"Be A Man" Movies

Some films set up impossible role models, men who do the impossible. Sometimes these stories are based in fact, but even then they're embellished for entertainment value. Women want them; men want to be them. One man will triumph against impossible odds, occasionally endure great losses, and often make great sacrifices. These are my Top Ten “Be A Man” Movies:

10 Die Hard
It's a familiar formula for heroic action movies. A building is under siege, criminals coordinated by a brilliant mastermind. Innocent lives are at stake, and only one man can stand against impossible odds. Setting a standard for other films in its genre, Die Hard had Bruce Willis as a NY cop in an LA office building executing one “don't try this at home” move after another in his fight to outwit Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber and save the hostages, including his estranged wife. Next year's fourth installment might be pushing the franchise, especially after all these years, but at the time Bruce Willis proved himself as an action star, and showed ordinary guys it was possible to do extraordinary things.

9 La Vita è bella
Not every film on my list is going to fit the mold. Roberto Benigni doesn't carry weapons with unlimited ammunition. He doesn't leap from burning buildings or ride out the shockwave from explosions. He doesn't toss out wisecracks, but then humor is the one weapon he is armed with. The movie is a story of love, family, heroism and sacrifice. Curt listed it as one of his favorite comedies, and it is a comedy. It is also a tragedy and an inspiration. When Nazis disrupt his family and idyllic existence, he keeps his son's spirits high and continues to clown around amid a dire situation. Sometimes, being a man has as much to do with spirit as it does with muscle.

8 Walking Tall
This is one of those wonderful embellishments, based on the true story of sheriff Buford Pusser, a man who stood tall in a corrupt community. He upheld the law and faced threats that were eventually carried out. The 2004 remake starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson might have been an excellent action movie that seemingly pulled no punches, but in some ways it waters down the original story. The original follows the life of Pusser more accurately, at times shocking in its violence given the era. They keep knocking him down, worse each time, and he keeps getting up and walking tall.

7 Goldfinger
Really, any Bond film starring Sean Connery would fit in here. This is the Connery film I'm most familiar with from the series, and as I'm presently working my way through them all in order I'm realizing I've mostly seen snippets of his Bond on television or in a film class. It's a gross oversight to rectify. I don't recall the later films being quite as sexist as these, yet he somehow gets away with his innuendoes, rump-smacks and stolen kisses with charm and a half-smile. In real life, he'd have several harassment suits and more than one social disease, so there's an appeal to his consequence-free adventures. He's a man of action, shooting bad guys, outthinking larger foes and outwitting masterminds. He has his fun, and he always gets the girls, even the ones trying to kill him, but he also gets the job done.

6 Batman Begins
I'm not sure what I can say about this film that I haven't said before. More than any other film, this one focused on the human aspect of the character, before he put on the crazy costume and built up an arsenal of non-lethal weaponry. The film does add one controversial detail to the mythos, when in a moment of weakness he considers shooting his parents' murderer. He falls as low as a man can get before clawing his way up out of the darkness to reinvent and define who he is, experience the answer to the question of ”Why do we fall?”, and stand tall as a man, before standing tall as a Batman.

5 Gladiator
It's another familiar recipe, but one that's done really well. Russell Crowe loses everything before finding himself in a gladiatorial arena. I said that being a man requires spirit as much as muscle, and his Maximus possesses both qualities. The crux of his character is summed up in his most famous speech: ”My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

4 Desperado
Quite possibly the coolest movie I saw in my college days, Desperado pit Antonio Banderas against a drug smuggler, a rivalry that would prove surprisingly personal. He keeps his cool, speaking in low tones and letting his guns and his guitar make the most noise. He woos beautiful Salma Hayek and bests insane tattooed knife-hurler Danny Trejo. A lone warrior through most of the film, he manages to take a bullet and still take down bad guys, with getting the girl as the ultimate reward. Every hero in these movies has done the same, but none quite as smooth.

3 Braveheart
Mel Gibson might be catching some flak for what he said while drunk, even after making an apology that was accepted, but there was a time when he was one of the biggest heroic stars in Hollywood. In Braveheart, he took on the role of real-life warrior William Wallace who organized and led his fellow Scottish people in repelling English invaders. The film is an embellishment, but a spectacular epic. ”they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!” Can you say the same, Rob Schneider?

2 Spartacus
Before Gladiator there was Spartacus, which told the tale of a real gladiator on whom Maximus was partly based. From humble beginnings as a slave compassionate to those around him, Kirk Douglas' Spartacus inspired loyalty and became a leader of a growing army of escaped slaves. He found love and family before facing a superior Roman army. He was strong, with the chiseled chin of a comic book superhero. And in one of the film's most famous scenes, when he stands to face judgment and spare his fellow slaves, each and every one of them stands as well to make the same claim, “I am Spartacus!” It's an epic in which one man becomes an example of manhood for those around him within the film.

1 Spider-man 2
I realize there's a lot wrong with my first choice. The lead character is based on a comic book Superhero. The film is a sequel. Toby Maguire is boyish and clumsy, lacking the debonaire wit of a James Bond, gunplay of a Desperado, or physique of a Spartacus. For a good portion of the film he even sheds his heroic alter-ego and special abilities. His character is a lot closer to the geeks who watch these movies than the rugged gun-toting girl-wooing heroes they watch. Despite all this, Spider-man 2 IS a movie about being a man. Maguire's Peter Parker isn't in high school anymore. He's in the real world facing real problems. Paying the rent is as much a challenge as an insurmountable army, and he not only faces a deadly foe but the growing threat of his own best friend, and the loss of his one true love to a decorated astronaut. The movie has loss, sacrifice, failure and redemption and though he doesn't look like Hollywood's typical definition of a man, it's the story of him learning to be one.

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Honorable Mentions:
A Fistful of Dollars
Batman
The Bourne Identity
Donnie Darko
Dirty Harry
High Noon
It's A Wonderful Life
Last of the Mohicans
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Robocop
Superman II
The Ten Commandments