Accountant, The (2001) (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Ray McKinnonRelease Date(s)
2001 (April 7, 2026)Studio(s)
Ginny Mule Pictures (Lightyear Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: F
Review
The Accountant is a lovely Southern Gothic folk tale—two brothers Tommy (Walton Goggins) and David (Eddie King) own a ruined but beautifully vistaed farm. David has control, but under his hand, the farm sits dilapidated and minutes from foreclosure with upwards of two hundred thousand dollars in debt. Upon hearing about a neighboring farm in a similar situation, Tommy decides to make a call to their solution himself—a mysterious but quirky Faustian accountant played by Ray McKinnon. He understands numbers, loves smoking and drinking PBR and has specific thoughts about society. After going through all their paperwork, auditing the farm and crunching all the numbers, he determines there is really one way out and it involves a huge loss netting a huge insurance payout. But are the brothers strong enough, or weak enough, to fix their problem?
I used to work with Phil Walden, Jr., son of the legendary Southern rock godfather Phil Walden, and he showed me this film after it was originally produced and he was really proud of it. Moreso, after it won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short—I’m not sure what hand he had in this getting made—he was partners with his father in a second phoenix rising of Capricorn Records and Capricorn produced Randy and the Mob, McKinnon and Goggin’s follow-up feature—so maybe it was just a financial patronage. I just mention this because it was my introduction to the film and I really miss Phil, who passed away in 2011 under really stupid circumstances. Anyway.
Although it’s a forty-minute short film, it has the heft of a long form feature—which may answer why Lightyear felt confident releasing this as a standalone disc. It’s also included as a special feature on the Randy of the Mob release reviewed here so if you’re a fan or looking to pick this up, you have a few options for owning this. Ray McKinnon, as writer, director and star, showcases incredible talents in front of and behind the camera and Goggins is great here in an understated role we forgot he was so good at playing. There’s a reason this won an Oscar and this is well worthy of your time.
Presented on disc at 1.78:1, the look and feel is similar to Randy and The Mob, but the elements aren’t damaged, so it scores a bit higher. Grain is high but it suits the film nicely. It feels like a stylized Southern Gothic story. Audio is 2.0 stereo (no subs) and sounds a bit more open than Randy and The Mob. No extras are featured.
- Todd Doogan