Brutal Honesty / Film

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• The protagonist of Adam (2009) can't help but be brutally honest because of his Asperger Syndrome.
• David Norris' atypically sincere concession speech in The Adjustment Bureau, with some very unflattering remarks about his spin doctors, saves his reputation as an honest "people's candidate" and his political career.
• Ian tells Dave his songs suck in Alvin and the Chipmunks, apparently as a form of Tough Love:
  Ian: I wanted to like that song, but you heard it. Not that good. If I wasn't your friend, I'd say: Dave, you go right back out of this office, and you keep writing music. You'll get there someday. But I am your friend, so I'm going to tell you that there is no sense in writing songs that no one is ever, ever going to sing.
• Avengers: Endgame has Thor, now reduced to a fat, drunk and depressed recluse, being sometimes called a failure to his face, which he admits is "a little bit harsh...".
• In Bulworth, the eponymous Senator, having a death wish, decides to tell the raw, unvarnished truth when out in public. It gains him a great deal of popularity with the general public, to the point where some voters in both major political parties write him in for President during the election. Unfortunately, it's only after he stops feeling suicidal that his brutal honesty pisses off the wrong person, who proceeds to kill him at the movie's end.
• In Cats & Dogs, you have this hilarious exchange:
  (after he and his subordinate Calico set fire to a room in order to kill off the people inside, Tinkles stops at the door and turns to Calico)
  Mr. Tinkles: I want you to stay here.
  Calico: Why?!
  Mr. Tinkles: Because I hate you. (slams door)
• Colonel Glover prides himself on this in The Crossing. Washington calls him "a thorn in my ass" during a conversation in which Glover asks Washington has gone mad and that his plan for attacking the Hessians doomed to fail. Glover can do this because he's saved the Continental Army three times and says he'll carry out Washington's plan to cross the Delaware, mad though it may be.
• Doctor Dolittle, partly due to him being Better with Non-Human Company. Emma calls him "very rude" because of what he said about her uncle, but she follows up with "Of course, I wouldn't mind so much except everything he said was true."
• In Dracula Untold, the Elder Vampire is completely upfront about the consequences that will occur once Vlad becomes a vampire and if he gives in to his bloodlust.
  Vlad: And if I feed?
  Elder Vampire: Then the price would be worse than if you had never stepped in here.
• In Ex Machina, Nathan tells Caleb to his face that his coding skills are so so. He does move him up to "being good", and it is from the perspective of the world's best programmer, and scaling his perspective doesn't necessarily tell us much about Caleb's skill.
• The Fabulous Baker Boys opens with Jack getting dressed after a one-night stand. The girl asks him, "Am I gonna see you again?" He answers, "No." She doesn't seem bothered overmuch.
• In A Few Good Men has the scene in which Captain West asks Lieutenant Commander Galloway to leave the room for a moment.
  Capt. West: Commander Galloway, why don't you get yourself a cup of coffee?
  Lt. Cmdr. Galloway: Thank you, sir, I'm fine.
  Capt. West: Commander, I'd like you to leave the room so we can talk about you behind your back.
  Lt. Cmdr. Galloway: Certainly, sir.
• In First Man, Buzz Aldrin twice makes honest but rude remarks about dead pilots in the program. When he says that he's simply saying what everybody else is thinking, Neil remarks that maybe he shouldn't.
• Done in a serious manner in The Grey. After a plane crash, one of the characters is badly injured and bleeding internally, and the rest don't seem to know what to do or say. Liam Neeson's character appears, and instead of the usual "you are going to be okay", he calmly explains to him that he is about to die and nothing can be done about it and that he should spend those final moments of life thinking about the people he loved. It works.
• In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, due to being Literal-Minded, Drax continues to have no sense of how to talk about negative aspects of his friends without at some point sounding horrible.
  Drax: You just need to find a woman who is pathetic. Like you.
• High and Tight's Sara Harvey lives her life being blunt and honest about everything.
• Jessica from The Incredible Jessica James has a tendency to say whatever's on her mind, regardless if it's appropriate or not. She is introduced bluntly telling her Tinder date that she's got no interest in small talk and just wants to use him to get over her ex-boyfriend.
• India Sweets And Spices: Alia starts to use this about halfway into the film, telling a couple other Indian girls exactly what she dislikes about them both and not to pretend they like each other (both naturally insult her back for it).
• Into the Storm (2009) has ample examples from Winston Churchill spitting the truth in people's faces.
• The Invention of Lying features a world based around this. And note that it's not just that people don't lie, they don't even have a concept of it. Taken to the ultimate extreme in that not only do they have no concept of lying, they have no concept of withholding the truth. Many times a character would not have had to lie simply by not saying anything but this doesn't seem to be an option either. Apparently this also means never using tact, as a character invariably blurts out the worst possible answer to anything.
• Kong: Skull Island: Possibly due to the stressful situation, Slivko doesn't try to mince his words when telling Marlow that his wife back home must definitely think that he's dead after all this time, to Conrad's disapproval.
• Ladyhawke gives us this example:
  Soldier #1: Where is Navarre?
  Phillipe: Navarre? Navarre? Ah, yes. Big man, black horse. I thought I saw him ride south, toward Aquila.
  Soldier #2: Ha, then we ride north.
  Phillipe: It isn't polite to assume that someone is a liar when you've only just met them.
  Soldier #1: And yet you knew we would. We ride south.
  Phillipe: (talking to God) I told the truth, Lord. How can I learn any moral lessons when You keep confusing me this way?
• Liar Liar has this as a result of the wish, even to Fletcher himself. To clarify, Fletcher is a sleazy lawyer who makes a living on lying. He's not even able to argue his case without lying or asking a question that he knows will be answered with a lie. He almost manages to convince the judge to postpone the hearing for 24 hours (when the wish will expire)... until the judge asks if Fletcher can continue. Fletcher can.
  Fletcher: All right, now let me tell you something. I'm a bad father.... I mean... I'm a bad father...
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King:
  Faramir: You wish now that our places had been exchanged. That I had died and Boromir had lived.
  Denethor: Yes. I wish that.
• The Night of the Generals: Hartmann is a very forthright person and avoids being diplomatic regardless of whether he is requesting a headquarters assignment away from the front with an officer who could refuse his request on a whim, romancing a woman who has heard fabricated stories about his heroism in battle, or giving a General Ripper his opinion about art the Nazis have banned. This honesty tends to impress people rather than upset them.
• In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Rick's lunch with his new talent agent ends with the agent bluntly declaring that Rick's recent string of bad guy cameos in other rising stars' shows is irreparably damaging his already fading career and the only recourse left to him is to leave Hollywood and film knock-off Italian pictures. Rick leaves the lunch in tears and his friend Cliff tries to console him, but Rick admits that while the agent's words were brutal, they were what he needed to hear.
• In Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Tim's friend Jack tries to help him catch a Cubone. He explains that Cubone is perfect for him. Why? Because Cubone is a "Lonely Pokémon", so they're perfect for each other.
• Princess Cyd: Cyd's quite blunt in most cases, and asks personal questions of her aunt without hesitation. In one case she apologizes for this.
• In Rush (2013), Niki Lauda will speak his mind, no matter what and no matter who is present.
• In S.O.B., Tim Culley asks Felix Farmer "Have I ever lied to you?" and Felix replies "No". Tim goes on to say "Well I have, repeatedly. But the fact that I just admitted I have lied to you in the past means you can believe me now".
• In Spaceballs, Lone Starr pulls this repeatedly when he's sneaking aboard Spaceball One to destroy it. He grabs one guard by the neck and when the guard asks him what he's doing, he replies, "The Vulcan neck pinch." The guard then tells him the proper way to do it. Lone Starr only gets away with it because the average Spaceball is Too Dumb to Live (said Spaceball complimented him for doing it right before collapsing). Next, he grabs a can of shaving cream from another guard and when he asks what Lone Starr's doing with it, Lone Starr replies, "This!", sprays the shaving cream in the guard's mouth and eyes before giving him the pinch.
• Star Wars:
  • Attack of the Clones: Though Cliegg Lars mourns deeply for his wife Shmi Skywalker after she is captured by Tusken Raiders, he also very bluntly and matter-of-factly tells Anakin that his mother is dead already and he needs to accept that. Anakin ignores him, tries to rescue Shmi from the Tuskens, and succeeds only in getting there just in time to watch her die in his arms.
  • Likewise in Revenge of the Sith, Yoda's attempt to counsel Anakin goes over badly because of his Brutal Honesty; rather than take a more gentle approach, he tells Anakin quite frankly that his attachments to his loved ones can very easily lead him to The Dark Side, and that he has to learn to let go and move on with his life. Anakin misinterprets this blunt speech as Yoda simply not caring about his feelings and it does nothing to soothe his growing anxiety over his wife and unborn children, pushing him even further into Palpatine's arms. It didn't help matters that the Jedi Order's ban on its members marrying meant that Anakin couldn't explain what the actual problem was for fear of punishment.
  • K-2SO in Rogue One. A reprogrammed Imperial battle droid, K-2 tends to just say whatever pops out of his faintly scrambled processor, leading to some hilarious moments and some very awkward attempts to pass himself off as an ordinary, un-reprogrammed droid.
    K-2SO: Jyn — I'll be there for you. Cassian said I had to.
• Jasmine from Unforgetable (2019) always answer honestly when asked about others appearances even if this means hurting their feelings.
• The Big Bad in Water World likes children when he's asking for someone's opinion since they tell the truth rather than what they think you want to hear. Notably, a couple entries in the Evil Overlord List run off of the same principle.
• Wonder Woman (2017): When Diana asks "Chief" why he's not fighting with the Allies, he quite bluntly tells her that Steve's people wiped his out.
• X-Men Film Series:
  • X-Men:
    Rogue: Are you going to kill me?
    Magneto: Yes.
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past:
    Beast: In the future, do I make it?
    Wolverine: No.
• In Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!, Dakota believes in always stating things as they are and never sugarcoating anything, even though she knows this makes her come across as a bitch. This extends to be being brutally honest about how sucky her own life is.

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