What movie puts the protagonist through the absolute ringer for it to all pay off in the end?
Bladerunner 2049
Training Day, a movie about a rookie cop who gets paired with a corrupt senior on his first day who manipulates him from the beginning. ''I should have been a fireman"
Gattaca. I am not sure if you can call it an absolute ringer, but it does feel all the hard work pays off in the end.
In my opinion, V for Vendetta. What Evie Hammond was put through was inexcusable, but I feel like it was worth it in the end.
Not sure if worth it, but it was definitely a cathartic movie.
That’s the beauty of it I think. We’re left with this ambiguous feeling about whether the end actually justified the means.
Maybe they did, but surely there was a better way, right? Or was there really not? We can’t know.
Waking Life
Nice to see someone else knows that one! I was coming here to suggest that
Hell yeah! Great movie.
Cast Away
Kung Fu Panda 2. A funny panda movie about dealing with buried trauma.
I only saw it once a long time ago so I may remember it wrong, but “It’s a Wonderful Life”? I recall being surprised because as a non American I’d heard so much about it as a Christmas movie and expected that genre but when I watched it, it was incredibly depressing and I never watched it again.
The interview.
In big budget movies, protagonists facing unambiguous conflict and getting a clear, concise victory peaked in the 80s and early 90s. A lot of the other movies mentioned in this topic (V for Vendetta, Dredd 2012) have serious throwback vibes. Smaller movies usually have murkier conflict.
For a given value of, “through the ringer,” Karate Kid is my answer. It’s extremely easy to empathize with both Daniel and Mr Miyagi. I appreciate some movies that absolutely destroy the protagonist, but their larger than life troubles are more difficult to empathize with earnestly. Aliens fits well, too, the oppression of a faceless corporation may be heavier now than it was even on release. The Top Gun movies fit pretty well as long as you watched the original a long time ago.
I always found The Life Aquatic to be very cathartic.
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. This is one of my favorite movies. I re-watch it every few years to gain new perspective. Where’s my red stocking cap?
Second
The Big Lebowski… The dude just wanted his rug back.
Really tied the room together
Did it not?
That’s just like, your opinion, man.
Fight Club
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Frodo in LOTR
Shrek
My Cousin Vinny
Did you say two Utes?
In a way, I think: Little Miss Sunshine.
A movie wherein everything, everything goes horribly wrong, and yet in the end you’re left feeling absurdly good.
One of my favorites
Amazing movie. I took Greg Kinnear’s 9 steps seriously for a time. I always loved his conviction.
