History ReasonableAuthorityFigure / LiveActionFilms

*** See the Comic Books folder for another example.

* ''Fillm/RapTheWildWind'':

* Lord Humungus from ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior'' is a villainous example. Unlike every other villain up to that point, he is only after the oil rig and is perfectly willing to let the tribe leave peacefully instead of massacring them.
** He tells his underling "The gasoline will be ours. Then, you shall have your revenge." implying that he plans on betraying and massacring the tribe the second they leave their defenses.

* The detective in ''Film/BunnyLakeIsMissing'' embodies this trope. Despite the fact that every piece of evidence suggests that Ann Lake never really had a daughter, he continues to investigate zealously because after all, if she's not crazy then a four-year-old girl is missing. And thanks to this behavior [[spoiler: he gets possibly the most understated, British BigDamnHeroes moment in cinematic history]].

-->President Camacho. Former pro wrestler turned porn star turned president. He dresses in American flag pants, he addresses the nation by dancing, singing, and firing a gun into the air and rallying them with his aggressively patriotic (if completely empty) rhetoric. He's energetic, likable, and absolutely captivating... it's not just President Camacho's patriotism that makes him a great leader. Eventually, Joe is brought to the attention of President Camacho. This weird-talking time traveler with his fancy ideas made it all the way to the White House, because an IQ test claimed he was the smartest man alive. And when that happened, President Camacho did a remarkable thing. He recognized that Joe was smarter, and he bowed to his wisdom. Everyone — everyone — in the world of ''Idiocracy'' resented Joe, because he talked differently and because his ideas, to them, sounded crazy. They turned against him out of their fear, their pride, and their inability to understand him. Everyone else, when faced with Joe's unconventional ideas, immediately went on the defensive and resented Joe. He didn't fit in with their weird hive mind of delusion and idiocy. Yet for all of his pomposity and ridiculousness, Camacho had the clarity of mind to look beyond all that. What he saw was a man who was smarter than himself, and he had no problem humbling himself and saying "Let's trust the smart guy."

** Also Elmont, the captain of the Guardians. He'll put a good scare in Jack for not kneeling when he's supposed to--but when the Princess goes missing, Elmont remembers that Jack was the peasant who'd stand up to bullies to protect a strange girl whom he didn't even ''know'' was the princess. He vouches for Jack with the King when it counts.

* Every authority figure in ''Film/NightOfTheLepus'' accepts that monsters are rampaging without question, and all immediately spring into action. Which is rather unreasonable in and of itself - not a single person ever stops and says "Giant Man Eating Rabbits? You can't be serious!?"

* ''Film/RebelWithoutACause'' - the police officer played by Ed Platt. He lets Jim know that he's there to talk to when things are driving him crazy (and things ''are'' driving him crazy).
* ''Film/ReformSchoolGirls'': Psychologist Dr. Norton seems to be the only authority figure at the school who is not a megalomaniac or a sadist. When she gets proof of what is going on at the school, she goes straight to the board to expose it. At the end of the film — after Edna has been killed and Sutter removed — she is shown as the new warden.

* In ''Film/SilverLode'', all the local authority figures--Sheriff Wooley, Judge Cranston, and Reverend Field--are helpful and willing to listen to reason. Wooley and Field go the extra mile in protecting Ballard from extrajudicial killing by respectively swearing in a {{posse}} and granting him [[SeekingSanctuary refuge in the church]]. It's the townspeople and [=McCarty=] and his men who cause trouble for Ballard.

* In ''Film/TheTerminator'', Lieutenant Ed Traxler and Detective Vukovich take the situation seriously, and do their best to save Sarah Connor when they realize she's the "Phone Book Killer's" most likely next target. Face-to-face with our protagonists, they're not so apt to believe Kyle Reese's wild descriptions of a "Terminator" in human flesh sent back to their time from AfterTheEnd, but — more than the unfortunately sneering condescension of Dr. Silberman — recognize a situation bad enough to rattle anyone and make a very respectable go at DoingInTheWizard, [[WrongGenreSavvy except, unfortunately, they live in a world where their wild-eyed hobo with a shotgun is]] ''[[WrongGenreSavvy right]].'' In a deleted scene, [[spoiler:the mortally-wounded]] Traxler even gives Reese a gun after the Terminator attacks the police station.

* ''Film/TheMcKenzieBreak:'' Colonel Perry doesn't get along well with Captain O'Connor and he makes some bad decision, but he's able to logically explain why he makes those decisions and does help O'Connor at times. Furthermore, in the film but not the book, Perry is absolutely right when it comes to his biggest argument with O'Connor (whether or not to stop the prisoners before they escape, regardless of the intelligence loss), and O'Connor eventually admits it.

* In ''Film/TheTerminator'', Lieutenant Ed Traxler and Detective Vukovich take the situation seriously, and do their best to save Sarah Connor when they realize she's the "Phone Book Killer's" most likely next target. Face-to-face with our protagonists, they're not so apt to believe Kyle Reese's wild descriptions of a "Terminator" in human flesh sent back to their time from AfterTheEnd, but — more than the unfortunately sneering condescension of Dr. Silberman — recognize a situation bad enough to rattle anyone and make a very respectable go at DoingInTheWizard, except, unfortunately, they live in a world where their wild-eyed hobo with a shotgun is ''right.'' In a deleted scene, Vulkovich even gives Reese a gun when the Terminator comes back.

* Dr. Paul Dreyfus in ''Film/DantesPeak''. He's skeptical of Dr. Dalton's claims that the volcano is going to erupt, not because he's a SuitWithVestedInterests or because he thinks there's a MillionToOneChance, but because he wants absolute proof as a scientist and he's seen how premature warnings can cause unnecessary panic and cause people to disregard real warnings. But as soon as Dr. Dalton has real proof, he agrees to issue a warning and helps plan an evacuation. Of course [[spoiler: he still ends up being a DoomedContrarian.]]

* Mayor Wells from ''Film/TheLastShow'', like [[Film/{{Jaws}} Mayor Vaughn]], refuses to close the beaches in response to the shark attacks. Unlike Vaughn, Wells ''does'' take precautions, such as installing safety barriers and hiring patrol boats. Hell, [[spoiler: he even tries to take on the shark himself in the climax!]]

* ''Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes:'' General Winthrop is quick to recognize that the apes have some kind of humanlike intelligence and treats them respectfully as a result.

**

* ''Film/{Paycheck}}'': The two FBI agents are quick to decide that Jennings doesn't show signs of guilt. They are equally quick to accept that Jennings' actions indicate he has knowledge of the future, and they are ProperlyParanoid about how their own government might abuse that technology.

* Evenlyn Salt's superior Ted Winter in ''Film/{{Salt}}'' was at least trying to understand why Salt was acting the way she was and acted more calmly, in contrast to the more rash, frantic Peabody. [[spoiler: Winter was in fact a Russian spy, so he took Salt's side because he wanted her succeed. And in the end, when Salt was arrested, Peabody, after receiving certain information to get him to trust Salt, he lets her escape.]]

* Mejor Fedotov in ''Film/WhiteTiger'' pays close attention to what Naydenov (a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who believes tanks talk to him) says, unlike everyone else who dismisses him as insane.