16 Comments
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Vince Guerra's avatar

Rosalee Quaid, the mother in the film Hostiles. Played by Rosamund Pike, the character is a pioneer mother whose husband and three children are murdered by Camanchees in the opening scene. Her trauma and hatred toward all Indians is deep, yet by the end of the film through a number of additional experiences she defending others. It's an amazing performance too.

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Iree G's avatar

I'm going with Mike Wazowski in Monster's University.

Why am I picking a character from an animated Pixar film over Mr. Darcy or that "Fool of a Took"? Because it's different. Your average good character development story starts out with an average nobody, a whinny farmboy or that cocky person nobody likes, who then earns their way into the spotlight becoming the star, the hero or warrior. They deserve it, it's great. Those stories are some of the best.

But Mike strives for the spotlight, does all the work, knows all the stuff, wants it more than anything...and doesn't actually get what he thought he wanted, because he was meant for something else. He was meant to be the coach, not the star. And he finds propose and happiness in a position that was never even on his radar.

Maybe I'm making to big a deal about a kid's film, but hey,

It has good character development. 😁

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Shannon Guerra's avatar

Marilla Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables, who goes from crusty, prickly, reluctant caregiver to the warm, repentant, humble adoptive mother by the end of the movie.

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LC's avatar

There are too many good answers for this question, from all the genres. But I gotta go with The Godfather for Michael’s character. This obviously continues to the second movie too.

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Vince Guerra's avatar

Ireland didn't specify that the character's development need be limited to a single film, so...

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LC's avatar

Well then Michael’s character development in I and II. Those are the only movies that I need to mention for this character.

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Vince Guerra's avatar

We don't speak of Godfather 3. *wink*

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Eustace C. Scrubb's avatar

Wasn't there a third film? I seem to recall...

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Chris Bottoms's avatar

There are so many good options to this question, but I think that I am going to fight for Edmond Dantes of The Count of Monte Cristo. There were so many stages and emotions wrapped into his journey. The happy young man who is excelling and has the girl. The scared young man who realized that his best friend has betrayed him. The captive who thinks he deserves justice. The prisoner who has given up, and strangely finds hope and a mentor. The man whose genius is driven by revenge. And finally the man whose anger has taken him to the edge, but he finds himself fighting for honor, love and family.

This movie is at the top of my list of favorites for sure!

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Vince Guerra's avatar

Which version? I love the book and I'm always on the lookout for a great movie version.

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LC's avatar

There are 8 billion adaptations of this story. The JC one is probably the movie most people have seen. My problem with the ones I’ve seen is they never fully capture Edmond’s intelligence and how elaborate his schemes are. I think it’s because of time constraints. So the JC version is entertaining, but don’t expect it to be as smart as the book. Happens with Three Musketeers adaptations too.

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Vince Guerra's avatar

Yeah, I make exceptions for movie adaptations, so long as they're entertaining. I liked The Man In The Iron Mask movie better than the book even though they're almost entirely different.

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Chris Bottoms's avatar

I really like the version with Jim Caviezel. I haven't read the book, which could affect my love for that one, but I really enjoyed it.

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Vince Guerra's avatar

And the winner is, Ireland with the one eyed wonder known as Mike Wazowski. Congratulations, Ireland, you get to choose tomorrow's question.

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Eustace C. Scrubb's avatar

Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, a dispairing drunk brought back to being a husband, father, and artist (country western singer and song writer). In only 90 minutes we see a man transformed, thanks to the direction of Bruce Beresford, the writing of Horton Foote, but especially the performance of the great Robert Duvall. If you have never seen this film, move it up on your list.

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Sisyphus Achaean's avatar

Wahlberg's Father Stu, with the trajectory from a young boxer to a mature convert to a priest with a disabling illness showing the physical transformations as well as the character transformations. The actor gained 30 pounds in the course of the role.

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