10 Awesome Movies With No Sympathetic Characters

2. Once Upon A Time In America

Sergio Leone's 1984 crime thriller is one of cinema's best-crafted epics, with jaw-dropping direction, engrossing writing and magnificent performances from a cast led by Robert De Niro and James Woods.

It is an epic, sweeping tale which shows how a group of young boys get drawn into a life of crime, yet the overall tone of the film is far harsher than, say, something like Goodfellas.

De Niro's protagonist Noodles might seem likeable for a time, but he loses all audience favour when he rapes a childhood friend (Elizabeth McGovern), who isn't exactly a bundle of charm herself, being a coldly standoffish liar.

Pretty much every significant character in the film kills, lies and has a problematic attitude to women, while the women don't do much to endear themselves to the audience either. It's a stone-cold masterpiece, and perhaps only more so because it dares to present such detestable people throughout.