8 Completely Insane Movie Characters and Why I Love Them, An Analysis

Narcissistic, obsessive, sociopathic, psychopathic, just a few of the similarities to be found in the following list of film characters. You might say they are as insanely good as they are insanely bad.

I know I'm not alone here, but have you ever stopped to figure out exactly why we have a tendency to love strange and crazy character portrayals such as these? For some entries on the following list, it took some real thought to understand what it is I love so much about them. Beyond having a great script and a great actor, I wanted to explore this subject a little more and see where it took me.

What do you think of this list? What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments.

1. Scarlett Johansson as Lucy

Lucy

"Ignorance brings chaos, not knowledge."

• The teaser: Just like any addict, once Lucy gets a taste, she will stop at nothing to get more. Meth, crack or heroine cannot compete with CPH4. As her addiction grows so does her power.

Why I love it? Are you kidding? Walking into a room, snapping my fingers and having everyone in the room fall to the ground instantly? Hell, yes! That could come in real handy at work sometimes. I wouldn't want them to seriously get hurt now as I'm not a violent person. Merely I could maybe make them freeze for a bit until they stop being so annoying… kinda like cartoons.

In the movies, no one dies for real. They are actors and so it's great fun to live vicariously through characters such as Lucy... to be so blazingly confident and have that much control over my life when I often feel like everything is completely out of my control.

Beautiful, sexy, ultimate power-bitch… what's not to love? Do I secretly want such power? Not exactly, perhaps just more than I think I have right now.

Conclusion: Lucy helps me to feel bolder and have more confidence in myself plus she's just a whole lot of fun to watch.

2. Ray Liotta as Rhodes

Identity

"And if he tries anything I'm gonna shoot him! And if there's something out there and it comes in here, I'm gonna shoot it! And if anyone of us tries anything, I'm gonna shoot 'em!"

• Teaser: Literally everyone in this movie is completely bonkers and there's good reason for that - all are derived from the same source.

Why I love it: Ray Liotta just happens to be one of my favorite actors. He's always so over-the-top with attitude in most of his movies. I can relate to this; life gets so ridiculous it just makes you want to explode sometimes. It can make you edgy and cranky. I totally get it.

I knew nothing of this movie before watching it, which is the best way to watch any movie. Because of this I was completely shocked at how everything turned out. I absolutely loved the plot twists and turns. It really kept me on the edge of my seat.

Liotta, in this role in particular, added so much to all those twists and turns with the character of Rhodes by portraying himself as a heroic cop when really, he was just a total scoundrel, a great source of trickery.

Conclusion: I loved how all of the characters had their own unique craziness about them, Rhodes of course being my favorite, and that in some ways all were relatable, except of course for Timmy. Don't even want to identify with that little shit at all!

3. Sharon Stone as Ellen

The Quick and The Dead

"Some people deserve to die."

The teaser: Revenge is a dish best served cold, ice cold. Hard as nails, Ellen can show her soft, vulnerable side when she really wants to.

Why I love it: Sharon Stone just killed it, literally, in a role traditionally played by a man. She's the gunslinger who must avenge her father's death and save the town from a dictating tyrant. Not exactly a new plot but definitely with a fresh perspective and a few awesome twists. Once ensconced inside the town she enters into a deadly contest to see who has the quickest draw.

Ellen doesn't take any crap from anyone; let alone any arrogant pig she may come across in her quest for justice. I also love that in the end she rides away just like any great cowboy should at the end of a Western.

Conclusion: Ellen helps me to remember that even though a lot of bad shit can happen in life, I do not need to stay a victim. I can rise above it, be strong and kick ass when I need to.

4. Steve Buscemi as Garland Greene

Con Air

"There is no medicine for what I have"

Teaser: Even with so many outstanding performances, Steve Buscemi quietly steals the show with his creepy portrayal of a dangerous serial killer. At the end of the movie, he is the one everyone forgets about, the only one who manages to slip away.

Why I love it: Moving past the illogical plot (for real, when would all these dangerous criminals ever be transported on the same plane), Garland Greene is not someone who is not easy to figure out or pin down. He's a puzzle and I've always loved puzzles.

Also, just like Garland Greene I often feel like "the forgotten one" in my life. I'm the one always trying to stay out of everyone's way because I feel like such a bother. This character makes me feel a whole lot better about that. 

The forgotten ones have a lot of hidden advantages. No one is watching so they are free to move about untethered and do as they please. Since no one is paying any attention to them, they can also often fly under everyone else's radar. Isn't this why many serial killers often don't get caught for many, many years?

According to what I've read online, many armchair critics have surmised that by the end of the movie Garland Greene has managed to heal himself of whatever sickness had previously led him to be a serial killer. I'm not convinced of this at all. Donning his hat and slipping into the casino leaves it all a complete mystery, especially when he sits down to do a little gambling.

Conclusion: Graham Greene is amazingly intelligent, and I love that he outsmarts all the apparent masterminds in this film. He also lets the little girl live. Without that everything would be different, wouldn't it?

5. Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz

The Fast and The Furious

"You want a piece of ass, go to Hollywood Boulevard. You want an adrenaline rush that'll be two large."

The teaser: Who says men get to have all the fun.

Why I love it: Traditionally, a racing and robbing movie such as this would have had all male drivers. Women would been on the sidelines looking sexy and being supportive and all that jazz. Fuck that, says Letty. She'll have none of it.

There are so many great scenes that demonstrate Letty's power-bitch, take-no-shit persona. And she makes no apologies for any of it, not even to Dom for leaving him behind during one of the shakedown scenes.

Conclusion: Don't ever underestimate a female. Letty reminds me that it's ok to be a strong woman and to take care of my own needs before trying to care for anyone else's.

6. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates

Psycho

"We all go a little mad sometimes."

The teaser: The perfect young man, sweet, polite, helpful (makes sandwich for hungry traveler) at least that's how Norman Bates comes across at the beginning of Psycho. Just your average American young man providing shelter for weary travelers, until his evil side comes out, that is.

Why I love it: First and foremost, I love this movie for one very specific reason. Anthony Perkins and I share the same birthday: 4/4 or April 4th. So, we have that connection. A weird connection perhaps, but still a connection.

Beyond that, I love the unsettling trickery that Alfred Hitchcock helped to draw out of Anthony Perkins. Hitchcock of course is well known for his cameo style camera shots, but he truly went above and beyond with this movie. He accentuates the two extreme sides of Norman Bates perfectly: good and evil.

Norman reminds us, in the most basic sense, of the two-sided dimension of all of our psychologies and of the world itself. The perfect side we try hard to show all the time, and then there is the other side, the various degrees of bad that live inside all of us. Then again, not all of us become serial killers, thus Norman becomes an interesting character study.

Conclusion: While I would never want to make a reservation at the Bates Motel, I still feel like Norman Bates is one of the most intriguing characters ever in the horror/thriller genre. I love the duplicity of so very good and so very bad. Even after all these years the character is just a source of amazement for me, as I know it is for a lot of people.

7. Angelina Jolie as Lisa Rowe

Girl, Interrupted

"You think you're free? I'm free! I can breathe! And you… you're gonna choke on your average fucking mediocre life!"

The teaser: A proud sociopath; tells us everything we need to know, doesn't it? One of Angelina Jolie's early breakout roles and for good reason. She owned Lisa's brazen character from start to finish.

Why I love it: I'm much more like Susanna than Lisa, that is, a mixed-up emotional mess. For an often overly emotional person such as me, people like Lisa can be a source of awe as they have the coveted gift of emotional detachment.

Lisa always goes way too far though and the result is madness and chaos. I watch just to see what kind of crazy thing she will do next. Even though I've seen the film gobs of times it continues to be one of my very favorites.

Conclusion: Lisa teaches me to let go, let live and stop worrying so much about what people think. She helps me remember that it's ok to say what I genuinely feel and then let everyone deal with their own reactions. Lastly, she also reminds me that there most definitely is a point of going way too far and that one has to be mindful of that as well.

8. Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall

As Good as It Gets

"Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here."

The teaser: Rude, arrogant, bigoted, big-mouthed and sometimes just plain mean. Really, Melvin Udall is just a gigantic prick, even though he fibs and says he isn't. So, why in the world is he so darned likable?

Why I love it: Is it his honesty? He is who he is and doesn't make any apologies - doesn't have a filter either when it comes to expressing his opinion. I spent years of my life being uncomfortable with who I was before working to overcome it. Melvin lets me know that it's ok to be a complete mess but still be happy with who you are.

Then again, maybe it's because he's a best-selling writer or has impressive piano playing skills. Or, that he's just a highly flawed, well-rounded character who ends up being redeemable. By the end of the movie, he's made a rather impressive transition into a more empathetic and likable person.

Conclusion: Melvin Udall gives me a lot of hope that I too am redeemable, despite making so many mistakes in life. He also helps me to remember that I should be comfortable with who I am at all times.

Who are your favorite insane yet lovable movie characters?

More totally insane characters to love:

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs

Sissy Spacek as Carrie White in Carrie

Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas in American Gangster

Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck in Joker

Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers in Black Swan

Gerard Butler as Clyde Shelton in Law Abiding Citizen

Christina Ricci as Wednesday - The Addams Family

Clint Eastwood as The Stranger - High Plains Drifter

F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri - Amadeus

Russell Crowe as John Nash - A Beautiful Mind

Linda Hamilton as Sarah Conner - The Terminator series

Nearly any character from Pulp Fiction

Jack Nicholson in multiple movies like The Shining and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko - Donnie Darko

Jake Gyllenhaal as Holden Worther - The Good Girl

Matt Dillion as Dallas Winston - The Outsiders