Man vs. Himself

Of course every tale worth telling bears at least one of the “Man vs.” conflicts, but occasionally one dazzles us in full relief. Following are excellent illustrations of men ~ and women ~ evaluating who they are, determining to change, and either reinventing or going to war with themselves.

Examples of Man vs. Himself in Film

• 100 Mile Rule
• 25th Hour
• A History of Violence
• A Map of the World
• A Simple Plan
• About a Boy
• About Last Night…
• All That Jazz
• American Beauty
• American History X
• American Splendor
• An Officer and a Gentleman
• Arthur (1981)
• Arthur (2011)
• As Good As It Gets
• Baby Boom
• Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
• Boyz N the Hood
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• Bridesmaids
• Bridget Jones’ Diary
• Broadcast News
• Brokeback Mountain
• Bronson
• Brothers (2005)
• Bruce Almighty
• Captains Courageous
• Casino
• Casualties of War
• Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Crossing Delancey
• Days of Wine and Roses
• Deliverance
• Donnie Brasco
• Doubt
• Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Envy
• Facing the Giants
• Fatal Attraction
• Fiddler on the Roof
• Flawless (1999)
• Forrest Gump
• Friends with Money
• Good Will Hunting
• Groundhog Day
• Guinivere
• Half Nelson
• Hannah and Her Sisters
• Hard Candy
• Harold and Maude
• I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can
• In Bruges
• In Her Shoes
• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Jack Goes Boating
• Jerry Maguire
• Juno
• Keeping the Faith
• Kramer vs. Kramer
• LA Confidential
• La Mission
• Little Fish
• Lost in America
• Megamind
• Moonstruck
• My Best Friend’s Wedding
• ‘night, Mother
• Normal
• Notes on a Scandal
• On Golden Pond
• Ordinary People
• Owning Mahowny
• Permanent Midnight
• Phone Booth
• Places in the Heart
• Platoon
• Pride and Glory
• Private Benjamin
• Quiz Show
• Raising Arizona
• Red Dragon
• Requiem for a Dream
• Rocky
• Rocky III
• Romeo is Bleeding
• Rounders
• Runaway Train
• Scrooge
• Secretary
• Seven
• Shall We Dance? (1996)
• Shattered Glass
• Sideways
• Signs
• Slums of Beverly Hills
• Spinning Into Butter
• Stage Beauty
• Star Trek (2009)
• Star Trek: First Contact
• State and Main
• State of Grace
• Stone
• Straw Dogs (2011)
• Sunshine Cleaning
• The Art of Getting By
• The Beaver
• The Breakfast Club
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• The Cooler
• The Deer Hunter
• The Doctor
• The Experiment
• The Fighter
• The Fisher King
• The Full Monty
• The Good Girl
• The In-Laws (1979)
• The Lord of the Rings (full trilogy, special edition boxed set of
• course)
• The Matrix
• The Painted Veil
• The Paper
• The Prestige
• The Pursuit of Happyness
• The Road
• The September Issue
• The Shawshank Redemption
• The Shipping News
• The Silence of the Lambs
• The Town
• Titanic
• Tootsie
• Trading Places
• Under the Tuscan Sun
• Unfaithful
• Up in the Air
• Urban Cowboy
• Wall Street
• Warrior
• We Don’t Live Here Anymore
• Whatever Works
• When a Man Loves a Woman
• When Harry Met Sally…
• White Squall
• Win Win

What are some of your favorite examples, and why? Please do share ~