8. Tom Hansen (500 Days of Summer)
I will see your Summer Finn, and raise you Tom Hansen! One of those rare romantic movies that doesn't make me want to beat my head repeatedly into a bucket of acid-tipped toothpicks, 500 Days of Summer was saved by Joseph Gordon-Levitt's touching portrayal of the tender-hearted yet somewhat foolish Tom. Tom's a dreamer, and invested too much time and energy into chasing a girl that he could only see as a fantasy, rather than a real-life damsel with flaws and insecurities. Tom screwed up. And yet, the fact that Tom felt such pain at screwing up - hide the plates! - shows just how much he was willing to invest in a relationship, albeit a doomed one. He may have had the wrong impression of Summer, but he made an effort to try and know her anyway, in the hopes that she would love him just as strongly back. IKEA dates... indie records... even a crash course in The Graduate - which you know, crashed and burned, but at least he tried. 'It's better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all', as the old saying goes. A somewhat awkward hipster who fell to Earth from the clouds, Tom learned from his mistakes, and at the end of the movie still holds hope that love can blossom anew. Tom ditched his naivety but kept his belief that there are people out there worthy of his time and affection, and became a better man for it. And I too hate ugly parking lots.