Ultimate Guy Movie

Let’s be honest, Shawshank Redemption is the Ultimate Guy Movie. I can only opine on movies I’ve seen (and you’ll see there’s plenty I have not) and tried to narrow down my list to sixteen movies. I conducted the experiment single-elimination tournament-style and randomly split up the comedies, mafia movies, and character-driven movies, so as to make the first round a little more even.


I chose the first round winner by “street-cred”—that is, when you’re discussing your favorite movies with another guy, which comes first in the list out of the two. Every great Guy movie has to have a good ending, so that’s how I decided the second round. Main characters of Guy movies often reach iconic status, so that was the criteria for the third round. The finals were decided by which I thought was the best overall movie/story. Let’s go in.


FIRST ROUND (decided by better “street-cred”)
The Godfather def. The Big Lebowski
As much as I love The Big Lebowski, this is a no brainer. The Godfather is widely acclaimed as the greatest movie ever made, and it is hard to argue otherwise.


Rocky def. The Matrix
The Matrix is brilliant, but I’ll admit, it’s a little nerdy. Everyone loves Rock.


The Godfather II def. Fight Club
Once again, it’s hard to argue against any of the Godfather movies in terms of street-cred. Well, except Part III.


Shawshank Redemption def. Animal House
Animal House may be the greatest comedy ever made, but Shawshank may be the best movie ever made. Tough draw, Animal House.


Office Space def. American Psycho
I get strange looks when I tell people I really enjoyed American Psycho. Everyone can relate to Office Space.


Goodfellas def. Gladiator
Ray Liotta, Bobby DeNiro, and Joe Peschi are three guys we’d all want to hang out with. Russell Crowe kicks ass in Gladiator, but we’d prefer drinks and cards with the boys.


The Departed def. Caddyshack
Scorsese movies ooze street-cred, and DeCaprio, Damon, and Wahlberg turn in outstanding All-Guy Team performances.


The Usual Suspects def. Saving Private Ryan
The characters, the quotes, the twists…Usual Suspects takes this one over the epic WWII tale.


SECOND ROUND (decided by better ending)
The Godfather def. Rocky
Don Vito Corleone has passed, leaving Michael in charge. He has prominent members of the other families killed, vaulting the Corleone Family to the top of the food-chain and sending the message that he’s not to be F’d with. Rocky would have had to KO’d Adrian at the end of the movie in order for it to have a chance of beating The Godfather.


Shawshank Redemption def. The Godfather II
Andy masterminds his escape from Shawshank while simultaneously hanging the warden out to dry. And after years together on the inside, Red and Andy meet back up on a beach in Mexico. The most rewarding ending I’ve ever seen.


Office Space def. Goodfellas
It doesn’t end well for our buddies from Goodfellas, whether they be whacked or snatched up. In Office Space, Peter, Michael, and Samir don’t get the money they planned to launder from Initech but at least they get out of it (thanks to Milton) and all end up with new jobs.


The Usual Suspects def. The Departed
Verbal Kint IS Kaiser Soze. Are you freakin kidding me??? Verbal pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes…the police, his friends, and us. I also disliked Scorsese’s mass extermination at the end. It was a little too deus ex machina for me and seemed like a cop-out (Get it? "Cop" out).


SEMI-FINALS (decided by main character)
Shawshank Redemption (Andy Dufresne) def. The Godfather (Vito Corleone)
This was tough. Don Vito was loved by his family, respected by his enemies, and acted righteously in his business. Despite this, I give the nod to Andy for surviving in Shawshank, routinely proving (in a humble way) that he was the smartest guy in the room, helping fellow prisoners better themselves, and achieving the sweetest revenge. In the end, Andy won.


The Usual Suspects def. Office Space
We would all love to be Peter Gibbons if we knew our boss would react the same way Bill Lumberg did. He stops showing up for work, tells off his boss, and gets a promotion for it! Ulimately, though, Verbal Kint’s storytelling genius and incredible deception trump anything Peter Gibbons could do.


FINALS (decided by overall movie/story)
Shawshank Redemption def. The Usual Suspects
At this point it’s basically a flip of the coin. The difference is that you feel good at the end of Shawshank whereas you feel tricked at the end of Usual Suspects. Usual Suspects probably has more rewatchability, but the satisfaction from the ending of Shawshank and the triumph of the main character make it my Ultimate Guy Movie.