# Great acting as antagonists in films who are not really bad/evil but just serious a\*\*holes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-acting-as-antagonists-in-films-who-are-not-really-bad-evil-but-just-serious-a-holes/1022682>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [September 2, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-acting-as-antagonists-in-films-who-are-not-really-bad-evil-but-just-serious-a-holes/1022682 "2025-09-02T17:12:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 9

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**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-acting-as-antagonists-in-films-who-are-not-really-bad-evil-but-just-serious-a-holes/1022682/161 "2025-10-01T23:49:32Z")

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Yeah, I’ve never read _Moby Dick_ but I’ve witnessed others suffering through it. Not sure that would have been my first choice as starter literature.

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2025, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-acting-as-antagonists-in-films-who-are-not-really-bad-evil-but-just-serious-a-holes/1022682/162 "2025-10-03T20:35:57Z")

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My pick? Jack Valentine from _Lord of War_.

Smug. Cocky. Self-righteous. Sanctimonious. An irritating stickler. “Irritating”—I keep coming back to that word. Actually, he brings to mind a description of someone playing an irritating version of a Paladin in an RPG—not quite “bad” as in playing them as a mindless, psychotic zealot, but an irritating few steps short of being full-on “lawful stupid.”

What’s Jack Valentine’s crime? He’s an INTERPOL agent, trying to stop an arms dealer. An illegal arms dealer, who’s helping get people killed, including many innocents. He’s not, by any appearance, doing it for fame or glory or a promotion, he’s a cop trying to use any and all lawful means to _stop a sleazy international criminal who’s peddling death for HIS own gratification and fortune_.

It’s not that in any other story he’d be the “hero,” he IS the hero. He’s not the protagonist—but neither is Freddy Kruger. And the sadistic, undead mass child murderer has more charm and a bigger, more eager fanbase than Agent Jack Valentine. Masterfully portrayed.

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