# Best depiction of mental collapse in film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384 "2007-06-17T20:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/21 "2007-06-18T01:55:30Z")
Geoffrey Rush (and the younger actor who played the younger David Helfgott) in _Shine_. (I know the movie is not terribly accurate, and the real David Helfgott’s sister says it is extremely unfair in its depiction of David’s father, but it is a great movie.) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/22 "2007-06-18T02:51:49Z")
Rock Hudson in _“Seconds”_ ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/23 "2007-06-18T02:54:20Z")
Joanne Woodward- Effect of Gamma-rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds And many a Tuesday Weld movie, but especially Play it as it Lays. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/24 "2007-06-18T05:45:01Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] … Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb - **Sid and Nancy** [/QUOTE] Gary Oldman in [Chattahoochee](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099242/)! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/25 "2007-06-18T05:51:41Z")
Gael Garcia Bernal plays an unstable protagonist coming apart at the seams in the French masterpiece _The Science of Sleep_. As his feelings of betrayal and worthlessness grow, he retreats more and more into a dream world, gradually losing the ability to tell the difference between dreams and reality. (As an aside, best film depiction of the dream state EVER.) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/26 "2007-06-18T06:24:30Z")
The Powder Blue Marine? I remember it from some movie… was it ode to Billy joe, or was it just a similar movie? Billy Joe McCallister came apart… I think it was was also updated or maybe “outdated” in the _Four Feathers_ ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/27 "2007-06-18T06:59:02Z")
Wilford Brimley as Doc in John Carpenter’s remake of “The Thing.” Being better educated and more intelligent than the others, he figures out long before they do what they’re facing, and what it means for their prospects for survival, and it drives him mad. His moments of lucidity only make the horror more … horrible. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/28 "2007-06-18T07:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] The Powder Blue Marine? I remember it from some movie… was it ode to Billy joe, or was it just a similar movie? Billy Joe McCallister came apart… I think it was was also updated or maybe “outdated” in the _Four Feathers_ [/QUOTE] IT was the [Baby Blue Marine](http://imdb.com/title/tt0074173/)… not the Powder Blue Marine. And Ode to Billy Joe was incidental because the last time I saw it was at a Drive-in in the 70’s. (I didn’t realize the homo-erotic overtones until I read the IMDB synopais.). Regardless, I think this trio of movies is what faces us in modern times. What is the opposite of feminism? Because these are man quakes in the current and perhaps timeless mode. Many Men are going to come back damaged in these ways…although the circumstances are different, the masculine inadequacies and pathos are going to be especially magnified in these times. Men are all about their Dicks. ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/29 "2007-06-18T07:41:40Z")
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream - drug induced, but quite a breakdown Sean Gullette in Pi ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/30 "2007-06-18T07:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Nick Nolte in “Affliction”. This movie also features one of the best lines in cinematic history, delivered by a powerful James Coburn. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talkin’ about! 😉 [/QUOTE] Unfair to bring it up and not quote it! I AM NOT going to watch a whole movie for one line. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/31 "2007-06-18T08:35:34Z")
How about the fat guy in Platoon? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/32 "2007-06-18T08:51:42Z")
Howard Hughes (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) in _The Aviator_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/33 "2007-06-18T09:48:16Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Oh, come on, who hasn’t wrecked their hotel room, scared the hell out of a groupie, shaved off all their body hair, then gone for a relaxing swim? [/QUOTE] Everyone who’s anyone, I’m sure, but most people stop short of reinventing themselves as crazed fascist leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/34 "2007-06-18T10:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] How about the fat guy in Platoon? [/QUOTE] At the risk of a whoosh, are you actually referring to Vincent D’Onofrio’s character in _Full Metal Jacket_? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/35 "2007-06-18T12:39:10Z")
Patrick Warburton comes undone quite spectacularly in _The Woman Chaser_. Although he may have been nuts before the beginning of this neo-noir black comedy. Or perhaps \*I \* need to be locked up, since I enjoyed the thing when I saw it on The Sundance Channel. Amazon has some “used–like new” VHS versions; I’d probably buy it on DVD. I mean, it would be _insane_ to buy a used videotape! (Adds to Wish List.) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/36 "2007-06-18T13:32:59Z")
Everyone in _Dr. Strangelove_ at the end…Peter Sellers if I need to pick one. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![gulliver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@gulliver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gulliver)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/37 "2007-06-18T13:50:56Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] At the risk of a whoosh, are you actually referring to Vincent D’Onofrio’s character in _Full Metal Jacket_? [/QUOTE] He was already sort of broke when he enlisted, wasn’t he? Was the latrine scene really a breakdown, then? This is my post. There are many like it, but this one is mine… ---
**Author:** ![Nocturna\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@Nocturna\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturna_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/38 "2007-06-18T14:12:36Z")
Naomi Watts’ ‘Diane’ in Mulholland Drive. That scream at the end… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/39 "2007-06-18T14:31:48Z")
**Christian Bale** in _The Machinist_. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/40 "2007-06-18T14:37:04Z")
[QUOTE=gulliver] He was already sort of broke when he enlisted, wasn’t he? Was the latrine scene really a breakdown, then? This is my post. There are many like it, but this one is mine… [/QUOTE] Nope, it’s the blanket party that does him in. He’s never the brightest bulb in the tree, but he isn’t cracked either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384.md?page=3)