Manly Movie Men?
Interesting exercise at the Bystanders and also at Christopher Taylor's Word Around the Net about which movie characters are the manliest of all time. I call it an exercise because it reveals a lot about what you think manliness really boils down to. Too many Hollywood characters are just "macho" instead of manly. These people just spray curses, bullets, and, er, copulate indiscriminately with anything that moves. Tony Montana from Scarface, for example. Nothing particularly admirable about him. His principles are just shallow justifications for unchecked appetites. His beliefs are no deeper than a coke-spoon.
My own list of ten manly men would include more men who overcome their nature in service of a more important cause--either overcoming fear to face down an enemy, or sublimating their own internal flaws and darkness in the service of something greater. These aren't just existential Holden Caulfield whiners who have to figure out what they believe. These are people who act on what they believe, and surpass themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Even though the consequences are usually (in a good movie at least), external, cinematic, and dramatic, it's fundamentally an internal battle that men must fight to salvage something from their fallen natures.
My ten, in no particular order other than when I think of them. Note that these are not all good men, but even the worst criminals on this list show something admirable:
1. Dr. Richard Kimball, The Fugitive. This movie was just OK, but the Kimball character was awesome because he wasn't satisfied with escaping his punsihment. He risked going back to death row and fought back against dangerous, evil men to achieve justice.
2. Pike Bishop, The Wild Bunch. How do you hold together a group of nineteenth-century outlaws in a twentieth-century world? By sheer force of will and by holding to deep principles even unto death.
3. (tie) Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood's characters from Where Eagles Dare. I'll write a whole post about them some day to tell you why.
4. Ed (Jon Voight), from Deliverance. Burt Reynolds' Lewis is a manly man, too, but for Ed to climb up that cliff in the dark, and overcome his gentle nature and put an arrow in a man's back...well, it had to be done, and Ed stepped up and did it.
5. Gary Gordon and Mike Shugart, from Black Hawk Down:
Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart, two Delta snipers aboard Super 6-2 request to be inserted and provide defense for the fallen crew until a larger rescue squad arrives. After having their request rejected several times, Command eventually agrees for the two of them to be inserted. Fighting their way to the downed chopper, they rescue an injured Mike Durant and then heroically defend the chopper against mighty odds, as both of them are mortally wounded. Gordon is killed first, as Shughart then hands Duran Gordon's carbine, telling him 'Gordy's gone man, I'll be outside. Good luck,' before leaving and subsequently being killed himself. The crash site is overrun and Durant is taken prisoner.Durant was eventually released. Gordon and Shugart were real people and this actually happened.
6. Carlo Brigante, Carlito's Way. Much more than Scarface, here's a Pacino portrayal of a guy who wants to go straight and do the right thing, but maintain his honor. It's a tragic combination.
7. (tie) Augustus McCrae and Captain Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove.
8. Matthew Quigley, Quigley Down Under. Again, not the greatest movie (though it was fun), but the character is someone who keeps a few aces in the hole and sticks up for his principles. The scene where he throws Alan Rickman out of his own window was great.
9. Father Damien Karras, the Exorcist. Not bad when you figure out how to cheat the devil out of his prize. I hear he hates that.
10. Tom Reagan, Miller's Crossing. Kind of like Burton and Eastwood in number 3, here's a guy who can see all the angles. Yet (spoiler) he's loyal to a fault, incurring his boss's wrath and risking his own life in order to protect him. Reagan is also a thinker, not a brawler, but acquits himself well when the guns and fists come out.
If you think of more, hit the comments.
UPDATE: Occasus links to the Blackhawk Down scene I mentioned. It's pretty hard to watch. But at least Hollywood told these heroes' story, and told it straight. There wasn't some useless toad like Brian DePalma trying to slander them.
Hollywood could afford to be generous, because in Somalia, in 1993, we lost.
Other recommendations for this list: Rick Blaine, of Casablanca fame, and two John Wayne roles: The Quiet Man, and The Cowboys. Having only seen the latter I endorse it wholeheartedly. Cool Hand Luke, too: good nominee.
Sean M. points out that Tom Reagan's loyalty to his boss wasn't all I made it out to be, since he was sleeping with his boss's girlfriend. True, but he didn't screw his boss, even though he was a whole lot smarter than his boss was. He was still was loyal to his boss and helped him out of a hole when it would have been easier, safer, and more profitable to let him fall. His job was to protect his boss's interest, and he did it.