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likable protagonist

dlevanchuk

dlevanchuk

Does the protagonist always have to be likable right from the start?? My main character is kind of an unsympathetic asshole, that goes through "becoming sensitive good guy" kind of a deal..
Could he become likable just from being an interesting person, like a weird hobby, or different way of talking?

For example "devils rejects". What about main characters that made I like them?? Their loyalty to the family and trust or by making cop guys look like butchering maniacs?

anyways, youe thought?
 
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The thing is that Curtis wasn't trying to be heroic. The forensic recreation specialist said that the most likely scenario was that the DB was bent down in my neighbor's car when Curtis pulled up to visit with me and, thinking that the DB was my neighbor who dropped something in his car, walked up trying to help at which point the DB spun around with a .357 magnum and shot him once in the chest and once in the throat. Curtis never even grabbed for his gun before he died.

My thinking is to show Curtis in his police car with the picture of his wife and daughter taped to the dashboard. Have him call me from his cellphone (he didn't have one, but nobody is going to buy a payphone anymore) saying that he'll be right over after he stops at the store for baby formula. Curtis then stops at the pharmacy where the clerk knew him for formula. Then he pulls up at my apartment. That would be the lead in to the murder and all we would see of Curtis in the film.
 
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This sounds great, and I'd really like to see the film. As far as length, it sounds like something you could make a short to sell a feature with. You're doing it for catharsis; there's no need to stick close to reality. Take James O'Barr's "The Crow". His girlfriend gets killed by a drunk driver. He writes a comic about drug-dealing rapists, and the brutal dismantling of them (and of himself in the process. I liked the film okay when it was out, but it's nowhere near as bleak as the original book, with absolutely none of the superhero "source of his power" stuff. The bird is a character, not a prop. Worth a read, if you haven't, especially if you enjoyed the film).

The point I'm trying to make is don't be afraid to make this guy more of a monster than he could have been. Girlfriend scared? Maybe he was pimping her out, beating her and controlling her with drugs. Have him kick puppies and burn orphanages. Make him an absolutely unrepentant, irredemable monster. Put everything you feel, and felt at the time into this character.

Though if you do, I'm not sure that the Butch Cassidy ending would work. Might not be quite enough release for the tension you build up. Either way, I definitely want to see your movie!

And tying back to the original post, I agree that "interesting" is more important than likeable, but you should have other things that people can connect to. If Joe Background is a likeable and real character that the audience can connect with, it will make the protag that much more vile when they do bad things to them.
 
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I do like the Crow movie, and yes, the comic was better.

I wanted to kill that SOB so bad and I would have if I'd have had the chance. Now I must settle for pulling a Chaucer on him and 'eviscerate him in fiction'. I had only given this idea the briefest of thoughts before this thread. Awhile back, I asked my dad if it was possible to have a protagonist that you want to see horrible things happen to and that the audience won't identify with since my dad is a Phd Professor of Creative Writing. He said that it's doable, but couldn't give me a successful example. I like your ideas.

I was thinking the Butch and Sundance ending for budget reasons. So you think that I need to front the cash to give the audience an unabashed visceral gore fest conclusion to the shootout? We're talking squibs going off like popcorn, blood, brains, and guts galore. I can envision it, but how do I pay for it? As I said, I hadn't given this film idea much thought, but now I want to make it more than my first feature.

I totally get that the main character needs to be interesting more so than likable. I have another screenplay that's about four or five rungs down the to-do list that centers around a crotchety old prick that is completely unlovable. I think that I have the audience identification worked out because, through a series of vignettes (the bulk of the film) we see how he came to be the way that he is.
 
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I definitely understand the budget considerations. I do think the audience will want a payoff if they've spent xx-minutes watching this guy be a bastard, but it doesn't need to be a Godfather-esq squib fest. Maybe a cut to the guy starting to fire, a cut to the cops firing, and then shot of the guy lying bleeding on the ground? It'd definitely be cheaper. I could see a tight shot on his face, eyes tightened and smiling in evil victory, before the camera zooms out to show him lying on the ground. Lots of ways you could do it to keep the catharsis high and the action on the cheap!
 
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I'm going to back burner the feature that I'm working on so that I can concentrate on this. I'll start writing the screenplay tomorrow. I have a few connections that I can call on to maybe get some funding for this project.
 
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Dr. House is a hugely unlikeable, even despicable protagonist, and look at how much audiences love him. Sometimes in order to attract the audience you have to go a different route and make someone hugely unlikeable.
 
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Also i like joure idea for this movie. Some Ideas come in tho mind. Make him the bigest Samuel L Jackson fan......he than practise some lines from him, before a mirror and during the movie. It gives him some dept, and the audience understands he has limited mental capacity.
 
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