A staple of cinema has long been criminal characters on the wrong side of the law that you can’t help but root for… or at least be highly entertained by.
To celebrate the release of The Old Man & The Gun today, here’s a list of our 10 favourites:
Bonnie & Clyde – Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (1967)
The famously violent bank-robbing couple have fascinated audiences for decades, and certainly wouldn’t hold so much appeal if they weren’t so charmingly portrayed in Arthur Penn’s 1967 movie.
Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) – Point Break (1991)
You’re not a 90s kid if you weren’t as taken with blond surfer criminal Bodhi as Johnny Utah (Keanu Reaves) was in this iconic film that I like to look as as a predecessor to the Fast & Furious franchise. Nothing can beat that cop/criminal friendship.
Red (Morgan Freeman) – Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Tim Robbins’ Andy Dufresne finds solace in the wisdom of fellow inmate Red when his life is turned upside down by his wrongful imprisonment in Shawshank prison. Freeman’s performance is nothing short of iconic.
Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) – The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
Damon turns the charm on full blast as the titular Mr Ripley, sent to Italy to bring back millionaire playboy Jude Law to 1950s America. Seduction is key to a good con!
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) – Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Though Sandra Bullock could give him a run for his money, it wouldn’t do to forget one of the most iconic criminals of the 21st century. Danny Ocean could hold together his casino-robbig team of 11 with the force of white-teeth smile alone.
Max (Sigourney Weaver) and Page (Jennifer Love Hewitt) Conners – Heartbreakers (2001)
This mother-daughter duo use their feminine wiles to scam rich men out of their money, and honestly? We resepct the hustle. Weaver and Love Hewitt certainly make a formidable duo.
Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) – Catch Me If You Can (2002)
A wildly compelling game of cat and mouse between young con-man Leo and long-suffering cop Tom Hanks literally could not be any more entertaining. I’d marry young Leo in a heartbeat too, regardless of his shady past too.
Harry Lockheart (Robert Downey Jr.) – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Before he was Tony Stark, Downey stole our hearts as a thief masquerading as an actor, caught up unexpectedly in a murder investigation. The comedy will have you creasing.
Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) – The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Yet another Leo, this one older and significantly more coked up (on screen that is). Wall Street criminals really are the worst kind, but you can’t help being sucked in to Jordan Belfort’s ridiculous magnetism.
Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) – The Old Man & The Gun (2018)
In Redford’s last role before his retirement, he plays aging bank robber Forrest Tucker, who always has a gun and a smile for those he’s robbing. His Autumn romance with Sissy Spacek will have you aww-ing.
The Old Man & the Gun is in cinemas from Friday 7th December