many ways.” Let’s probe Christian’s ‘relationship’ with his father, his other father figures, and his family.

Dad saying 'hell no' to institution and calming Christian when mom leaves. Courtesy IMDb and Warner Bros.

The colonel is a Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) officer in the U.S. Army, who travels all over the world with his wife and 2 sons, Braxton and Christian. He is dedicated to his country and his family. He refuses to separate Christian from the family when an opportunity arises for dedicated care and instruction of Christian at a neurological institute, a home for children with autism. When the neurologist suggests they allow Christian to stay so he can work with him, the colonel famously says “That’s not going to happen. The world is not a friendly place and that’s where he needs to learn to live.” Thus begins dad’s dedication to strengthening Christian’s emotional fortitude, coping skills, and self-defense capabilities through immersion. For example, if he is afraid of lights and loud sounds, dad simply exposes him to them regularly to overcome that aversion. In a moment of seemingly uncharacteristic nurturing, dad uses nursery rhymes, like Solomon Grundy, to melodiously sooth Christian’s agitation. Later, during at least one point in Christian’s childhood, dad forces both Christian and Braxton to train exhaustively in martial arts while stationed in Jakarta, Indonesia. After all, dad feels that “aggression, correctly channeled, overcomes a lot of flaws. Tapping into that aggression requires peeling back several layers of yourself.”

And how did Christian feel about all of this? Who treats a 10 year old boy with special needs this way? Windows into his training and it’s effects are sprinkled throughout the film. In one very memorable scene, dad takes Christian to meet up with a gang of bullies who are disturbed by Christian’s ‘differences’. As dad sits in the front seat, both sons in the back, he gives Christian a pep-talk of sorts, saying “You're different. Sooner or later, different scares people. You think if you don't fight back that maybe they'll like you, stop picking on you, calling you freak. Life is a series of choices, none of which are new. The oldest is choosing to be a victim or choosing not to. The second oldest is loyalty, family first good times or bad. Victim or not, make a decision.” Ultimately Christian decides to defend himself and Braxton backs him up.

Somewhere in his upbringing, Christian’s unique mathematical skills are channeled into a forensic accounting career. With guidance from Francis Silverburg, a semi-father figure with whom Christian shares a prison cell, he pursues clients who are primarily global crime syndicates and leads a life on the razor’s edge of work success balanced with personal defense when clients believe he knows too much. Here again, as an adult, he explains the source of his ‘special’ defensive tactics to his new friend Dana Cummings with almost fond facts about his father’s tutelage. “My father was an officer in the Army. He was concerned that I might be taken advantage of somehow, so he arranged for me to train with a number of specialists.” Through his own eyes, what we see in Christian is a relatively well-adjusted contributing member of society.

Ray King and Chris with Francis. Courtesy Chuck Zlotnick.

Some viewers mistakenly believe Christian is an assassin, but that’s untrue. A big part of Christian’s psyche is honor-bound, presumably curated by the colonel. Christian actually helps a treasury agent, Ray King, build a grand career collaring big-name global criminals all because Ray told Christian he’s a good father. Killing only in self-defense or “when his moral code is broken” we are privy to one revenge killing of a crime syndicate family member who’s responsible for the brutal torture and murder of Francis. When they shared a cell, Francis not only taught Christian everything he knew about cooking books, laundering money, and staying safe, but he also taught him how to read faces and mimic emotional responses. Their relationship, although brief in the movie, is clearly close and very paternal. There are other killings, but notably to protect a farming couple for whom he prepares taxes and to protect Dana Cummings from Lamar Black’s incessant greed.

Mom. Courtesy IMDb.

Where is mom while all this is happening? Mom bailed one year on the Christmas holiday. She was ashamed of Christian because of the mannerisms and characteristics of his illness and unable to cope singly, while the colonel was on assignment. She didn’t understand how to be any mother, let alone the one that Christian needed. Don’t be too quick to judge. As the mother of a special needs son, although I would never abandon my child, resentment is an old friend who comes to visit with me sometimes. It’s by far the biggest challenge of my adult life - understanding that although resentment over his situation is an honest feeling, I’m ashamed of the resentment in myself. You know? Maybe you don’t.

Brother Braxton. Courtesy IMDb.

And what about his brother, Braxton? Here is a brother, possibly a year or 2 older than Christian, who is caught in the net. After all, he can’t choose his family can he? He has no choice but to ‘be there’ for Christian, showing up on every occasion of bullying, teasing, and otherwise painful situation for his brother. Throughout the film, flashbacks into their childhood place them together ALL THE TIME. We never find out how and when they went their separate ways, but all that training and protecting create in Braxton a certain high-demand skill set through which he earns his living as a cleanup man. He manages a team of heavies who take care of problems for bad people, including an assignment to take out Christian in the end. Of course that ends poorly for the criminal when Braxton realizes it’s Christian. They have what passes for a tender reunion after beating each other nearly senseless and dispensing with the crook. Even here, all grown up and having gone their separate ways, blood is thicker than water - or “family first good times or bad.” As a matter of fact, the colonel’s words are physically memorialized at his ex-wife’s funeral when he jumps in front of a bullet aimed at Christian, dying for his son. Love knows no bounds.

Young Christian and Justine, his handler. Courtesy IMDb.

I love the way The Accountant tells it’s story in bits and pieces. However, for many viewers this approach feels chaotic and disjointed. But I love how the puzzle comes together from back to front in a similar way to Christian’s approach with the jigsaw puzzle at the beginning of the film. Even the surprise ending revealing the origins of Christian’s handler is a treat. I stand by my advice to watch this uninterrupted behind closed doors, so you can fully absorb the prescience of his flashbacks and slip into the mind of Christian Wolff. So you can literally feel the way his family and his later-life supporters continually close ranks around him to ensure he has every chance to live life to the fullest.

And now, I’m curious if your answer is still the same.

When I started writing I never expected people to read it, especially after seeing how many amazing writers are on SubStack. As I prepare to implement a ‘tip jar’ to begin earning an income from my craft, I want you to know there is nothing like the realization that somehow my thoughts and words are worthwhile to you. Thank you.