100 Decent Folk In Cinema

[EdHocken]

If Bunny Breckinridge from Ed Wood isn't up already. Consider him my choice.

[Junior]

64 or so

Elwood P. Dowd, Harvey. He has a good time wherever he is, whomever he's with. And he's Jimmy Stewart.

On second thought, I withdraw mine for being too easy. And my backup was Lionel Barrymore's Grandpa from You Can't Take It With You, so I think I just suck at this game.

[Chris Spider]

Going to the Miyazaki well for these two:

Osono-Kiki's Delivery Service-She is completely warm, loving, good-humored and someone you'd love to have as a mother.

Dad-My Neighbor Totoro-Ebert pointed this out, but it bears repeating: Not for a moment does Satsuki and Mei's dad doubt or dismiss their reports of fantastic creatures like many movie parents. He is completely kind and trusting, and practically a big kid himself: "That's great! I've always wanted to live in a haunted house!"

What number are we on, curiously?

[Sleeplesslumber]

Here is the a list of those chosen so far:

1. Bobby Cannavale as Joe Oramas, THE STATION AGENT
2. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mocking Bird.
3. Richard Jenkins as Ted Treffon in Burn after Reading
4. Mageina Tovah as Ursula Ditkovich, Spider-Man 2 and 3
5. Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption
6. Raul Julia as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family
7. Danny Glover as Simon, Grand Canyon
8. Russel Means as Old Indian, Natural Born Killers
9. Dennis Hopper as Clifford Worley, 'True Romance'.
10. Frances McDormand as Margie Gunderson - FARGO
11. Steve Buscemi as "Donnie" - The Big Lebowski
12. Laurence Fishburne as Furious Styles in Boyz n the Hood
13. Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell - No Country For Old Men
14. Giuletta Masina as Gelsomina in La Strada
15. Hal Holbrook as Ron Franz in Into the Wild
16. O.P. Heggie & Gene Hackman as the Blind Hermit (Bride of Frankenstein/Young Frankenstein)
17. Glenn Ford as Jonathan Kent in Superman
18. Henry Fonda as Tom Joad in Grapes of Wrath.
19. Martin Sheen as Detective Captain Oliver Queenan, THE DEPARTED
20. Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life
21. Charlie Chaplin as The Tramp in City Lights
22. Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb in The Green Mile.
23. Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell in 'Die Hard'.
24. Christian Bale as Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence in Little Women
25. Jimmy Stewart - Jefferson Smith, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
26. Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine "Casablanca"
27. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as Ted "Theodore" Logan and Bill S. Preston Esq. in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
28. Steve Carell as Andy Stitzer in The 40 Year Old Virgin.
29. Clive Owen as Theo Fanon and Micheal Caine as Jasper in Children of Men
30. Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell in Moon
31. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho II
32. Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson in Ferris Bueller's Day Off
33. Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe in 'The Long Goodbye'
34. John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler in SAY ANYTHING
35. Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stanz in Ghostbusters.
36. Sean Astin as Samwise 'Sam' Gamgee in Lord Of The Rings
37. Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, BATMAN BEGINS/THE DARK KNIGHT
38. Holly Hunter as Elastigirl in The Incredibles
39. William Atherton as Walter Peck in Ghostbusters (Note: There has been a motion to strike this character from this list)
40. Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker in 'Spider-man'
41. Jonathan Price as Sam Lowry in Brazil
42. Clancy Brown as Lt. Jimmy Williams in The Hurricane
43. Russell Crowe as Officer Wendell 'Bud' White in LA Confidential
45. Roy Scheider as Martin Brody in Jaws
46. John Candy as Del Griffith in Planes, Trains & Automobiles
47. Ben Kingsley as Vice President Nance in Dave
48. Justin Long as Clay Dalton in Drag Me to Hell
49. Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca in the Original Star Wars Trilogy
50. Gregory Peck as James McKay in the Big Country
51. Graham Greene as Kicking Bird in Dances With Wolves
52. TC "Twin Cities" Ellis in GRAFFITI BRIDGE
53. Reggie Bannister in Phantasm
54. Brian Cox as James Brogan in 25th Hour.
55. Chris Messina and Melanie Lynskey as Tom and Munch Garnett in Away We Go
56. Robert Forster as Max Cherry in Jackie Brown
57. Ellen Burstyn as Edna Mae McCauley in Resurrection.
58. Siobhan Fallon as Brenda in Dancer In The Dark.
59. Catherine Keener as Harper Lee in Capote
60. Cameron Diaz as Mary in There's Something About Mary.
61. Ben Kingsley as Itzak Stern in Schindler's List.
62. The many roles of John C. Reilly
63. Stephen Dillane as Leonard Woolf in The Hours
64. John Voight as “Ed” in Deliverance.
65. Timothy Hutton as Brian Moreland in Taps
66. Bill Murray as Bunny Breckinridge in Ed Wood
67. Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey
68. Osono in Kiki's Delivery Service
69. “Dad” in My Neighbor Totoro

As Number 70 I choose:
Barbara Bel Geddes as Midge Wood in Vertigo

A woman who was more handsome than beautiful. Yet she stayed by Jimmy Stewart's side through a nervous breakdown because she loved him, even though he was blind to the fact. A figure that was almost more tragic than Jimmy Stewart's character in the film.

[Expo67]

Seymour Cassel as Bert Fischer in Rushmore.

"Mr. Fischer's my father's name. Call me Bert."

[Fat Elvis]

72. Scatman Crothers as Dick Hallorann The Shining

Takes truly a good heart to leave a vacation, drive through a snowstorm, and risk supernatural danger just to save a bratty little white kid!

[JetManX]

Eric Bana as Avner in MUNICH.

Not only is he patriotic, kosher, and a great family man, but he sacrifices pieces of his soul and years of his life hunting down terrorists. In the end, he has the old-fashioned goodwill to actually face down the moral crisis of revenge. And what has he gained? He can't stop thinking about Munich, even while screaming during sex. And the Twin Towers loom over his shoulder.

[Cameron Hughes]

Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin) in Midnight Run

When Mardukas found out the company he was accountant at was run by the Mafia, he embezzled millions and gave it to charity. Relentlessly friendly and optimistic, he just wants to be your buddy and raise his family and have a good life.

[thejumbo]

75. Ashitaka (Billy Crudup) in Princess Mononoke

While defending his village from an unknown monster, he is cursed by the creature, and told that he will die from it. He must go into exile, and whilst in exile, finds himself in the middle of various factions at war (nature vs. technology). During this time, he acts as the viewers eyes, and serves as the film's moral center.

His ultimate goal is to stop the fighting that exists all around him.

Sound pretty decent to me.

[Merriweather]

76. Toby Jones as Olly Weeks in THE MIST - Really conveys the basic decency and honesty of the Ollie found in King's story. His death is a real gutpunch. Plus, he even feels bad after shooting Mrs. Carmody.

[Chris Spider]

77. Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood)-Star Trek (2009)-He knows Kirk has the makings of a great captain, he will gladly give himself up for the safety of his crew, and he's played by Bruce Greenwood, who I'm not sure is capable of playing a scumbag. What more could you want?

[Judas Booth]

Originally Posted by Chris Spider

he's played by Bruce Greenwood, who I'm not sure is capable of playing a scumbag.

'Double Jeopardy'.

[The_Bodhisattva]

Originally Posted by Sleeplesslumber

39. William Atherton as Walter Peck in Ghostbusters (Note: There has been a motion to strike this character from this list)

Can we go ahead and do that, by the way? There's no way he deserves to be with the other characters on this list. It was a joke suggestion that slid by.

[Judas Booth]

I'd have no problem deleting him (he was my suggestion). I nominated him to try and stir up some discussion regarding 'decency'.

[joeypants]

Originally Posted by Merriweather

76. Toby Jones as Olly Weeks in THE MIST - Really conveys the basic decency and honesty of the Ollie found in King's story. His death is a real gutpunch. Plus, he even feels bad after shooting Mrs. Carmody.

Nice. It's a real testament to Jones' acting that he would shortly after totally flip the script and very effectively play one of the most un-decent cocksuckers in history (Karl Rove).

[The_Bodhisattva]

Originally Posted by Judas Booth

I'd have no problem deleting him (he was my suggestion). I nominated him to try and stir up some discussion regarding 'decency'.

I figured that was it, but it kind of just passed without discussion when it happened and now it looks really odd on the list. Although the question of whether or not Peck just doing his job qualifies him as decent is interesting. I'd argue that it doesn't, due to the relish with which he belittles people and his general dickish behavior.

edited for typo

[Judas Booth]

Originally Posted by The_Bodhisattva

I figured that was it, but it kind of just passed without discussion when it happened and now it looks really odd on the list. Although the question of whether or not Peck just doing his job qualifies him as decent. I'd argue that it doesn't, due to the relish with which he belittles people and his general dickish behavior.

Agreed 100%, although it really is Venkman who sets him off. When he makes his first appearance, he really is being quite reasonable in his request on behalf of the EPA. It's entirely possible that, had Venkman obliged his request then and there, everything would have turned out fine for the company.

[The_Bodhisattva]

Originally Posted by Judas Booth

Agreed 100%, although it really is Venkman who sets him off. When he makes his first appearance, he really is being quite reasonable in his request on behalf of the EPA. It's entirely possible that, had Venkman obliged his request then and there, everything would have turned out fine for the company.

That's valid, Venkman wouldn't make it on this list either. I wonder if the fact that Peck's played by William Atherton would be evidence enough for his exclusion. Has that dude EVER played a decent human being?

This conversation makes me that "Villains Who Were Just Doing Their Jobs" would be an interesting thread. But I think it already exists somewhere.

[Judas Booth]

Originally Posted by The_Bodhisattva

That's valid, Venkman wouldn't make it on this list either. I wonder if the fact that Peck's played by William Atherton would be evidence enough for his exclusion. Has that dude EVER played a decent human being?

Check out 'Sugarland Express' sometime, it will make you re-evaluate what he's capable of. I've also seen him play normal people in bit parts here and there ('The Last Samurai' comes to mind), but his bread and butter has really been as the go-to guy when you want a top notch ASSHOLE.

There has been a thread regarding 'bad guys who were actually good guys' (I think he's on there for Peck), and there's also been a 'top cinematic assholes' thread where he was the undisputed winner.

[The_Bodhisattva]

That's the thread I was thinking of.

I have seen Sugarland Express and it is awesome, and he is awesome in it. I totally forgot about it. I'm too lazy for even a cursory IMDB filmography perusal.

[Sleeplesslumber]

I'd be happy to remove Walter Peck from the list, but I would still would like him to appear so others can see how the list is evolving. Is there any way to do strikethrough text on these forums?

I've tried any number of tags. [s] [/s] [strike] [/strike] [line] [/line] [slash] [/slash] [strikethrough] [/strikethough] all don't seem to fit the bill and those were the ones that came up in a google search.

[Chris Spider]

Originally Posted by Judas Booth

'Double Jeopardy'.

Really? That's quite interesting; what kind of scumbag, curiously?

[Z.Vasquez]

[QUOTE= There has been a thread regarding 'bad guys who were actually good guys' (I think he's on there for Peck), and there's also been a 'top cinematic assholes' thread where he was the undisputed winner.[/QUOTE]

Here ya go: http://chud.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118066

Atherton's not a bad guy in Day of the Locust.

[Merriweather]

Originally Posted by joeypants

Nice. It's a real testament to Jones' acting that he would shortly after totally flip the script and very effectively play one of the most un-decent cocksuckers in history (Karl Rove).

And Swifty Lazar not three months after that! I always pictured Oliver Platt as Ollie when reading the novel - bigger, more heavyset, kind of a loveable oaf. But Jones is just perfect in that role.

[Judas Booth]

Originally Posted by Chris Spider

Really? That's quite interesting; what kind of scumbag, curiously?

He was the bad guy in the film. He fakes his own murder and frames his wife for it, he kills the woman that he runs off with, and he attempts the murder of his wife when she finally catches up with him. He's also a smarmy, arrogant asshole throughout the entire second half of the film.

It's not a great movie, but he's plays a very effective bad guy.

[Merriweather]

He's kind of a douche in I, ROBOT too.