Emily Blunt, currently playing the female lead in The Wolfman.
Thanks—that’s her…
(Mighty easy on the eyes, eh?)
Also in the non-movie category, in Possession the initial couple in the modern-day part (and I’ve totally forgotten their names - maybe her name is Val?) are absolutely horrible for each other, and she at least seems like a complete bitch because of it, but both end up in relationships where they are (at least initially) a good deal happier and more fulfilled.
I could be wrong, but for some reason I was thinking that term came before His Girl Friday, in fact, I thought I read somewhere that the director for The Awful Truth (which IIRC was a damn similar movie) told him to act more like a “Ralph Bellamy” which he didn’t find all that funny since he didn’t like having that image.
I never would have thought of that. I guess the only reason he comes off as a douche is because we really only see him though Robin’s eyes. If that movie were done through any one elses POV, he would have been a great guy and Robin would have been the creepy douchey ex-husband.
I’ll third it. In fact, to the extent that I like SR, I’d say it’s because it at least honestly admits that, as a boyfriend, its title character stinks.
ETA: Also, we should mention My Best Friend’s Wedding, which is even more honest in admitting that the main character is the villain.
Also: the Jimmy Stewart character in The Philadephia Story.
It’s funny you say that, because I always found it a bit annoying that The Graduate DID include a brief scene suggesting that Elaine’s boyfriend/husband was a jerk who didn’t deserve her. When Benjamin is trying to find out about the wedding from the fraternity guys, one of them makes a comment about being surprised the “Make-Out King” is getting married. I took this to mean that Elaine’s fiance was a known womanizer and would likely cheat on her.
Of course it’s possible that his reputation was exaggerated or that he planned to give up his crown once he tied the knot. But this line always struck me as being put in just to make the audience less sympathetic towards the guy who’s about the get jilted.
I’m unable to think of a single movie with this plot. Did you have some particular movie in mind?
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Some Kind of Wonderful, but I don’t remember Amanda being portrayed as a raving bitch or anything. And the Dutchess in syfy’s Alice (out on dvd yesterday, yay) isn’t one either, since towards the end it’s pretty clear she likes Jack and isn’t just manipulating him for the queen.
It’s only romantic if she likes the nickname, but there’s no indication that she really does. And if you’re going to nickname someone, how about nicknaming the one you’re not in love with? Essentially, the name thing indicates his pushy, assertive behavior that seems to steamroll over her sensibilities. He “loves” her (but gets over that quickly), but doesn’t seem to actually listen to her that much. He’s in love with being in love with her without taking the effort to actually care about her feelings more.
Yeah, he’s portrayed as the classic American jock type.
Ralph Bellamy was named in the first few posts of this thread. He was the safe, dull, reliable choice but lost both Rosalind Russell and Irene Dunne to the rogue, unpredictable, slightly selfish charmer Cary Grant (in His Girl Friday and The Awful Truth respectively).
Cary Grant’s characters may not have been exactly “nice”, but he’s definitely not what I’d consider “the archetypal bad boy” either. That would be someone more like Marlon Brando in The Wild One. (Did the love interest in that have a boyfriend already? I don’t remember that she did.)
I don’t agree with that at all. Throughout the film, Azaria’s character is using his wealth and his good looks to intimidate Simon Pegg’s character, to warn him to stay away from his ex-wife - for example, in the locker room scene where he stands naked facing Pegg, presumably to force Pegg to look at his cock, and in the scene in the park, where he gives an outrageously expensive remote controlled boat to Pegg’s son.
He was a rich douche throughout. The ending just confirmed it.
Except for flirting outrageously and (I think) falling for the TV presenter lady
IIRC, at least he had the stones to tell Meg Ryan “I just don’t love you anymore.” Or something along those lines. It’s not like Kathleen came home one day and caught the two of them in bed together.
Except for the “This Little Piggy” song.
How about Christopher Reeve in Changing Channels, William Hurt in Broadcast News, or Harvey Dent (pre-disfigurement) in The Dark Knight?
Well in Dudley Do-Right, once Snidely Whiplash succeeds in having Dudley drummed out of the Mounties, he becomes “respectable”, at which point it becomes clear that he is, in fact, bland and ineffectual, whereas bad-boy Dudley is just the man for [del]Carrie Bradshaw[/del] Nell Fenwick.
in 2012, the dentist is quite a nice guy, and actually saves everyone a couple times.
In that case, couldn’t we assume this is what happens after the nice guy won the girl away from the asshole?
See, that’s what happens when you date nice guys.
Yes, and Rand deliberately worked it out that way, to hammer home the principle that rational men can compete with each other for even the highest of values, without that whole “dog-eat-dog” thing.
Rand’s own marriage was another example.