13 Movies That Can Teach You How to Be a Man

Movies are more than just an excuse to waste time, or maybe a way to make sure that a date won’t lead to boring conversation. They are inspiring tales of the human spirit. A good movie can reveal the true importance of being a man capable of fulfilling a real vision–whether it’s changing the course of a nation, or just getting to the only White Castle hamburger joint that can be found within a 100-mile radius.
Movies mean different things to different people, of course, but here are the 13 movies that have defined manhood for COED contributor Danny Gallagher. We’re pretty sure that he’s not talking about himself when he declares, “These are stories that can literally alter the soul of open-minded movie goers, and show even the most meager human being just what it takes to be a true man.” Danny doesn’t seem so meager to us, but judge for yourself as he lists the movies that matter to him…

Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood’s legendary gruffness is set on its highest level for this acclaimed tale of a veteran drawn into the sights of the local Hmong gang. That’s after his character catches the neighbor’s kid Thao trying to steal his mint-condition Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation. Eventually, Clint steps up to help the boy’s family after the gang launches an attack on his home–culminating in a personal sacrifice that’s also a gesture to the neighborhood that he’s seen deteriorate over the years. The film isn’t just about stepping up to make the tough decision, or even the perpetual cycle of violence that can wear on a human’s brain (if they’re lucky enough to survive it). It’s also about the importance of family, and the lengths we sometimes have to go to keep it together.

The Iron Giant

Brad Bird’s cult cartoon classic can reduce even the steeliest of men into blubbering, crying messes. It has a very familiar story that every kid with a favorite dog or a long, lost friend may find maudlin–even when the massive robot is mugging it up for the camera and the audience. His sacrifice may appear to be the most important lesson for the movie’s fans, but it’s actually the robot’s relationship with young Hogarth that makes it so special. The boy teaches the gentle giant that even though he has a whole arsenal of weapons built into his casing, he doesn’t have to be the killing machine that the Giant believes he was meant to become–and that we all are really who we choose to become.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

To the uninitiated, the Star Trek movies may appear to just be stories constructed from a made-up series of scientific processes and terminology. At times, that’s a fair assessment. The series, however, took a brave and interesting turn when one of its core characters stepped up to save the Enterprise (and all the people on board) with a selfless act of bravery that stunned even the most jaded movie goer. It has since become one of the most memorable movie moments. It’s a wonder that Spock’s timeless lesson of “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one” still hasn’t entirely sunk in yet.

Bambi

The death of Bambi’s mother still makes any former kid feel a little bit sad. Even if you’re a deer hunter with a wall full of stuffed heads mounted in your movie room, you put yourself in Bambi’s hooves. The thought of having to face such a cruel world without your poor protective mother by your side scares you down to your core, and you feel even worse that you’re letting yourself have feelings for an animated baby doe. However, Bambi’s rebound shows how even the most timid can stand up for themselves and take their rightful place in life.

Braveheart

The movie that Mel Gibson made before he went bats#*$ insane has become another classic guy movie–and it’s also one where it’s okay for guys to cry during the ending. In fact, we dare you to watch it all the way through without feeling a bit maudlin as William Wallace spills his guts (literally) while fighting for the freedom that he so richly deserves. The average movie goer is probably lucky enough never to have to face the possibility of being drawn and quartered for what they believe. They can still take a tip from Scotland’s most famous freedom fighter, and learn just how precious a man’s freedom is, and that the worst thing anyone can is do is take it for granted.

Casablanca

The movie that made Humphrey Bogart a household name is also one of the most celebrated by critics–and for a good reason. Besides being just as engaging and moving as the first time it ran in theaters, Casablance also features a romantic plot line that can catch a guy off-guard if he’s just expecting another movie where they live vicariously through Bogart’s inherent coolness. The movie’s famous ending shows that some sacrifices in life are necessary–and the harder they are, the more necessary they become.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s most famous book (with Gregory Peck’s performance as the stoic Atticus Finch) is another timeless classic that every self-respecting movie buff must watch until they have every scene memorized. The film is set in a time where it seems compassion is on short supply. Atticus, however, seeks to find justice in a place and time where such things were hard to come by.

Up

It may look like a children’s movie, but any movie fan knows that Pixar’s flicks are never just for children. Up is a particularly bright gem in Pixar’s stockpile–not just because it’s the second movie to win a Best Picture Oscar nomination, but because it’s a completely original and whimsical story. Carl Fredricksen is an old man who finally takes a chance in life to live out the dream he thought he lost, and it’s executed in a completely insane fashion. However, it’s not the dream that’s the true lesson. It’s that no dream is worth experiencing if you aren’t willing to share what’s great about it with someone you care about.

High Fidelity

The Hollywood adaptation of Nick Hornsby’s classic story has become something of a classic of its own. It’s not just the first mainstream movie that really let Jack Black be Jack Black. It’s a quirky story of an emotionally reckless record store owner who can’t commit to a relationship because he refuses to face what’s really bothering him about his life. He spends most of his time bemoaning the fact that he’s not thrilled about his station in life, even if he’s farther ahead than he realizes. He eventually learns that sometimes the most elusive answers to the hardest questions in a person’s life are often right under their nose–even if a man is too scared to face them.

Saving Private Ryan

Steven Spielberg’s epic is one of the most acclaimed war films of all time–mostly because it’s so unlike most of the war films that Hollywood has produced about one of the sorriest facets of human existence. It may be a fictional story, but unlike other war films before it, it doesn’t approach war as an epic driver to create an over-the-top hero. It presents war for what it is: gritty, barbaric and violent.

Hoosiers

Gene Hackman’s deft portrayal of a small town basketball coach with a scruffy team of underdogs is one of the most beloved sports films of all time. It’s also about so much more than basketball, or even the pain of adversity. The small Indiana town that the coach moves to practically identifies itself and its worth by its hometown team–but both the town and team get lost in the heat of battle, and are almost dismantled in pursuit of a win at any cost. However, they all learn that having a pennant to hang from the rafters isn’t what’s most important about the game. It’s the camaraderie that’s created there.

True Grit

This John Wayne classic–as revisited by the Coen Brothers–may sound like a typical Hollywood western. In fact, it’s far more complex than a simple story of Western-style justice. It’s a deep tale of devotion that shows up in the oddest of places. The famed Rooster Cogburn is hired by a stubborn young girl seeking revenge for the murder of her father. Cogburn takes a shine to the girl, since she reminds him of his own stoic stubbornness. True Grit may have the shine of an epic western, but it’s a story about the drive of love and devotion, and the lengths we sometimes don’t even stop to think about when one has to face the worst.

The original Star Wars trilogy

You may know the stories by heart. You may have every line memorized on a mental Rolodex that you can spew out at will. You may even have conducted deep, penetrated studies complete with algebraic equations that show the trajectory and wind speed of weaponized lasers there is no way that Han Solo couldn’t have shot second in a crowded cantina. However, it’s all just an excuse to get lost in the films’ deeper message about the temptation and futility of using evil to achieve a perceived greater good–and how brute force and cynicism is never a plausible long term strategy. In their defense, those messages would get lost in any film where laser swords are a central part of the story.