I had fun this week making a movie review for the 2016 Film “The Accountant.”
VIDEO SUMMARY
So I was walking in the grocery store and I saw a huge display of DVDs for the movie “The Accountant.” And since on this channel we talk about accounting… I thought it would be fun to do a movie review of the film. The Accountant was released in 2016 and stars Ben Affleck as an accountant. But not just any accountant, it is more like an accountant slash hitman. So it is this fun action-adventure story centering around accounting. The female accountant in the film is played by Anna Kendrick. Now I don’t know what else this actress has been in, but she is fantastic. She is likeable, and emotional, portrays a subtle but complex character. I hope she does more movies.
So overall, this is a fun movie. But as an accountant myself, I do have a problem with this movie. So to understand what is going on here, you need to know a little bit about film history. Let’s take a look at how accountants are portrayed in films. 1984 Ghostbusters. The accountant was played by Rick Moranis. In that film, he throws bad parties, he can’t dance, he is generally awkward. 1987 The Untouchables. There are two accountants, the cop’s accountant and the mob’s accountant. They both wear glasses. They are both this stereotypical nerd character. 1988 Midnight Run starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Charles Grodin plays the accountant who is socially awkward in the buddy movie where the two are on the run from the Mafia and the FBI. Now I could keep going, but what you start to see is a pattern. Where Hollywood likes to portray accountants as this stereotype character that is socially awkward and a nerd.
Fast forward to 2016 and “The Accountant.” Now you might be tempted to say, hey, this breaks the stereotype, because we have an accountant as a main character in an action movie. But I like to look a little closer than that. If you look at the character Ben Affleck plays, it is the accountant stereotype taken to the extreme, so much so that he has serious mental disorders. He is socially isolated to the extreme, so much so that he has no relationships, not even with his family. He has trouble interacting with other people, so much so that he runs around killing people. So what this movie is doing, is taking the stereotype of an accountant, that Hollywood has been portraying for decades, and takes that character to the extreme. The result is a stereotype that is not very realistic of what an accountant is like.
Accountants are passionate, dynamic, interesting, complex, they are great at working with people. I work with accountants all day long, and they are nothing like this nerdy stereotype Hollywood portrays.
Now don’t take this review as completely negative. I did enjoy the movie, and if they make a sequel, I am definitely going to go see it. And I personally believe Ben Affleck is a good filmmaker. Now interestingly enough, I used to work for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s production company. This was so long ago, that I forgot I used to work there until I started to make this video. So Matt Damon and Ben Affleck used to have this production company called “Live Planet.” I don’t even know if it is around any more. And I was an intern there during my undergrad. The reason why I went to work there, was they were doing some incredible cutting edge stuff. I don’t know if you remember a show called “Project Greenlight,” I forget what channel that was on, but it was pretty popular. And then there was another show on ABC called “Push, Nevada.” Push, Nevada was so far ahead of it’s time. It had this whole social media aspect to it, before social media was even a thing. This was an incredible show, and my understanding was that Ben was personally involved in creating this show. The reason why this was all relevant, is that Push, Nevada was also about an accountant. But this was a great character. It was complex, deep, compelling and emotional. Now, the show did not have very good ratings and ABC cancelled it after only 7 episodes. But ABC still has locked away what happens in the final 6 episodes. I think we should demand that ABC release the final 6 episodes of Push, Nevada. The reason why I say that is I cared about this accountant character. I want to know what happens.
So I am getting a little off track. I do want to make 2 points about the movie “The Accountant.”
- My message to Hollywood is to stop writing characters based on this accounting stereotype. It’s really just lazy screenwriting. Accountants are so much more than that.
- My message to accountants is don’t buy the image that Hollywood has been telling you of what an accountant is like. Accountants are not nerds. Accountants are not socially awkward. I want you to listen to me very carefully. Accountants are dynamic, passionate, engaging individuals who go into the office every day and fight to make the world and their companies’ a better place. And don’t believe Hollywood or anybody else who tries to tell you anything different. The world needs accountants. We need new young people who are interested in putting in the effort to do this engaging and very important work.
So I hoped you liked my review of the accountant. It’s just my opinion. If you have a different opinion, go ahead and leave a comment below. If you liked this video, go ahead and subscribe to my channel. I release a new video on accounting and corporate finance each week. So come back and check out next week’s video.
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Neither Zach De Gregorio or Wolves and Finance Inc. shall be liable for any damages related to information in this video. It is recommended you contact a CPA in your area for business advice.