# What are some movies where the characters are absurdly incompetent or just flat-out idiots? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624 "2017-04-17T13:53:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dude\_robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8e7dd6/32.png) [@dude\_robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude_robert)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/1 "2017-04-17T13:53:10Z")
For some reason, I love movies where the characters are constantly extremely incompetent, and almost appear as if they’re trying to deliberately earn a darwin award. I just really enjoy scenes where the characters are vastly idiots and get themselves killed in ridiculous ways. I find it exceptionally good comedy, especially when a good youtube movie channel starts criticizing the things the characters do. NOTE: The following scenes are completely made-up from my head and don’t directly refer to any specific literature. For example, let me make a up a scene. Let’s say a local police station receives a call about a murderer. Now, let’s say that the station contains about 10 cops, and that for some reason, the station sends exactly 1 man into the scene, while the other 5 stay at the station and do nothing. The 1 cop is quickly killed, then the station sends 1 more cop, who is also killed, so they repeat this process another 8 times until there are no more police left. They do not bother thinking about calling for reinforcements, they just send the cops 1 by 1 until they have run out. Or let’s say that a well-supplied U.S. Army base is attacked by a large group of melee monsters. The melee monsters can be killed reasonably easily by assault rifles, and the army base has plenty of bullets and shells, but instead the soldiers pull out their knives and rush at the melee monsters and get slaughtered, for the monsters are far better skilled in melee combat than the army men, hence why they are called melee monsters. Another scene would be where a small U.S. armoured division is confronted by medieval men on a large mountain. At first, the medieval rush at the vehicles and get mowed down, but then they employ advanced tactics of hiding slightly under the mountain cliff. This causes the (largely incompetent) U.S. armoured division to rev their engines and drive straight at the hiding medieval men, and drive right off the sheer cliff, plunging to the ground hundreds of meters below, thus wiping out the U.S. armoured division. However, the movie should not be a satire, like Starship Troopers, because then it doesn’t count. It should be entirely serious. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/2 "2017-04-17T14:03:30Z")
In the world of TV, I don’t think you’ll find a more absurdly incompetent flat-out idiot than the charismatic Mr. Chris Peterson from my (probably) most-referenced-to, go-to TV show, _Get a Life_. ETA: _Fawlty Towers_’s (Farty Towels?) Manuel. ---
**Author:** ![dude\_robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8e7dd6/32.png) [@dude\_robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude_robert)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/3 "2017-04-17T14:12:40Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > In the world of TV, I don’t think you’ll find a more absurdly incompetent flat-out idiot than the charismatic Mr. Chris Peterson from my (probably) most-referenced-to, go-to TV show, _Get a Life_. > > ETA: _Fawlty Towers_’s (Farty Towels?) Manuel. Thanks, but errr I was kind of looking for more non-comedy action/combat-themed shows or movies about a larger setting than just one man where the actual plot is built around this man being slightly inept, as **that is the point of the show.** I prefer it when the characters are “accidentally” incompetent, such as when a well-equipped modern military is defeated by something that a WW1 militia could have taken care of. Perhaps something like Starship Troopers, where in the far future of mass-produced giant spaceships and fist-sized nuclear bombs, their main tactics are just charging at the enemy with WW2-era machine guns. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/4 "2017-04-17T14:14:19Z")
> [@dude\_robert](#): > > For some reason, I love movies where the characters are constantly extremely incompetent, and almost appear as if they’re trying to deliberately earn a darwin award. > > I just really enjoy scenes where the characters are vastly idiots and get themselves killed in ridiculous ways. > […] > However, the movie should not be a satire, like Starship Troopers, because then it doesn’t count. It should be entirely serious. Prometheus would seem to qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/5 "2017-04-17T14:20:38Z")
As a counterpoint to the OP’s example where they keep sending the cops in one by one, there is “The Dark Knight Rises” where they apparently send the _entire Gotham police force_ down into the sewers. ---
**Author:** ![dude\_robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8e7dd6/32.png) [@dude\_robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dude_robert)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/6 "2017-04-17T14:39:52Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > As a counterpoint to the OP’s example where they keep sending the cops in one by one, there is “The Dark Knight Rises” where they apparently send the _entire Gotham police force_ down into the sewers. That actually sounds quite bad, because what about all the other police-related emergencies going on in the city? And if the threat was so large it required the entire police force of probably thousands of cops, surely they would just send in the nation guard or something? What if the sewers are flooded with gas or water or something? It sounds reasonably risky to be honest. > [@Jophiel](#): > > Prometheus would seem to qualify. What happens in Prometheus? I’ve never seen it before, but I thought most of the Alien movies were quite good, and the characters were realistic and very competent. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/7 "2017-04-17T15:02:46Z")
> [@dude\_robert](#): > > What happens in Prometheus? I’ve never seen it before, but I thought most of the Alien movies were quite good, and the characters were realistic and very competent. Lots of stuff but the two most egregious examples are a scientist reacting to a strange alien organism (that looks like an albino snake) by trying to pet it and the infamous “I’m being chased by a giant rolling wheel so I’ll go in a straight line rather than to the left or right” scene. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/8 "2017-04-17T15:12:34Z")
Dumb and Dumber wins this award. The sequels even more so. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/9 "2017-04-17T15:19:07Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > In the world of TV, I don’t think you’ll find a more absurdly incompetent flat-out idiot than the charismatic Mr. Chris Peterson from my (probably) most-referenced-to, go-to TV show, _Get a Life_. I initially thought you were referring to Chris Burke, the actor from _Life Goes On_ (with Down’s Syndrome). I was a little horrified. ⭕smack:🆒 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/10 "2017-04-17T15:53:26Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Lots of stuff but the two most egregious examples are a scientist reacting to a strange alien organism (that looks like an albino snake) by trying to pet it and the infamous “I’m being chased by a giant rolling wheel so I’ll go in a straight line rather than to the left or right” scene. The recent movie \*Life \*is that in spades. It’s set on the International Space Station, and rather than the highly intelligent people who normally staff it, for some reason they decided to replace them all with blithering idiots, all of whom are every bit as stupid at the average Hollywood screenwriter. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/11 "2017-04-17T15:55:56Z")
The Big Lebowski ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/12 "2017-04-17T15:58:50Z")
> [@dude\_robert](#): > > What happens in Prometheus? He gets chained to a rock for all eternity, an eagle gnawing at his liver. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/13 "2017-04-17T16:04:31Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I initially thought you were referring to Chris Burke, the actor from _Life Goes On_ (with Down’s Syndrome). I was a little horrified. ⭕smack:🆒 Whew! Glad I wasn’t the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/14 "2017-04-17T16:13:50Z")
I thought he was talking about Chris Elliott in _Get a Life._ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/15 "2017-04-17T16:25:59Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > The Big Lebowski Pretty much every Coen Bros. movie. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/16 "2017-04-17T16:31:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Pretty much every Coen Bros. movie. Well, their comedies I’ll give you. They take their serious movies pretty serious, though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/17 "2017-04-17T16:35:11Z")
Like if the killer-ninja-assassins in _Kill Bill Volume 1_ all attacked at once, instead of one at a time? Is that what you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/18 "2017-04-17T16:36:44Z")
That pretty much a plot summary of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/19 "2017-04-17T16:55:36Z")
_Alien_. Stupid, stupid people from start to finish and who can be counted on doing the wrong things in every circumstances. This is essential for the plot to work, however. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624/20 "2017-04-17T16:58:57Z")
Pretty much every cop (FBI included) who is not John McClane in the first _Die Hard_? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-movies-where-the-characters-are-absurdly-incompetent-or-just-flat-out-idiots/784624.md?page=2)