12 Iconic Movie Characters Who Aren't As Cool As You Remember

12. Ace Merrill - Stand By Me

This awful human being is played by Kiefer Sutherland in the classic 1986 coming-of-age movie Stand By Me. Sutherland was a poster boy of the '80s, appearing in other films as the bad boy heart throb such as The Lost Boys. But Stand By Me was his first real big-screen breakthrough and the role that propelled his rugged good looks into many a teenage dream. For this to happen it would have hopefully meant that "Ace" Merrill's antics had to be overlooked, though. Not only does he go by the sort of lame nickname that people who want to reinvent themselves at high school don, he also smokes (and in the 21st century, we all know there's nothing cool about that!) and constantly bullies a group of younger children with the backing of his gang, all of whom are in their twenties. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, after he steals a baseball cap from Gordie (left to him by his dead brother,) he then threatens to "beat the s**t" out of the kids with his friends who say things like "your ass is grass!" - he even pulls a knife on them! It doesn't matter how handsome someone is, child-killers aren't sexy. Get a job, Ace, you lingering lowlife of a man.
Contributor
Contributor

Aspiring screenwriter. Film & TV Production BA (Hons) graduate. Currently studying MA Screenwriting at LJMU. Addicted to Breaking Bad and Chinese food.