Nice Guys of Filmland #3-4
3. Sgt. Al Powell (Reginald Veljohnson)—Die Hard
As Bruce Willis’s John McClane is single-handedly fighting off terrorists-slash-thieves in L.A.’s Nakatomi Tower, Al Powell is the only friend he has on the outside, even though McClane welcomed him to the party by throwing a corpse onto his car. Powell’s loyalty to McClane, a man he’s never met, is inflexible, and he brings a warm, nougaty heart to a pretty nasty piece of action business.
Nicest Moments: All of that heart-to-heart bonding over the radios, standing up for McClane even while his superiors are talking shit about him, that look on his face when he and McClane see each other for the first time. That’s man love, right there.
4. Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman)—Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch is the “man with the plan” in the Butch/Sundance partnership, and he’s always ready with a quick witticism or a bold idea to get them out of a scrape. Even when fighting dirty to fend off a challenge to his gang-leader status, Butch never for a second seems mean about it. A character later in the movie tells him how nice he is while Butch and Sundance are tying the man up. There doesn’t seem to be a man alive who doesn’t like Butch, and it’s entirely possible that he’s never truly hated a man, either. Even though he’s an outlaw, he’s as loyal, even-tempered and affable as they come.
Nicest Moments: Conversations with Woodcock the railroad man, flirting with Etta, the woman that he and Sundance are both sweet on, his great diffusing of the tense sepia-toned opening scene.
