The Screenwriter's Revenge

Partisan emotions are running high this election year, but one thing unites us: We all hate paying taxes. So while there's the occasional likeable tax expert in the movies (think Tim Robbins in "Shawshank Redemption") and the rare heroic accountant (Charles Martin Smith in "The Untouchables"), they are exceptions to the rule. Most accountants and IRS agents in movies are bloodless bureaucrats who range from the socially awkward to the positively demonic.