For a profession thatโs apparently incredibly boring, it sure pops up in movies a lot. Since Ben Affleck plays an accountant in your action-packed Sunday night movie (yes, we used action-packed and accountant in one sentence), we decided to take a look at five of our favourite accountants in film.
Breaking Bad
Weโre starting with a cheat because this is actually a TV show; but Anna Gunn is so good as accountant Skyler White, we had to include her. And letโs be honest, without Skylarโs skills, Heisenbergโs true identity would have come out a lot sooner.
Ghostbusters
If movies teach us anything itโs that accountantsโ lives are not as boring as the stereotype would have us believe. Just look at the insane adventures Louis Tully has when he gets embroiled with the ghostbustersโฆalthough his awkward social skills donโt do much for dispelling the accounting stereotype.
The Producers
It went from movie to musical to movie musical, and featured an accountant. Thanks to a plot so ridiculous and elaborate youโll practically need to be an accountant to understand it, a barrel of laughs, and magnificent performances, Leo Bloom remains one of the most memorable accountants in pop culture.ย
Schindlerโs List
For something a little more serious, thereโs this moving and beautifully shot Best Picture Oscar winner. The magnificent Ben Kingsley plays Itzhak Stern, the Jewish accountant to Liam Neesonโs German title character. Together they create the list of the title, saving hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust.
The Shawshank Redemption
This Stephen King adaptation features what is probably our all-time favourite movie accountant: Andy Dufresne. OK, so technically heโs a banker, but heโs got some nifty accounting tricks up his sleeve that lead to a refurbished library and cold beers.
Watch Ben Affleck push numbers and punch faces in The Accountant, your Sunday night movie on 26 November at 20:05 on M-Net.