# Great Movies w/ Singular Character in Solitary Despair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, wine\ **Created:** [December 25, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151 "2024-12-25T16:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/21 "2024-12-27T07:52:25Z")
[The Match Factory Girl.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Match_Factory_Girl) Finnish film, directed by Aki Kaurismaki. I’m pretty sure the title is a shoutout to The Little Match Girl. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/22 "2024-12-27T08:08:23Z")
Umberto D an Italian neo-realist film by Vittorio De Sica about an old man struggling with poverty. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/23 "2024-12-27T15:15:07Z")
_Locke_ (2013) with Tom Hardy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/24 "2024-12-27T15:47:17Z")
Does Inside Out count? Sure, there’s a cast of a half-dozen major characters, but they’re all fundamentally the same character. Who is going through some serious isolation and depression. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/25 "2024-12-27T17:10:13Z")
The Machinist. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/26 "2024-12-27T18:54:46Z")
Would _Moon_ qualify? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/27 "2024-12-27T18:58:16Z")
Oh, yes, definitely. And the Kevin Spacey-voiced robot with the sad-face display really got to me, I have to admit. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/28 "2024-12-27T19:00:31Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > It wasn’t a Great Movie (I can’t even remember the name), but it was _one guy,_ driving and talking on a cell phone. His whole life kinda unravels over the course of him driving to attend the birth of his child with some woman he cheated on his wife with. Loses his family, job, the works. As @ZonexandScout said, that was _[Locke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locke_(film))_, starring Tom Hardy, and for me the real drama was about the concrete pour he was responsible for. Not too many movies feature a construction supervisor as the lead character. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/29 "2024-12-27T19:04:07Z")
_Wendy and Lucy_ ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/30 "2024-12-27T19:44:58Z")
Sandra Bullock in **Gravity** ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/31 "2024-12-29T14:51:25Z")
One of my very favorite movies, by my favorite director - Vittorio De Sica (how did I forget THAT?) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2024, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/32 "2024-12-30T04:10:14Z")
_Fight Club_. The whole film is basically the narrator dealing with isolation and despair. I don’t know if it’s a “great” film, but I think _Beau Is Afraid_ counts. How about pretty much any _Mad Max_ film? ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/33 "2025-01-13T18:39:48Z")
Pirosmani [https://youtu.be/OnzjKLDBKXo](https://youtu.be/OnzjKLDBKXo) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/34 "2025-01-13T19:15:47Z")
_Memento_, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/35 "2025-01-13T19:18:22Z")
[127 Hours](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/). ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/36 "2025-01-13T20:25:15Z")
Taxi Driver has to be the poster child of this genre. [Also, Filth.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1450321/) ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151/37 "2025-01-16T14:28:25Z")
“Falling Down” - kind of the 90s version [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-w-singular-character-in-solitary-despair/1012151.md?page=1)