Drama can be powerful because it reflects real life in profound ways. The best modern drama characters in movies are those who feel most true to life in their struggles, or who offer a glimpse of who we would like to be.
Audiences can sympathize with their plights, recognizing similarities with their own lives. It feels genuine and the result is deeply emotional.
These five modern drama characters rank among the greatest because they follow the formula of being true to life:
Vote Now: Who Is Your Favorite Actor of All Time?
Michael Coreleone
Mob bosses are not supposed to be sympathetic characters. Michael Coreleone changes that in “The Godfather” trilogy. Michael's life starts out promising. He is a World War II hero who seems poised to break free from his father's criminal empire. A series of incidents force Michael into becoming a mob boss. He and his family are destroyed through Michael engaging in the family business – making him the quintessential tragic character.
Rocky Balboa
No one personifies an underdog better than Rocky Balboa. Before the “Rocky” sequels made him a champion, Balboa began as a small-time Philadelphia boxer who gets a shot at the world champion, Apollo Creed. Balboa draws popularity from being a regular guy who overcomes tough odds to achieves his dreams. He proved so popular with the real-life boxing community that
Sylvester Stallone was inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011, for his role in the film.
Gordon Gekko
Greed is good. That's the philosophy that drives Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” and its sequel. He is a ruthless stockbroker who is willing do anything and destroy anyone, all in the name of making a buck. Gekko is a powerful character simply because he personifies the idea of corporate greed – an issue that feels even more pertinent in the years since the housing market collapse of 2008.
Andy Dufresne
Hope and integrity can be maintained in the darkest circumstances. Doing this is what sets Andy Durfresne apart in “The Shawshank Redemption.” Andy is framed for a double murder and sent to prison for life. He never gives up through the horrors of prison life and eventually escapes after 19 years. Andy represents the ideal that hope and friendship can triumph over all obstacles.
It helped make “The Shawshank Redemption” one of basic cable's most popular movies, according to Biography.
Vote Now: Which of These Actors Stands the Test of Time?
Forrest Gump
Life truly is like a box of chocolates for the title character in “Forrest Gump.” He never knows what he's going to get, but it usually turns into an amazing adventure. Gump is a naïve and slow-witted man who goes from college football star to war hero to successful businessman.
A Rolling Stone review best described him as “everything we admire in the American character – honest, brave, loyal.”