Picture this: It’s April 16. All returns have been dealt with, and the phones and your inbox are quiet. You re-emerge into the world, blinking in the bright sun. What will you do with your newfound free time? In order to not shock your system, here are some movies that feature tax in the plotline.
The Blues Brothers (1980):
- Plot: Jake and Elwood are on a mission to raise money to save their childhood orphanage from a property tax bill. To do so, they must reunite their R&B band and organize a performance to earn the $5,000 needed.
- Rotten Tomatoes rating: 71%
- Pair with: Deep-dish Chicago style pizza and Miller beer
The Untouchables (1987):
- Plot: The most famous tax story in cinema. Al Capone, untouchable by conventional law enforcement, is ultimately brought down by an IRS investigation into his unreported income.
- Rotten Tomatoes rating: 83%
- Pair with: Baked ziti
The Firm (1993):
- Plot: A hotshot young lawyer discovers his prestigious firm is a front for money laundering and tax fraud.
- Rotten Tomatoes rating: 76%
- Pair with: Memphis dry rub ribs
Lucky Numbers (2000):
- Plot: A local TV weatherman schemes to rig the Pennsylvania lottery, with tax fraud baked into the plot.
- Rotten Tomatoes rating: 23%
- Pair with: Pierogis and Yuengling
Stranger Than Fiction (2006):
- Plot: An IRS auditor begins hearing a narrator’s voice in his head that seems to narrate the text of a novel in which it is stated that he, the main character, will soon die. He frantically seeks to somehow prevent his death.
- Rotten Tomatoes rating: 73%
- Pair with: Home-baked cookies
The Accountant (2016; Part 2, 2025):
- Plot: An autistic CPA makes his living sanitizing fraudulent financial and accounting records of criminal and terrorist organizations experiencing internal embezzlement.
- Rotten Tomatoes rating: 53% (2016), 75% (2025)
- Pair with: A lonely sack lunch and sliced cantaloupe
