Good Men on Film: Who Are Your Favs?
From the archive, but updated!
The news has broken across the globe: “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Practical Magic 2” are currently shooting! While the female characters in these films are indelible, the men also make an impact. These men, at least some of them, are coded as GOOD, even with their faults. As adults we understand that the good men/bad men binary is limiting, but as little girls we’re taught to seek the former and watch out for the latter.
How do we learn to recognize the difference? Much of that learning comes from cultural influences, and none are stronger than movies and TV. The anti-hero archetype notwithstanding, in TV and film stories often a stark contrast between good and bad male characters. Yet the bad ones take up a ton of space, and often eclipse the good ones.
So let’s call out some examples of good men in our favorite film and TV shows. The first one that comes to our mind is Stanley Tucci in, “Julie and Julia.” He plays Julia Childs’ husband, Paul Childs, with controlled but sexy gusto, as if her wild and crazy ideas turn him on almost more than he can bear.
There’s also the fantastic scene when she gets the acceptance letter from Knopf informing her that they love the draft of her cookbook, and want to publish it. His genuine joy and relish of her hard work and good fortune is absolutely spectacular (I couldn't find a video clip of that scene, but here’s a still :)
Alan Alda? Truly brilliant in… well, everything. And Charles Grodin—what a perfect, adorably uptight foil to Goldie Hawn in the slapstick gem Seems Like Old Times. As for Ted Lasso—yes! Absolute sunshine enema. I adored it, especially that Christmas episode. :)
Ted Lasso! I love his kindness and his eternal optimism. My movie crushes are always funny guys, especially George Clooney, and he seems to be just as smart, savvy, and nice IRL.