History TheFool / Film

%%* Harpo Marx of the ''Creator/MarxBrothers''.
* Inspector Jacques Clouseau from the original ''[[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Pink Panther]]'' movies is only able to solve a case through sheer luck. He'd often be moving ''away'' from whatever the clues are pointing to, it's just that in the end, the puzzle all falls together in his favor. Steve Martin's Clouseau is more of a GeniusDitz than TheFool, though.
** In ''Film/AShotInTheDark'', he irrationally refused to consider that Maria Gambrelli was behind all the murders because he was madly in love with her, despite the fact that ''all'' the evidence points to her doing it. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:the mansion's other occupants get in a heated argument and ''all of them'' accidentally confess to a murder each. Realizing that they're about to be arrested, they tried to escape in Clouseau's car, which incidentally was rigged with a bomb installed by his insane boss Inspector Dreyfus. The case is solved, Clouseau is alive, and the murderers all suffered KarmicDeath.]]

* Jar Jar Binks from the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy.
** There was even an early [[http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/jar_jar_holy_fool_000414.html wild guess]] that he's secretly a Force-user, because he's ''suspiciously'' lucky:
--> Jar Jar Binks takes out droids as fast as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan do, and he's not even trying.
** In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', a Clone Trooper captain has apparently been Jar Jar's bodyguard long enough to accurately predict when the Gungan's antics will defeat the enemy. However, the captain wrongly believes that Jar Jar [[ObfuscatingStupidity isn't as stupid as he seems]].
-->There was a rumor that Jar Jar's character development was supposed to be highlighted into a transformation had the fan base not hated him. He was actually supposed to become a tragic character - becoming a Dark Jedi out of his grief from [[spoiler:Padme's death and Anakin's movement to the dark side.]]

* The main character of ''Film/ThePeopleUnderTheStairs'', and also happens to be his nickname.
* ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooLittle''. Wallace Ritchie believes himself to be in some form of improvisational theater, but is actually involved in a cold-war era plot to prevent peace between the UK and Russia. While in one or two incidents he does show some genuine skill, most of his success is due to sheer dumb luck. The movie is even funnier if you try to watch it from the point of view of the real people, who must be assuming that Wallace is [[ObfuscatingStupidity merely playing The Fool]], while actually being a top-notch spy. So The Fool is playing the Spy playing The Fool.

%%* Brick (no, that's his name) from ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy''.
%%* This is essentially the entire plot of ''Film/ForrestGump''.
* [[Film/TheNakedGun Lieutenant]] [[Series/PoliceSquad Frank Drebin]].
* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'': WALL•E changes humanity's future, returns the human race to Earth and gets them out of their lethargy. He meant none of it, for the entire movie, his sole goal is to hold hands with a girl he met.
* ''Film/TheParty'' has another, less known Creator/PeterSellers example, in which he plays the sweet but incredibly accident-prone Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi.
* ''Film/TheBobo'' is an even less-known Sellers vehicle, where he plays an itinerant singer who tries to get his big break at a Barcelona theater (note: 'bobo' is Spanish for 'fool'). The theater owner agrees on the condition that, within three days, he can seduce a manipulative gold-digger. Trope averted as Sellers is shown to be adept at concocting and sustaining an elaborate ruse to string her along.
* ''Film/TheTallBlondManWithOneBlackShoe'' is an innocuous concert violinist who, unknown to him, is identified as a spy as part of an intelligence agency rivalry. He walks through the film oblivious to the machinations of the agents keeping tabs on him, and remains unscathed as they do each other in.

* Mose Harper in ''Film/TheSearchers'' has been described as a kind of "holy fool" by some film critics. Throughout the movie he tends to be looked on as a crazy old coot by most other characters, yet he gets safely out of dangerous situations, even out of being captured by the tribe of the not exactly merciful Chief Scar ("made 'em think I was crazy"), and in the end supplies the information that brings Ethan Edwards' search to its conclusion. The only thing Mose himself wants in life is a rocking chair to sit in, and at the film has achieved that goal...
* Sodnom, the village idiot in ''Film/APearlInTheForest'', set in 1937 UsefulNotes/{{Mongolia}} during Stalin's tyranny. He grins stupidly at everyone, laughs inappropriately, and generally comes off as being mentally retarded. The ending reveals that it's a case of ObfuscatingDisability, a survival tactic to get him through the purges and oppression of Stalin's rule.

* ''Film/FatalInstinct'': Lawyer/cop Ned Ravine wanders blisfully through life as an ignorant buffoon, not noticing that several different people are all plotting his death.
-->'''Ned:''' I don't look as dumb as I am.
* Harry Chelm is ''Film/BeatTheDevil'' a classic type. He goes about in blissful ignorance, completely missing his wife's affair with Billy until she tells him, blowing off all of Billy's well-meaning advice. Once the bad guys steal his attache case onboard the ship, he starts barking threats about how he's going to turn them all in when they make landfall, in complete obliviousness to the fact that the bad guys thus have every reason to kill him. Sure enough, they try to, and Harry is just barely saved at the last second by Billy. Gwen then labels him a paranoiac in order to save him from being murdered, but he is put in irons onboard the ship—which leads an offended Harry to jump ship and attempt to swim to land. ''And he makes it'', and takes possession of the land that the bad guys wanted, and strikes it rich. Even better, the name "Chelm" is [[BilingualBonus almost surely a reference to]] a [[http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Wise_Men_of_Chelm legendary Jewish town]] ruled by "wise fools" who come up with silly solutions that usually somehow work out and fix problems.

* ''Film/FatalInstinct'': Lawyer/cop Ned "I don't look as dumb as I am" Ravine wanders blisfully through life as an ignorant buffoon, not noticing that several different people are all plotting his death.

* Chance the Gardener in the film ''Film/BeingThere'' is '''the''' archetype of sub-trope of this.
* The perpetually drunk pilot T.C. in ''Film/DarlingLili.''

* Brick (no, that's his name) from ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy''.
* This is essentially the entire plot of ''Film/ForrestGump''.

* Mose Harper in ''TheSearchers'' has been described as a kind of "holy fool" by some film critics. Throughout the movie he tends to be looked on as a crazy old coot by most other characters, yet he gets safely out of dangerous situations, even out of being captured by the tribe of the not exactly merciful Chief Scar ("made 'em think I was crazy"), and in the end supplies the information that brings Ethan Edwards' search to its conclusion. The only thing Mose himself wants in life is a rocking chair to sit in, and at the film has achieved that goal...

-->There was a rumor that Jar Jar's character development was supposed to be highlighted into a transformation had the fan base not hated him. He was actually supposed to become a tragic character - becoming a Dark Jedi out of his grief from [[spoiler:Padme's death and Anikin's movement to the dark side.]]

* The main character of ''Film/ThePeopleUnderTheStairs'', and also happens to be his name.

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'': WALL•E changes humanity's future, returns the human race to earth and gets them out of their lethargy. He meant none of it, for the entire movie, his sole goal is to hold hands with a girl he met.

* Harpo Marx of the ''MarxBrothers''.
* Inspector Jacques Clouseau from the original ''PinkPanther'' movies is only able to solve a case through sheer luck. He'd often be moving ''away'' from whatever the clues are pointing to, it's just that in the end, the puzzle all falls together in his favor. Steve Martin's Clouseau is more of a GeniusDitz than TheFool, though.
** In ''A Shot In The Dark'', he irrationally refused to consider that Maria Gambrelli was behind all the murders because he was madly in love with her, despite the fact that ''all'' the evidence points to her doing it. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:the mansion's other occupants get in a heated argument and ''all of them'' accidentally confess to a murder each. Realizing that they're about to be arrested, they tried to escape in Clouseau's car, which incidentally was rigged with a bomb installed by his insane boss Inspector Dreyfus. The case is solved, Clouseau is alive, and the murderers all suffered KarmicDeath.]]
* Chance the Gardener in the film ''BeingThere'' is '''the''' archetype of sub-trope of this.

* Brick (no, that's his name) from ''{{Anchorman}}'' qualifies.

* ''TheBobo'' is an even less-known Sellers vehicle, where he plays an itinerant singer who tries to get his big break at a Barcelona theater (note: 'bobo' is Spanish for 'fool'). The theater owner agrees on the condition that, within three days, he can seduce a manipulative gold-digger. Trope averted as Sellers is shown to be adept at concocting and sustaining an elaborate ruse to string her along.
* ''TheTallBlondManWithOneBlackShoe'' is an innocuous concert violinist who, unknown to him, is identified as a spy as part of an intelligence agency rivalry. He walks through the film oblivious to the machinations of the agents keeping tabs on him, and remains unscathed as they do each other in.

* WALL-E of the [[WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}} eponymous movie]] changes humanity's future, returns the human race to earth and gets them out of their lethargy. He meant none of it, for the entire movie, his sole goal was to hold hands with a girl he met.

* [[Film/TheNakedGun Lieutenant]] [[PoliceSquad Frank Drebin]].

* Creator/DannyKaye played this role in ''The Inspector General'', as a hapless, illiterate, but good-hearted gypsy who is mistaken for an Inspector General (on assignment to root out corruption from NapoleonBonaparte himself) by a small town's [[CorruptPolitician corrupt city council]].

* ''Film/TheParty'' has another, less known PeterSellers example, in which he plays the sweet but incredibly accident-prone Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi.

* Jar Jar Binks from the ''StarWars'' prequel trilogy.

** In an episode of ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'', a Clone Trooper captain has apparently been Jar Jar's bodyguard long enough to accurately predict when the Gungan's antics will defeat the enemy. However, the captain wrongly believes that Jar Jar [[ObfuscatingStupidity isn't as stupid as he seems]].

* Scrat from ''IceAge'', although he's half fool and half desperate for nuts.

** Ironically, he doesn't play this role in ''Film/TheCourtJester'', as he has some idea of the danger he's putting himself through, but accepted because he [[JumpedAtTheCall wanted to be a hero]]. And impress [[ActionGirl Maid Jean]].

* The main character of ''ThePeopleUnderTheStairs'', and also happens to be his name.

* This is essentially the entire plot of ''ForrestGump''.