History DesignatedHero / LiveActionFilms

* Jackie [=DiNorscio=] in ''Film/FindMeGuilty''. Though based on actual events and people, the movie, rather than show an honest portrayal of the gangster trial the film is based on, goes out if its way to present Jackie (and by extension, his fellow gangsters) as victims of oppression [[InsaneTrollLogic because the government obviously hates everyone whose name ends in a vowel (something that actual gangsters fervently believe).]] Despite clearly being a remorseless sociopath who expertly manipulates the jury into making the gangsters look innocent, he never actually offers up any evidence that they ''are'' innocent other than....[[NiceToTheWaiter they sometimes tip people whom they see everyday.]] He's racist, insensitive, misogynistic, loves indulging in LogicalFallacies while crying foul whenever far better evidence is used against him, and despite the other gangsters wanting nothing to do with him, he still somehow manages to get them all to come around. His rival, [[DesignatedVillain D.A. Sean Kierney]], is completely accurate in his assessment of why Jackie and his associates are horrible people, and the movie completely glosses over this with borderline [[StrawCharacter straw arguments.]] In the end we're expected to cheer on the fact that the gangsters were acquitted, despite them all clearly being assholes who deserve no sympathy. What makes it worse is that this trope could've been avoided completely if the film had just bothered being objective in its views rather than glamorize it to such absurd amounts.

* ''Film/ItLivesByNight'': Sheriff Ward is supposed to be the hero, and not the StalkerWithACrush, right?

* Massimo for several viewers of ''Film/ThreeHundredSixtyFiveDays''. He's a violent, controlling crime boss involved in all kinds of unsavory things, who kidnaps a woman and sexually harasses her because he's convinced they're meant to be together, regardless of what she wants. Oh, but he thinks child abuse is evil and he promised to let Laura go after a year, so he's not ''that'' bad, right? Some people have compared him with the equally-infamous [[Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey Christian Grey]] (who is acknowledged in his own work as emotionally damaged) and found that Christian comes off as the ''nicer'' of the two.

* ''FIlm/DropDeadFred'': Fred. He acts like an absolute psychopath and damn near ruins Elizabeth's life but is supposedly doing it for a good purpose, which makes him a good guy.

* ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'': Daniel faces plenty of deserved criticism, but there are some instances where you've got to wonder why he's the protagonist. He's introduced quitting a job despite having three children to care for. He's also openly hostile towards Stu, commiting acts such as vandalizing his car, attacking him in broad daylight and spiking his dinner with pepper after discovering he has a food allergy, the consequences of which occur in front of his own children, with Daniel giving no thought to how this might affect them.

* Everyone in ''Film/TheRoom'' is extremely unlikable, but special mention goes to Mark. Mark has an affair with his best friend's fiancée, then [[NeverMyFault insists that he's a blameless victim because she was just too clever and manipulative to resist]], despite the fact that she and her boyfriend clearly don't have a brain cell between them. The OnlySaneMan Peter sides with him on this, and while everyone in their friend group who finds out about the affair treats Lisa like she's the Antichrist, nobody ever calls Mark out for his part. Mark also makes some blatantly misogynistic comments, and judging by things people who worked on the film have said about the director, it's likely we're meant to agree. Mark randomly tries to ''murder his friend'' at one point, but the friend [[EasilyForgiven instantly forgets about it]] and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment it's never brought up again]]. While this might not be intended, one scene seems to suggest that he [[DisproportionateRetribution beat a previous girlfriend of his who cheated on him so badly that she had to be hospitalized]] - Johnny, who is [[CreatorsPet portrayed as being the greatest guy ever]], ''laughs'' after hearing this (though it could just be that he doesn't believe Mark and is laughing at how ridiculous he finds the story).

* ''Film/HeavensGate'': Several viewers have found themselves rooting for the Association, as the immigrants, what with their lack of CharacterDevelopment and rather annoying voices, come across as less likable.

* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'': The Vuvalini, portrayed as the most heroic faction, prey on travelers and, from what little we see of them, seem to have an insular culture and a high distrust of men. Part of this can be chalked up to the necessities of survival in a harsh environment and the overall patriarchal domination of this world leading to its destruction. It's certainly possible that absent that pressure, they'll rule the Citadel in a more egalitarian manner than Joe's regime, but it's left up to audience interpretation.

* The main character of ''Film/{{Paparazzi}}'' and his killing spree against the paparazzi would be far less sympathetic if paparazzi weren't AcceptableProfessionalTargets (and if the paparazzi in the movie weren't practically cackling supervillains who take perverse joy in ruining people's lives.) One murder even had to happen off-screen, because the director found that test audiences found the main character less sympathetic when it happened on-screen.

* Massimo for several viewers of ''Film/ThreeHundredSixtyFiveDays''. He's a violent, controlling crime boss involved in all kinds of unsavory things, who kidnaps a woman and sexually harasses her because he's convinced they're meant to be together, regardless of what she wants. Oh, but he thinks child abuse is evil and he promised to let Laura go after a year, so he's not ''that'' bad, right? Some people have compared him with the equally-infamous [[Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey Christian Grey]] (who is acknowledged in his own work as emotionally damaged) and found that Christian comes off as the ''nicer'' of the two.

* ''Film/StarWars'': Despite being a Jedi master and the second highest ranking member of the Jedi Order, Mace Windu tends to embody the worst aspects of the Jedi. In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', he beheads Jango Fett instead of disarming him and his face afterwards seem to suggest he doesn't care that Jango was a person (though in his defence, he was defending himself), and in ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' he doesn't apologize or try to explain himself to Boba Fett (and by that point, he knew that Boba saw him behead Jango), [[KickTheDog instead basically telling him to get over it]]. He is also incredibly callous when dealing with Ahsoka, being that he is the one leading in the vote for her excommunication and [[NeverMyFault then not apologizing to her when she is revealed to be innocent, instead saying it was the will of the Force]]. Lastly, in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', he is distrusting and callous to Anakin, openly talking down to him in front of the council, denying him privileges, and telling Obi-Wan and Yoda that he doesn't trust him, while at the same time giving him orders to spy on someone he viewed as a close friend for many years. This behavior makes Mace come off as an emotionless manipulative jerk who cares little about the feelings of others rather than an altruist keeper of the peace.

* Red from ''Film/AtlanticRim''. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment He's introduced]] using his military training to physically assault a man for calling him a "squid" after Red bumped into him, and disobeys orders to chase the first Kaiju, [[FridgeHorror (possibly chasing it onto dry land, causing all the deaths, though this one is ambiguous.]]) After the first kaiju is defeated, he arrogantly brags to his teammates about his battle prowess, while literally standing right next to the dead bodies of several innocent civilians and callously ignoring them, and it's not even clear whether they were killed by the kaiju, or by Red when he accidentally fired his death beam into the middle of the city. And he receives no CharacterDevelopment throughout the entire movie. Also, Red and Jim both have feelings for Tracy, but she chooses Red because he's the hero, even though Jim is a much more likeable guy who went to work with the Red Cross fixing New Orleans while [[ItsAllAboutMe Red insisted he and Tracy go to a party.]]
* Neil Shaw in the ''Film/TheArtOfWar'' films, to more and more of an extent as the series goes on. In the first film he's a competent enough agent, though kind of a {{Jerkass}}. In the second film he makes numerous basic errors of logic and judgement, and at the end he [[spoiler:casually murders his love interest]] just in the name of getting the villain to frame himself. The third film takes it [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]], as he unknowingly takes the bad guy [[spoiler:or rather bad girl]] into his confidence, then ends up [[MoralEventHorizon killing at least a dozen or so South Korean intelligence agents]], before unwittingly facilitating the assassination of South Korea's U.N. representative and nearly getting the Secretary-General of the U.N. herself killed. After all that you'd think the Secretary-General would be only too happy to hand Shaw over to the South Korean authorities and let them hang him out to dry, but she instead ends the film by telling Shaw that he's the only person the U.N. can trust with their lives.

* Lester Burnham of ''Film/AmericanBeauty''. The whole movie is supposedly him learning how to live his life again after being crushed by a boring, soul-crushing job, hyper-critical wife, and moody teenage daughter, but in doing so he makes everyone around him ''miserable.'' Lester develops a highly creepy and inappropriate crush on his daughter Janie's best friend, Angela. Then he quits his job and blackmails his boss into giving him a severance package, plus benefits, by threatening to accuse him of sexual harassment. When Carolyn calls him out for making her the sole breadwinner without even telling her beforehand, Lester counters that he already has another job...but it's working at a ''burger joint'' for minimum-wage because he wants to feel like a teenager again and he violently throws a plate at the wall to scare Carolyn and Janie into shutting up. Then there's the fact his newfound "freedom" involves him regularly insulting his wife and daughter, buying weed off his teenaged neighbor, Ricky. When Carolyn resorts to having an affair with Buddy King, Lester acts all superior over when he catches them despite [[{{Hypocrite}} leching on teenager. When Janie calls Lester out on how disgusting his crush on Angela is, he tells her she's "turning into a real bitch - just like your mother!". Even though Lester declines to sleep with Angela when the opportunity presents itself [[spoiler: because he finds out she's a virgin]], he was still willing to get a very vulnerable, emotional teenager naked. Despite all this [[spoiler: his death]] at the end of the movie is framed as a tragedy and arguably it's only somewhat unfair because [[spoiler: Frank killed Lester over being rejected and terrified he would be outed as gay]].