10 Smart Movies That Tricked Us Into Rooting For The Bad Guys

Was the ultimate villain of these movies the screenwriter?
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[@donaldfrederick501]

Interesting - thought Edward Norton in Primal Fear would have made the list.

[@italianviking80]

What about Michael Douglas's character in "Falling Down"?

[@Whoischrislewis]

Yes great example

[@DTA707]

Perfect example

[@dylanogg347]

"TOO MUCH!"

[@HariSeldon913]

Because he was mostly targeting organizations people already hate - the convenience store owner so greedy he took a beating over 15 cents, McDonalds, and road construction (needed, but nobody likes driving through it).

[@ScottCrouse]

Kevin Costner in "No Way Out"

[@caseymacmacl7463]

It would definitely be Primal Fear for me. That whole Aaron/Roy switcheroo had me fooled right to the end!

[@kumbazzz]

I was lucky enough to see hard candy after the first 15-20 minutes had played and without having seen the trailer A much much better film when you don’t know whether Patrick Wilson is guilty or not

[@DTA707]

Nobody rooted for Lou in Nightcrawler at any point 😂

[@Hipp0campus_1]

Ed Norton in Primal Fear. And Josh Hartnett in Lucky Number Slevin (Though I'm not sure he really counts as the bad guy here).

[@jarrodbright5231]

The Wrong Man / Lucky Number Slevin was a revenge movie disguised as a romantic comedy. Slevin was the protagonist of both but that doesn't make him a bad guy despite revenge movies often following a morally questionable character. Primal Fear is probably one of the best examples though.

[@danielrodriguez6080]

I would add Neil McCauley in “Heat”

[@beatrixdobson4795]

What about Sweeney Todd?

[@patrick-aka-patski]

Would never root for a character played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Even in The Day after Tomorrow I rooted for the ice to get him

[@DTA707]

I'm the same way with James Franco 🤣🤣

[@kraigowaffles2110]

But with Goodfellas, if you didn't know the story of Henry Hill and watched it blind like that, it's a major twist at the end that he rats out the other guys and goes into witness protection. Because his "character" seems like the last guy to ever do so because he loved the life so much.

[@jjgonzalez7703]

I never questioned the amount of punishment in hard candy. If anything, it wasn't enough

[@southern_welsh_cowboy]

I’d throw in another Johnny Depp performance - as Mort Rainy in Secret Window. An overlooked film that has you right behind Depp all the way. So much so that when the twist is finally revealed it’s still had to actually turn on him.

[@chanelhenderson8460]

"I know I can do it...Tod Downey said helping himself to another ear of corn from the stamina bowl...I'm sure that in time her death will become a mystery...even to me"

[@thelozza3397]

I was expecting Frank Abagnale Jr in Catch Me If You Can. You do feel bad for him that he ran away from home as a teen and conned to survive but the dude committed so many federal offences at the time.

[@nellurban7826]

wait were you guys actually cheering for Lou in Nightcrawler?

[@kurtb8474]

These may be 10 smart movies, but there are more than 10. The late 60s and early 70s had many movies that had us rooting for bad guys. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Charley Varrick, Cool Hand Luke just to name a few.

[@iamthewerebear4837]

Devils Rejects, anyone? The Firefly family were pure evil but holy shit, they were infinitely more likable than the clearly out of his mind Sheriff Wydell.

[@joekoe97]

Although Hannibal is not really a good movie, Hopkins is incredible in it.

[@katywhite6370]

I think you root for him even more in Hannibal Rising. He's doing terrible things but you totally understand why and want him to get his revenge.

[@Mike-fq1jl]

The Killing Gene with Stellen Skarsgard I apologize if I misspelled

[@O4FUXACHE]

Paul Atreides - Dune . . .

[@zaturnneo]

Public Enemy is good, I just didn't need to watch past the first time. I grew up outside of Dilingers home town, so I heard a lot about the man and the myth.

[@yourstruly4817]

11: The Lost World Jurassic Park, Nick van Owen sabotaged the expedition and got a lot of innocent people killed in the process

[@GroundhogJay]

Nah, no part of me ever wanted his torment to stop in Hard Candy. He deserved it all.

[@MagusA87]

Disappointed Ocean's 11 (2001) was not mentioned. Sure, the antagonist was a jerk, but the movie still had us cheering for a group of casino heisters who directly caused a city-wide blackout for their scheme.

[@tyrellr7818]

Captain Jack Sparrow vs. Batman. I can see why everyone roots for John.

[@chanelhenderson8460]

Robert DeNiro - Heat Marlon Brando/James Caan - The Godfather Al Pacino/Robert DeNiro - The Godfather prt 2 Gerard Butler - Law Abiding Citizen Johnny Depp - Sweeny Todd

[@anthonyohara2132]

Hard Candy should not be on this list. There is no sympathy for Child Rapists. And all the little boys being triggered by acknowledging Elliot Page by his name - You are entitled to your opinion, but that doesn’t make your opinion right.

[@kelleyk28]

But that doesn't make your opinion right either. Calling him by the name he used when he was in that movie is less confusing. I had no idea he changed his name until 2 years ago, since I don't watch TV or the news. Elliot was not his name in Hard Candy. Doesn't matter why he changed it, the fact is, he was Ellen then. Calling him Ellen when talking about any movie he does now, would be disrespectful.

[@kawaiiyet8514]

Johnny Depp... IS.

[@aaronhepler8070]

....over-rated

[@kawaiiyet8514]

@@aaronhepler8070 you wish lol

[@rorylynch7775]

.....A washed up has been and a lazy actor

[@noeldavid3184]

An American treay

[@mrmojomajestic8317]

​@@kawaiiyet8514 "You wish lol" What ? That makes no sense !! You are made of stupid.

[@SinCitysOnly]

Y'all at WhatCulture are still backing up Amber Heard?

[@HariSeldon913]

Rocky Horror.

[@cannibalbananas]

I liked the 1st 1/2 of Us, but as soon as they started explaining everything, they lost my attention & the horror element. Also, why did Red need to explain anything if Adelaide already knew the why? 🙄

[@djcruiselover3827]

I can’t lie public enemies is just a downright bad movie. It’s a pretty movie. But it’s bad.

[@alm2187]

US might be a smart movie in the sense that an Escher drawing is smart art. It kinda can't make sense.

[@bperlmutter]

Too bad John Dillinger isn't alive to play Johnny Depp and to make him likeable

[@corbz273]

Matt Damon in the Departed

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content guys 😊😊

[@TombRaiderLover1995]

I don't need to be tricked, people like me ALWAYS naturally root for the bad guys as let's be real here, all good guys suck.

[@AldrianCG]

Where’s Blade Runner?

[@aaronhepler8070]

Can you blame Adelaide though?

[@Wesiswhack]

this is the same video they did years ago and i mean to a t

[@fredgarvinism]

Enjoy the films sure, but root for any of these? really?

[@BloodyAngel88]

HAH! Joke's on you...I HATED Anakin in the movies. (One the other hand, I did kind of like him in the Clone Wars series)

[@wafflebroz]

7:00 She was Ellen Page at this time. She has decided to transition, but that does not erase who she was

[@bheast86]

I think that filmgoers were familiar enough with Annakin and Hannibal to know already they were watching the bad guy. Likewise with PUBLIC ENEMIES which wasn't the first biopic of Dillinger. It was Ellen Page in HARD CANDY, not Elliot in drag; don't pretend you knew what was coming.

[@MultiAbstrak]

these are all like movies i went "SKIP!" to

[@davet319]

"Elliot Page" 🥴🥴🥴🙄🙄🙄

[@chanelhenderson8460]

Accept it or shut up. Its not ruining your life in any way

[@davet319]

@@chanelhenderson8460 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 No

[@katywhite6370]

Doesn"t take much to trigger the transphobes does it?

[@ShaunHensley]

Hard Candy starred Ellen Page

[@jarrodbright5231]

As a close relative of a trans person who has transitioned, it is normal for a trans person to refer to something done under their former identity as being done by their former name so you would generally be correct here. Probably best to go with the individual's stated preference however - I don't pay much attention to Page since he has dropped out of the spotlight since transitioning but unless he's stated his preference I'd go with the name on the movie's credits.

[@aliensgoesrawr]

i'm sorry, but people felt bad for Jeff in Hard Candy? The pedo? The guy who specifically went out of his way to meet a literal teen and then took her to his house "to take pictures?" Really?

[@kumbazzz]

I stumbled into the movie right when he was drugged so I had no idea whether he was innocent or guilty, made it a much much better movie

[@ebbderelict]

I never saw Hard Candy, but I did see The Woodsman with Kevin Bacon, and he did an excellent job portraying someone what was disgusted with himself, and it did create some empathy for his character... from me at least. I've talked to others about the movie and they did not feel the same way. :D

[@robbobby1118]

Incorrect there is no such thing as too much punishment for those who sexually assult children.

[@skittleboy15]

Stop rewriting history!