8 Movie Characters Whose Revenge Was Way Over The Top

6. Michael J. "Jay" Cochran - Revenge

This movie actually the balls to call itself "Revenge," so it's a tad surprisingly than its vengeance-based plot feels a little at odds with the title. The plot concerns Kevin Costner's vastly unlikeable protagonist, one Michael J. "Jay" Cochran, a former U.S. Navy pilot, who is invited by his criminal friend, Tibey (the first weird plot point of the film), to vacation at his house in Mexico. Tibey is a ruthless, dangerous and powerful crime lord, but Jay saved his life once, so what the hell, right? The plot kicks into gear when Jay falls in love with his friend's wife, Miryea, and proceeds to have a sort of affair with her - right on Tibey's land. Tibey eventually finds out about it, beats Jay within an inch of his life, and sends his wife off to live in a whorehouse somewhere. Then the movie asks audiences to buy into the idea of Jay's revenge. And it's difficult to do that, because everything that has happened is entirely Jay's fault. Why did he get entangled in such a bizarre romance in the first place? Why did he betray his friend? How do you feel sympathy for a man who doomed himself in the dumbest way possible? So when Jay returns to rescue Miryea and take on Tibey, his revenge - that is, killing everyone involved in the incident - seems ridiculously drastic and ill-judged. Tibey was a crime lord - what did Jay expect to happen?