# Movies You Like w/ No Likable Characters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 23, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377 "2020-02-23T02:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/21 "2020-02-23T18:30:15Z")
_Sleuth_. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/22 "2020-02-23T18:37:20Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > It’s hard to think of many, but if I had to pick one, it would be “The Incident” (1967). It’s a great movie, too, a favorite of mine. It’s a straight-forward thriller (Martin Sheen’s first role, and possibly Beau Bridges), but it’s also allegorical. Wasn’t Beau Bridges’ character pretty likeable? Easy-going country-boy, wounded war hero, and the only one with the guts to stand up to the bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/23 "2020-02-23T18:43:45Z")
_A Clockwork Orange_ _A Boy and His Dog_ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/24 "2020-02-23T18:57:26Z")
_Requiem for a Dream_ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/25 "2020-02-23T19:43:47Z")
I enjoyed _In Bruges_ a lot, but all of the characters are various flavors of terrible. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/26 "2020-02-23T20:02:29Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _Leaving Las Vegas_ I thought Elisabeth Shue’s character was pretty likeable. > [@Colibri](#): > > _The Hateful Eight_ are indeed all pretty hateful. Good call. That’s probably an exception for me though. Generally if I like a movie I find one of the characters likeable in some way, even if they’re evil. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/27 "2020-02-23T22:22:33Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Wasn’t Beau Bridges’ character pretty likeable? Easy-going country-boy, wounded war hero, and the only one with the guts to stand up to the bad guys. Yes, you are 100% correct, but for some reason, I didn’t like him. I saw the movie as an allegory for society. “Together We Stand, Divided We Fall” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/28 "2020-02-23T23:43:31Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _Leaving Las Vegas_ This was the first one I thought of. Also: Requiem for a Dream Gummo Drugstore Cowboy Rope Death and the Maiden Pan’s Labyrinth Pulp Fiction and probably too many others to list. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/29 "2020-02-23T23:52:12Z")
WRT Requiem for a Dream: I thought the characters were likable, just tragic. I didn’t like what happened to them, even if it was largely due to their bad choices. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/30 "2020-02-23T23:55:16Z")
Chicago. They’re all horrible people except for the Hunyack, and she’s a less than minor character. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/31 "2020-02-23T23:59:30Z")
\*The War of the Roses. \*Perhaps the Danny Devito character evokes some sympathy, but he’s just telling the story, and Douglas and Turner are pretty unlikable. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/32 "2020-02-24T00:37:09Z")
My first thought was The Grifters. ---
**Author:** ![Crossbreed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Crossbreed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crossbreed)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/33 "2020-02-24T03:14:24Z")
[It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/) [Trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BAtxv62H6c) ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/34 "2020-02-24T13:34:04Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > This was the first one I thought of. > > Also: > > Requiem for a Dream > Gummo > Drugstore Cowboy > Rope > Death and the Maiden > Pan’s Labyrinth > Pulp Fiction > > and probably too many others to list. I don’t remember details, but why was the lead character in Pan’s Labyrinth (the girl) not likable? And I’ll go with Bruce Willis being likable in Pulp Fiction. Yeah, he killed his boxing opponent and wasn’t upset about it — but it wasn’t on purpose, and we don’t know how corrupt his opponent was. Beyond that he was brave, honorable and even tender. His girl friend was also written as naive, but sweet and likable. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/35 "2020-02-25T04:52:04Z")
I just remember all the violence in “Pan’s Labyrinth.” It’s been a while. Another movie I haven’t seen here is “American Beauty.” I didn’t see it in the theater because it got such mixed reviews; I finally saw it on video a few years later, and LOVED it - although I certainly understood why so many people wouldn’t have liked that movie, because they were living it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/36 "2020-02-25T05:10:53Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > I don’t remember details, but why was the lead character in Pan’s Labyrinth (the girl) not likable? > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I just remember all the violence in “Pan’s Labyrinth.” It’s been a while. The only unlikable human characters in _Pan’s Labyrinth_ were Captain Vidal and the other fascists. (Of course the Pale Man was pretty horrific too, but not human.) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/37 "2020-02-25T05:13:14Z")
Everyone in \*\*Clue \*\*was there because they were unlikeable. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/38 "2020-02-25T05:21:42Z")
nm… ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/39 "2020-02-25T05:26:56Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _Requiem for a Dream_ What did the mother do wrong? Minus the pills, which was the result rather than the cause, I think many older widows go through her suffering on some level. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377/40 "2020-02-25T12:16:06Z")
**Rush** - Niki Lauda and James Hunt were both deeply flawed men. **Way of the Gun** - there are no “good guys” here. **John Wick** - _everyone’s_ a murderer. Except maybe the dog. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-like-w-no-likable-characters/848377.md?page=3)