Victor Mancini is a conman, a sex addict, and a crude figure incapable of stable relationships. The man only supports his dying mother in hopes of discovering who his father is. Yet looking at the world through his eyes, you can't help but be interested.

Tom Jones is an illegitimate cad whose naive outlook and penchance for getting into trouble only serves to put his life at risk time and again.

Patrick Bateman is a vapid, thoughtless sociopath with a habit of butchering the citizens of NYC and a love for pornography. He is obsessed with appearance whether socially or physically and is willing to do whatever it takes to be the dominant male. But there is an honesty to the man who symbolically represents the 80s.

There isn't a single redeemable character in this movie of thieves and murderers. Yet the light tone strips away their unlikability and their hijinks only endear them all the more.

An alcoholic millionaire incapable of taking responsibility finds life is a bit too much even for him. Despite his spoiled nature and immature acts, his growth and eventual maturation helps the man grow beyond his initial infantile state.

Wolfgang is a spoilt, immature, irritating, and perverse composer of remarkable talent. Solieri is a vindictive, jealous, no-talent bent on murdering Wolfgang as a means of striking at God for giving the talent he thinks he deserves for his piety to one so tainted with sin. The interplay of both characters makes for a fascinating flick.

Sonny robs a bank in hopes of making enough money to pay for his lover's sex change operation. Though at first a venal, unlikable, and shrill individual, one begins to understand the reasons for his actions as his private life is revealed over the course of the story.

Jack Torrance is a recovering alcoholic who tries to put his life back together after breaking the arm of his son in a drunken binge. He gradually goes insane throughout the novel, and his descent is nothing short of horrifying.

Buttermaker is a washed up ballplayer who cleans pools for a living. A semi-drunk who is quite comfortable voicing his opinions regardless of how profane they may be, he finds redemption through the coaching of a ragtag group of kids. In redeeming them he redeems himself.

Max is an emotionless nomad who looks out for himself and himself alone. Struggling to survive in a dystopic wasteland, he proves there is more to him than his cold exterior in this cult classic.