11. Nordberg
As Seen In: The Naked Gun (1988)
The Bad Luck: Life is tough when you're partner is disaster-magnet Frank Drebin. However, while Drebin appears to be made of Teflon, Nordberg ends up on the receiving end of one physical mishap after another. He's not even safe in hospital…
Does It All Come Good In The End? A wheelchair-bound Nordberg goes hurtling down a flight of steps, before falling from the top tier of a baseball stadium. D'oh!
10. Ben Stone
As Seen In: Knocked Up (2007)
The Bad Luck: A victim of that classic Hollywood rule that dictates any incidence of unprotected sex will automatically result in pregnancy. This might not be such a big deal if he had a job, or a house, or a wife…
Does It All Come Good In The End? Yep. He ends up shacked up with Katherine Heigl, the kid turns out healthy, and everything ends up covered in a sheen of warm fuzziness. Ahhh.
9. Romeo & Juliet
As Seen In: Romeo + Juliet (1996)
The Bad Luck: Juliet's clever plan is undone by the failures of the postal service, as her message to Romeo fails to reach its intended recipient. As a result, Romeo thinks she's dead and kills himself. Juliet follows suit soon after.
Does It All Come Good In The End? Not really, no. Although the two warring families do finally make peace, which is something.
8. George Bailey
As Seen In: It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
The Bad Luck: He closes the hearing in his left ear, is forced to take over the family business, watches as said business goes bust, uses his honeymoon money to pay off their depositors, misses out on the war and crashes his car. It's a wonderful life indeed...
Does It All Come Good In The End? The business is saved and George realises what a difference he has made through his self-sacrifice.
7. Dr. Ross Jennings
As Seen In: Arachnophobia (1990)
The Bad Luck: Doctor Jennings is an arachnophobic, so it's somewhat unlucky that a series of mishaps and coincidences leads to him buy a new house that becomes home to the biggest swarm of killer spiders ever to find their way to America. You can't legislate for that kind of luck…
Does It All Come Good In The End? Yes, but only after Jennings has risked life and limb to conquer his fear. It'll set him in good stead next time there's one in the plughole.
6. Ash Williams
As Seen In: Evil Dead (1981 - 1992)
The Bad Luck: Not only does Ash end up in that haunted cabin twice (although given the second film is basically a remake, that can perhaps be disregarded), but after surviving the deadite onslaught, he ends up transported back to the middle ages. Where there are more deadites!
Does It All Come Good In The End? It depends which cut of Army Of Darkness you're watching. Either he bungles his sleeping potion and ends up in a post-apocalytic wasteland, or he goes home, gets the girl and lives happily ever after.
5. David Drayton
As Seen In: The Mist (2007)
The Bad Luck: Drayton is already fairly unlucky to have been caught in the midst of an invasion of monsters from another dimension, but the way his story plays out is where fate really gives him a kick in the teeth…
Does It All Come Good In The End? Nope. Mere seconds after Drayton has shot his son (in order to spare him a more grisly, monster-centric death), the army turn up and save the day. Oof!
4. Bernie Lootz
As Seen In: The Cooler (2003)
The Bad Luck: Not only is Bernie a loser in his own life, he's so ill-fated he can suck the luck right out of a room. Which is why Alec Baldwin's casino owner is so keen on having him around…
Does It All Come Good In The End? Maria Bello falls in love with Bernie, and his luck takes a rather dramatic turn for the better, as does the luck of everyone around him. Hooray!
3. Paul Conroy
As Seen In: Buried (2010)
The Bad Luck: An American contractor working in Iraq, Conroy considers himself a non-participant in the American war, and yet still ends up buried alive in the middle of the desert. When he does manage to phone home, he gets put on hold by a string of stroppy operators, and when help does finally arrive, its intel is less than stellar…
Does It All Come Good In The End? SPOILER ALERT….. erm, not so much. His would be rescuers turn up to the wrong location, rescuing some other poor sod and leaving Conroy for dead. Now that's unlucky...
2. John McClane
As Seen In: Die Hard (1988 - 2007)
The Bad Luck: Not only does his wife keep leaving him, but McClane appears to be a magnet for terrorist mayhem, particularly at Christmas. As he says himself in Die Hard 2 , "I can't fucking believe this… how can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?"
Does It All Come Good In The End? The terrorists are always brushed aside, but by the time we reach Die Hard 4 , Mrs. McClane has packed up for good. At least his relationship with his daughter isn't rocky at all…
