Carrie White (Carrie)
The Cool Loner: Sweet-natured Carrie has it pretty tough, what with her crippling shyness, domineering mother and burgeoning telekinesis. She doesn’t make friends easily…
Does She Find A Friend: She doesn’t, although she does take her revenge on the school bullies in rather spectacular style.
Max Cohen (Pi)
The Cool Loner: An undoubted genius, Max’s quest to unlock the mathematical basis of nature has left him a paranoid shut-in. It happens…
Does He Find A Friend: He does share a bond with his elderly neighbour, who just so happens to be another maths whizz. Common ground, you see…
Walt Kowalski (Gran Torino)
The Cool Loner: A solitary, grumpy old soul with a sharp tongue and a filthy temper. Grrrr!
Does He Find A Friend: A secret softy underneath it all, Walt becomes friendly with the Korean family who move in next door, and is soon getting his badass on to protect them from a local gang.
The Jackal (Day Of The Jackal)
The Cool Loner: An utterly ruthless killer, who always keeps his mind one hundred per cent on the job, leaving him no time for distractions…
Does He Find A Friend: He’s very much a one-man-band, even offing his love interest when it looks as though she might slow him down.
Old Man Marley (Home Alone)
The Cool Loner: The creepy old dude Kevin mistakes for a serial killer, who actually ends up saving his ass. Appearances can be deceiving…
Does He Find A Friend: After rescuing Kevin, he’s inspired to reunite with his estranged son and family. All’s well that ends well!
The Bride (Kill Bill)
The Cool Loner: Having been part of a gang of super-skilled assassins, Beatrix Kiddo is forced to turn lone wolf when her former colleagues leave her for dead on her wedding day.
Does She Find A Friend: She finds a mentor in Pai-Mei, but the two of them arenb’t exactly buddies.
The Joker (The Dark Knight)
The Cool Loner: Batman’s ultimate nemesis, the Joker is a sheer force of nature, with no love for anyone or anything except chaos. Understandably, he doesn’t have much time for socialising.
Does He Find A Friend: “He must have friends,” snarls Batman at Maroni. “Friends?” comes the dumbfounded response. “Have you met this guy?”
Patrick Verona (Ten Things I Hate About You)
The Cool Loner: A high-school outsider (slightly implausibly, given his looks and attitude), Pat soon has Kat Stratford all of a flutter when he begins a scheme to woo her for money…
Does He Find A Friend: After much toing and froing, he and Kat eventually fall for each other for real. Awwww.
The Knight (Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade)
The Cool Loner: The last knight, kept alive for 700 years by the power of the Holy Grail, of which he is the guardian. Quite a disciplined chap…
Does He Find A Friend: He seems to get on with Indy quite well, largely as he helps relieve him of his duties.
Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
The Cool Loner: He might be hard to like, but it’s hard not to marvel at the sheer bloody-mindedness of the power-hungry Plainview.
Does He Find A Friend: Nope, and nor does he want one. “I hate most people,” he says, matter-of-factly. “There are times when I look at people and see nothing worth liking.”
