10 Film Characters That Will Make You a Better Man

Need some help on your quest to be good? Zak Jason shows you how to Tivo your way to manhood.

Contrary to popular belief, Old Spice is not the answer. Men need role models—not instructive deodorant commercials. More so than therapy or self-help books, I would argue that men need movies. Films ingrain a vivid impression of what it takes to be a man. With that in mind, I present ten men we can all learn from. Whether it’s their relentless nobility, diabolical greed, unyielding fervor, or sheer badassery, these film characters will fill any man with an invigorated sense of purpose. Besides, I’m giving you a great excuse to watch more television.

10. Jefferson Smith—Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Though foolish and sometimes painfully hokey (i.e. gawking and tearing at the statue of Lincoln), Jimmy Stewart’s wide-eyed Mr. Smith illustrates both the power of one man over The Man and the power of listening to women (as he triumphs once he finally hears out his secretary). Plus, Smith’s eight-hour filibuster will inspire every man to make his own great speech.

9. Forrest Gump—Forrest Gump

“I’m not a smart man. But I know what love is,” says Tom Hanks, portraying America’s most beloved buzz-cut simpleton. Forrest’s saga through the 20th Century’s pivotal moments isn’t just a visual joyride through our history. It’s a series of novel snapshots about how men should behave across contexts: loyal almost to a fault. Whether lugging a dozen soldiers through enemy fire in Vietnam, perpetually returning to a boyhood crush who neglects him for an entire decade, or staying by his mother’s bedside, Forrest’s single-minded loyalty is worth emulating.

8. Phillip Parma—Magnolia

Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays a lonely nurse taking care of an insulting, greedy, borderline heartless television producer. But out of an innate goodness, Parma spends the entire night with the man, ordering porn for him, lighting fake cigarettes, and helping him search for his long separated son (Tom Cruise). For anyone bogged down by his tyrannical boss, take note of how Hoffman brushes off cruelty with his wry wit and unrelenting earneastness, which leads to one of cinema’s most haunting monologue’s on the fall of manhood.

7. Travis Bickle—Taxi Driver

We learn a few lessons through Robert De Niro’s mohawked maniac. First, short of castration, driving a New York City cab provides the most direct route to losing your manhood. Second, an obsession with an unattainable girl (Cybill Shephard) may result in talking to yourself. Bickle’s plummet into insanity is a cautionary tale.

6. Burt Farlander—Away We Go

John Krasinski’s bearded character loves his soon-to-be mother of his child (Maya Rudolph) so much that he talks to her tilted uterus. Amid nervous breakdowns and hippies, Farlander treks across the country to find the ideal home for a newborn. A warm, inventive example of patience and loyalty, Farlander marks a model for how men should act during their lover’s pregnancy.

5. John Rawlins—Glory

Virtually anything Morgan Freeman’s regal wisdom graces (even his voiceover work for Visa!) compels us to get our act together. But his performance as a slave turned Civil War hero, particularly when he puts a young and unruly Denzel Washington in his place, is a wondrous model of leadership. When you need to carry a team, be sure to adopt Freeman’s tactics of conviction, resoluteness, and tuneful prayer.

4. Dom Cobb / Teddy Daniels—Inception/Shutter Island

Leonardo Dicaprio plays eerily similar widowed government operatives in both films, which were released within six months of each other. The movies make a great double feature and teach men two important lessons: First, we may lose ourselves if we don’t let go of a loved one. Second, a firmly pressed suit will make you seem legitimate even if you’re insane.

3. Rick Blaine—Casablanca

Perhaps the noblest man in all of film history, Bogart’s Blaine can somehow make letting another man have the girl not only the right thing to do but the cool thing to do. A predecessor to Dicaprio, Bogart’s expatriate café owner also exposes how in smart clothes (in this case a white tux) a man can conquer pretty much anything.

2. Daniel Plainview—There Will Be Blood

The most evil man on this list, Daniel Day-Lewis’ maniacal oil tycoon reveals the grotesque depths of manhood. He abandons his son. He exploits innocent farmers. Between all of the backsliding, the scheming, the malicious mustachioed grins, and the milkshake slurping, Plainview rattles your core. And makes us take a hard look at ourselves.

1. Atticus Finch—To Kill a Mockingbird

“There’s a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep them all away from you. That’s never possible.” Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch, a principled public defender and devoted father who raises his kids above the backward South with cracker-barrel wisdom—and generally teaches us everything we need to know about being a good man.