10 Movies That Wanted You To HATE The Hero
9. Patrick Kenzie - Gone Baby Gone
Ben Affleck's terrific thriller Gone Baby Gone stars Casey Affleck as Boston P.I. Patrick Kenzie, and for the overwhelming majority of the movie we're absolutely on his side.
His methods while investigating the disappearance of young Amanda McCready (Madeline O'Brien) may not always be above board, but it isn't difficult to root for him throughout.
That is, at least, until late in the movie, when he finds Amanda alive and well, having been kidnapped by Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman), who feels he can give her a better life than her neglectful mother Helene (Amy Ryan).
At this point, Patrick is faced with a dilemma - pretend he saw nothing and let Amanda grow up with Doyle, or call the cops and have her returned to her wildly irresponsible mother.
And though Patrick's girlfriend Angie (Michelle Monaghan) assures him she'll hate him if he calls the cops, that's exactly what he does.
The film ends with Amanda returned to Helene while Doyle is arrested, Angie breaks up with Patrick, and in the final scene, Patrick pays a visit to Amanda and realises that Helene is back to neglecting her.
While you can argue that Patrick made the "right" decision in the eyes of the law, morally speaking it's much tougher to sanction his actions.
It's a brilliantly infuriating moral dilemma that's firmly divided audiences ever since the film's release, but even if you think Patrick did the right thing, you probably hate him for it at least a little bit, right?