MovieChat Forums > At Any Price (2013) Discussion > Unlikable Character - I'm supposed to ca...

Unlikable Character - I'm supposed to care about Dean?

posted 11 years ago by TerraGreenHouse
11 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was awful.

The biggest thing that annoys me in movies is when a character is totally unlikable, but everyone involved in the movie just assumes that the audience will love the main characters and be hoping for the best and care about what happens to them?

Dean...what was the thought process? Was it "People think Zac Efron is cute so they'll like him"??

Let's see....he's a theif. He's a slut/treats girls/women horribly...oh and he's a murderer.

And I'm supposed to care about Dean?

[–] GoingNowhereKid 11 years ago

I'm sorry did the director come on the screen before the film and say "you have to like my characters they're all likable and if you don't like them get out?" Stop thinking in Hollywood cliches if you didn't find him likable then he probably was not written to be likable to everyone.

I, for one, think that they were human characters who made plenty of mistakes and had issues that they needed to work out as does everyone. Dean was a troubled kid who made more mistakes than he should've and will probably live with them for the rest of his life; I think the end shows that he is at least TRYING to turn things around which I can respect.

[–] roncerabona 10 years ago

It was an interesting film. One possibility from the ending is that Dean will end up like his father...

[–] dbwilyumz 10 years ago

"Dean will end up like his father..."

That's exactly what's happening. A weak ending, because the Dean character lacks real motivation to become a farmer and seed salesman. All I can see is that his dad knows he's a murderer, so he'd better do what dad likes.

[–] roncerabona 10 years ago

Well, also, his dad helped him cover up the crime (which might be manslaughter, but still would be taken seriously by the law) so he would feel he owed him: the father had nothing to do with the killing but made himself an accomplice afterwards (demonstrating perhaps he did love him, even if he wasn't always good at showing it). And maybe blood does triumph: Dean had more in common with his father than he perhaps cared to admit - hotheadedness, some poor decisionmaking, a willingness to play dirty to get ahead (like shooting out a shop window to steal a psrt).

The farm-succession issue is not an uncommon one and is complicated: not everyone is cut out to be a farmer but in this case Dean, having apparently ruined his chances at a racing career, might feel he is out of options, in addition to the factors above.

[–] andell 9 years ago

I don't think Dean is meant to be likable...so on that I'd agree with you.

As for your second paragraph, on that I disagree. Dean, after the murder becomes even more dislikable in my opinion. Indeed, I'd say he's pretty much psychopathic as he never really shows any emotion after what he did.

And that ending...if that's meant to convey "that he is at least TRYING to turn things around," I didn't find respectable at all. I actually found it repulsive. He knows what he did, knows that he has left a family completely destroyed, and he makes NO attempt to make amends for that. He knows his father is carrying the burden of guilt for what he did, and he's content with that so long as his father keeps quiet about what he did.

I don't know how you can respect a character like that! Sure, he's contributing to the family business...but there's a family grieving the son he tried to bully and then ended up murdering, and he does nothing to alleviate their pain at all.

Restitution (by effort) to his father is not making amends for what he did...that can only come by confessing what he did to those he truly harmed!

[–] surf-10 10 years ago

I don't think Dean is supposed to be likable. Like many people, he's a flawed person. People make mistakes, do self destructive things and sometimes murder people, albeit accidentally. If you were expecting apple pies and sweet kisses under a big tree, you happened upon the wrong movie. Not that you would be wrong from thinking that was going to happen given the cast and overall corn fed theme.

But the more interesting question is do you care about Dean. I don't think he is likable but I did care about him. Maybe that's because he's cute. But it seems his wily looks didn't work on you.

[–] sd45-1 10 years ago

On the other hand, I thought it was neat how they portrayed the ex GF who was parentless pretty much as the only smart decision-maker in the room, knowing when the relationship was poison and getting out of dodge and away from all the corruption and secrets.

[–] taxidriver8989 9 years ago

Henry made an impression on her and she is going to try to build a better life for herself. Who knows if she regresses and ends up like either her father and mother.

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[–] Waldimore 9 years ago

I feel you. I hated Dean. And know you don't have to like a character. But there was no one in the film that I really cared about. So Dean being an a-hole really made the film unsympathetic.

[–] Waldimore 9 years ago

I feel you. I hated Henry. And know you don't have to like a character. But there was no one in the film that I really cared about. So Dean being an a-hole really made the film unsympathetic.

[–] andell 9 years ago

He's not meant to be likable...that would be my conclusion.

As for his sexual appetite, or how he treats girls/women...I don't really care about that. Girls/women were NOT his ultimate victim, were they? No matter how badly you may believe he treats girls/women...he treated a young man infinitely worse, didn't he?