We love it when a plan comes together. Especially if said plan is to be executed by a ragtag bunch of misfits thrown together for the task. Eli Roth’s latest blockbuster based on the massive video games franchise, stars Cate Blanchett as a notorious outlaw who forms an alliance with a team of unlikely outcasts, including Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt and Jack Black.
It’s the latest in a proud line of movies about groups of unexpected people joining up to get a job done. To mark the release of Borderlands, we present our favourite gangs of movie misfits…
The Breakfast Club (1985)
A misfit tale so perfectly conceived that you’d think there was an AI algorithm behind it. Sequestered together in one boring Saturday high school detention session, the jock (Emilio Estevez), the nerd (Anthony Michael Hall), the princess (Molly Ringwald), the basket case (Ally Sheedy) & the outcast (Judd Nelson) discover they have more in common than they think.
The Goonies (1985):
Teen movies are especially rich sources of misfit tales, given it’s the time of life when GAH NOBODY UNDERSTANDS YOU slams bedroom door. This Spielberg-produced adventure sees a bunch of friends and frenemies (jock, beauty, wimp, nerd, etc and Martha Plimpton, who is in a category all of her own, thank you) on the hunt for hidden pirate treasure to save their neighbourhood from redevelopment.
Stand By Me (1986):
Hmm? Oh, don’t mind me, I just have something in my eye. Another 1980s slice of outcast perfection. Will Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and [insert dreamy geriatric millennial sigh] River Phoenix play a group of friends, escaping bullies and the pressures of their own lives while on the hunt for a dead body in the woods of their hometown.
The Commitments (1991):
Hey kids, Alan Parker’s 1991 film is more of an educational document about pre-Celtic Tiger Dublin and Ireland than any of your “books” that “the Man” forces you to read in “school”. A real motley bunch of unemployed and unemployable dreamers get together to form a soul band and conquer the world. It’s a movie tale as old as time, but very rarely done as well as this.
Sing Street (2016):
A spiritual cousin to ‘The Commitments’ in lots of ways, ‘Sing Street’ is set close to the same era (i.e. in the emigration, unemployment and ultra-Catholic-dogma-ridden 1980s Ireland). It’s also about a group of weirdo youngsters trying to find a sense of purpose and identity – and to fall in love – through the drama of forming a band.
Star Wars (1977):
Misfits working together is a well to which sci-fi often returns – as is the case in ‘Borderlands’ – but the daddy (ahem) of them all is George Lucas’ original 1977 epic. There’s the earnest do-gooder (Mark Hamill), the wise elder (Alec Guinness), the cocky rebel (Harrison Ford) and the feisty princess
(Carrie Fisher), not to mention a hairy gentle giant and some camp robots. There’s a reason this story has endured. See also: ‘Serenity’, the movie spinoff from the TV series ‘Firefly’.
Lord Of The Rings (2001):
If ‘Star Wars’ is the daddy, then ‘Lord of the Rings’ is the stately grandfather who isn’t wild about his offsprings’ asymmetric haircuts and short skirts. Still, the fellowship of the ring covers a wide array of personalities – from homely hobbits to exiled warriors – enriching the emotional and narrative journey enough to sustain several great movies (and some okay ones).
Guardians of The Galaxy (2014):
One of the most successful modern heirs to the sci-fi misfit throne is this Marvel caper, it’s also 10 years old this year if you can imagine. Again, it’s precision-tooled to hit all the marks: cocky but vulnerable hero (Chris Pratt), the tough but tender alien (Zoe Saldana), the brawn (Dave Bautista), the silent clown/tree (Vin Diesel) and the sassy animal sidekick (Bradley Cooper).
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023):
A very recent addition to the misfits canon, this one went slightly under the radar due to *waves around frantically at everything*. But this is a delightful tale of an outsider crew – featuring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page and Justice Smith – doing what this genre does best: creating a sense of found-family for people who feel misunderstood. Not coincidentally, this was co-written and co-directed by John Francis Daly, who played Sam in ‘Freaks & Geeks’ back in the day.
Words : Declan Cashin
BORDERLANDS is at Irish cinemas from Aug 7th