Times where you can tell the good guys from the bad based on whether or not they're Nice to the Waiter in Live-Action Films.
- In All I Want for Christmas, both Ethan and Hallie are kind and polite to the servants in their mother's home. They also sometimes help out at their father's cafe, essentially being waiters themselves.
- Patrick Bateman and all of his Yuppie friends in American Psycho are absolutely horrid to the waiters at the various expensive restaurants they go to, which just highlights how evil they are. However, Bateman (being a barely-human serial killer) is the only one who will make such casual threats as "Not if you want to keep your spleen" or "I want to stab you to death and play around with your blood."
- The Borrowers (1997): Both Ocious Potter and Pete Lender are rushing to the demolitions office in City Hall to try and stop each other, but Mr. Potter got there first. However, he shouldn't have been rude to the secretary as she gives him accurate directions to the office... which involves going around the building like a maze. When Pete asks her nicely, she gives him much simpler instructions.
- Bullitt features a scene without audible dialogue where Steve Mc Queen as Bullitt takes his girlfriend to a Chinese restaurant. The waiter nearly pokes his eye with a menu, causing McQueen to pretend to smack a hand over his eye and wince in mock pain, then smile and assure the waiter that everything is fine. The scene is obviously thrown in since it inadvertently characterizes Bullitt as a good guy.
- In The Cable Guy, the main character's estranged girlfriend goes on a date with a jerk played by Owen Wilson, who immediately kicks the dog by being a condescending asshole to the waiter. This makes his impending beatdown seem a bit deserved, thereby keeping the Cable Guy from reaching the depths of his villainy quite so early in the film.
- Caddyshack II: Jack is introduced playing poker with his employees and deliberately losing because he doesn't want to take money from them. By contrast, the snobs at Bushwood have nothing but open contempt for their employees.
- The Chronicles of Narnia: In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the heroes are appalled to find that the people of the island they land on are enslaved and some are being dumped there as sacrifices, and resolve to do something about it. At the end of the film, Caspian admits to being tempted to visit Aslan's country but refuses, on the grounds that he won't abandon his subjects.
- In Clueless, Cher tells her family's maid, Lucy, that she doesn't speak "Mexican", angering the native Salvadorian into storming off. While seemingly a rude and disrespectful thing to say, in context it's made clear that Cher was guilty of simple ignorance and frustration with her own problems rather than any actual malice towards the maid. Throughout the movie she speaks with Lucy as an equal rather than a servant, and apologizes to her later after realizing her mistake. She also mentions having donated quite a number of old clothes to her, giving Lucy's daughter haute couture fashion on a maid's salary.
- The Color of Friendship shows a racist Jerkass kicking a black waiter who spills food on him. Later, the film hammers home the wrongness of this behavior by contrasting it with a white American who shrugs off having a milkshake spilled on him by a black waiter and even asks for an order of said shake.
- In Coming to America, Prince Akeem is extremely polite/respectful to those who serve him, as well as his co-workers at McDowell's, unlike Darryl Jenks, who essentially pushes them around.
- Zigzagged in "Crocodile" Dundee. In New York, Mick asks his African-American limo driver what tribe he is from; among the bushmen he grew up with in Australia that would have been a friendly getting-to-know-you remark, but it comes across quite racist in America. Fortunately, not only is the guy not offended, he later helps stop a rather aggressive mugger who harasses Mick. They bond and laugh when he explains that he learned to fight from a gang in his youth, and Mick responds that he knew he was tribal. He also makes friends with the staff at the hotel, including a maid and the doorman, even learning their names and knowing the maid by voice.
- In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane gives a courteous "thank you" to a Stock Exchange courier who held his helmet while Bane held up the GSE. He's generally nice and cheery to everyone, even when he's about to or is currently beating them to a pulp, or breaking their neck.
- Don't Bother to Knock: Lyn is disillusioned with Jed in part because of the way he treats people, his rudeness to a hotel photographer being one example. He’s also short with Eddie in an elevator scene where Lyn isn’t with him. He undergoes Character Development on this and a few other fronts throughout the film.
- Subverted in Downfall, where Adolf Hitler is shown to be kind and gracious to his assistants, while ranting about the evils of mercy and how the German people all deserve to die for failing him in his fight against the Jewish and Slavic peoples.
- Played with in Ex Machina during a moment when Kyoko accidentally spills some wine while serving dinner. Averted with Nathan, who is horrible to her. This is a clue that he's not as friendly as he seems. By contrast, played straight with Caleb as he immediately tries to reassure her that he's not upset.
- Subverted in A Few Good Men, where total bastard Colonel Jessup is shown taking time out of holding court at a lunch table (and preparing to humiliate the Navy lawyers who've come to investigate his base) to thank the waiter and tell him the meal was delicious.
- In the original Friday the 13th (1980), Mr. Christy seems like a possible suspect (at least, he did until everybody knew the franchise's killer was a Voorhees) until he's seen being friendly and generous with the waitress at a diner, establishing that he's a nice enough guy that he's bound to be a victim instead.
- From Beyond The Grave: In "An Act of Kindness", Christopher Lowe is always generous to the match seller outside the train station because he is a decorated ex-serviceman. Tellingly, his wife Mabel regards the man as nothing more than a beggar.
- In the biopic Gandhi, as part of his philosophy regarding good will towards others, the titular pacifist helps his servant carry the tea set.
- Subverted in Goodfellas. Many of the gangsters are gregarious and generous to common people they encounter, often giving large tips—but this is only because this is a part of the glamorous lifestyle that they lead, not due to any actual compassion on their part. Tommy is willing to kill a waiter because he feels he is being disrespected, and Jimmy's only concern afterwards is the hassle of disposing of the body.
- The Haunted Mansion (2003):
- Jim tries to be polite and familiar toward Ramsley the butler, who merely finds him annoying.
- Ezra and Emma (the footman and cook) got along pretty well with Gracey's fiancee Elizabeth, which is especially emphasized in a deleted scene.
- A Haunting in Venice (2023): When Hercule Poirot questions the murder victim's (a Phony Psychic) two helpers, they hold radically different views on their late mistress: the sister of the pair called her "the duchess" behind her back, because that was how she treated them. Lampshaded by this exchange between Poirot and his friend, Ariadne Oliver:Oliver: You think the help had motive?
Poirot: The help always have motive. Beginning with having to be called, "the help." - A prominent part of The Help is that the nice people who are worth knowing are the ones who treat their domestic servants well.
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug starts with a scene of Thorin stopping for a meal at an inn on a rainy day. Here's a dwarf who spends most of two movies ranging from grumpy to downright rude towards various people in power, who rarely smiles, and whose current trip investigating rumors of his father being in the area has been for naught. Yet when the waitress brings his meal, he offers a nice smile and a sincere "Thank you."
- The Holdovers: Sadist Teacher Hunham first shows his Hidden Heart of Gold when we fund out he's unfailingly respectful towards the school's head cook, Mary, and invites her to eat with him and the holdover kids. In particular, he absolutely explodes at one of the students for being rude to her and dismissive of her grief for her dead son.
- Hot Fuzz: George Merchant is fairly courteous to Nicholas and Danny when he drunkenly mistakes them for cabbies after they deposit him at his doorstep.
- Howards End: The selfish, pragmatic and wealthy Henry announces that you should always tip your carver. However, he then immediately explains that he does so because it's an easy way to ensure good service.
- Iron Man: Tony is pretty obviously a selfish dick, but he has little problem cheerfully bantering with the young servicemen in his convoy. When he watches them die in an ambush, it helps spur him to become Iron Man. Along with the death of Yinsen, who was a random guy Tony just happened to make friends with in captivity.
- James Bond films:
- Dr. No: In his first scene, Bond tips both the dealer and the doorman at Le Cercle with one of his wads of cash winnings, a hint that he doesn't really care about the money, simply the thrill of play.
- From Russia with Love has a porter in the hotel in Istanbul lightly coughing and asking Bond if he needs anything else, seemingly to remind him of the tip. Bond nonchalantly sticks what is apparently a rather large sum of money in the porter's pocket, saying, "No, only this." The porter is audibly grateful.
- Throughout Casino Royale (2006), Bond is shown tipping porters, waiters, and drivers serving him. In one scene when Bond gets mistaken for a valet by a Jerkass guest who treats him rudely, he crashes his car,note and after beating Le Chiffre, Bond gives one of his newly-won casino chips to the dealer (and considering how much they were playing for, that chip probably comes with several zeroes).
- Kill Bill: O-Ren and the Crazy 88 spend some time teasing the owner of the House of Blue leaves for wearing colors that make him look like Charlie Brown. When The Bride arrives, O-Ren tells "Charlie" to leave so he won't be caught in the subsequent fight.
- Used on several levels in Knives Out:
- Harlan initially hired Marta as a part-time nurse but comes to view her as a friend and confidante. The scenes when he playfully teases her and sacrifices himself for her sake sets up a contrast with his strict behavior as the family patriarch.
- Blanc is also this as he treats Marta with genuine respect and forms a friendly bond with her.
- Most of the Thrombeys act nice to Marta and other servants but in a rather condescending manner. They claim Marta is a part of their family but none of them bothered to ask what country Marta's family is from. At one point, Richard calls Marta over to use her as a prop for the casually racist argument he was making. And once it's revealed that Marta is the sole inheritor of Harlan's fortune, they quickly and viciously turn on her.
- Meg is an ambiguous and complex case. She does appear to view Marta and Fran as friends and is seen enjoying their company. However when push comes to shove and her college tuition fees on the line, Meg turns on Marta too and reveals to her family Marta's secret that her mother is undocumented immigrant as a bargaining chip. She does appear to be remorseful afterwards but it's debated whether she is sincere or putting up a mask of righteousness to try to remain on Marta's good graces.
- Invoked in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. A girl calls into Munna and Janvi's radio program from near a restaurant, saying that she will soon meet a man who she has been set up with by her parents, and asks for a way to judge his character. When Munna turns to Gandhi, the latter says, "To judge a man, do not look at how he treats his equals, but at how he treats his inferiors", and Munna tells her to notice how the man treats the waitstaff at the restaurant. Sure enough, while the man is polite enough to her, he summons the waiter to their table rather disrespectfully, and she soon makes an excuse to leave, later thanking Munna and Janvi.
- In Laughter in Paradise, Agnes Russell is a terror to her domestic staff. Her On One Condition requires to be employed as a maid in a middle-class household for one month.
- The Lizzie McGuire Movie has a rare inverted example; Paolo's bodyguard quits when he finds out the pop star is using his fame to bully teenagers. Notably, the concert scene at the ends shows everybody enjoying themselves—including family and teachers, not just the celebrities onstage.
- In Logan Lucky, Rich Jerk Max Chilblain's Establishing Character Moment is him entering the bar where Clyde works and immediately mocking Clyde for his disability. His patronizing attitude to those he considers to be subservient will come back to bite him.
- Used in Look Who's Talking when Mollie starts dating several men and discarding them by imagining how they would behave with her son, Mikey, judging on how they treat the waiter.
- This is used as a measuring stick for most characters in Maid in Manhattan. Rachel is very rude to Marissa, even making assumptions that she doesn't speak English. Caroline is much nicer but clearly views Marissa not much more than a servant. Even Chris gets called out by Marissa, as he was completely oblivious to her the first time they met when she was cleaning up his bathroom but he instantly noticed her when she was dressed up in a Dolce & Gabbana coat.
- The Man Who Came to Dinner (see also Theatre)—pompous Sheridan Whiteside is unfailingly vitriolic to his unwilling host, but generously tips a railroad porter (with someone else's money) and treats the household help with consideration and respect, to where they happily accept his hiring them away from the host.
- In Mortal Kombat: The Movie, we get to see how much of a pompous ass Johnny Cage is by his immediately mistaking Liu Kang for a porter and rudely shoves his luggage onto him. Liu responds by dropping it all into the harbor.Johnny Cage: Thank God I didn't ask him to park the car...
- Alex O'Connell from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor shows us his basic decency by back-slapping with his Chinese laborers and offering bits of encouragement in their native tongue.
- Murder by Death uses this to set up an Actually, That's My Assistant gag. The group is expecting Jessica Marbles, a great detective, to show up. When she does, it appears that she is a very elderly lady in a wheelchair, being looked after by a middle-aged nurse. In fact, the younger woman is Marbles—she was raised by her nurse, and is now taking care of her in her old age.
- Subverted in Ocean's Eleven, when Linus notes that the gang's target, ruthless hotelier Terry Benedict, remembers the name of virtually everyone of his staff and their personal details as well — we soon see him arriving at work and greeting the doorman by name, as well as asking about the man's family, specifically to show that Benedict is a Control Freak rather than being generous. Further cementing this is that he only begins his Villainous Breakdown when he feels he is no longer in absolute control of the situation.
- In The Parent Trap, both Chessy and Martin are treated like family by their respective employers, which shows that they are good people. The fact that Meredith treats Chessy like a talking dog who would be summoned with a bell is a sign of her poor character. Chessy is even treated nicely by Elizabeth, who is intoxicated at the time of their meeting again after years apart.Chessy: [upon seeing Elizabeth after so many years] Hi, you probably don't remember me. I...
Elizabeth: [gives her a kiss on the cheek] Chessy!
Chessy: I knew I always liked her. - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl:
- Elizabeth seems to be on friendly terms with her maid. When she does scold the maid for being "too bold," it mostly stems from her being unwilling to admit her feelings for Will (the maid is implying that Will would be a good husband for her). When the pirates are looting the mansion, Elizabeth tells the maid to hide and run to safety at the first chance she gets.
- In an inversion of the trope, Elizabeth chides William Turner for calling her "Miss Swann" instead of her given name. William politely refuses to drop the formality, and Elizabeth's father praises him for having a better sense of propriety than his daughter.
- Subverted in Reservoir Dogs. The opinionated Mr. Pink (who later turns out to be one of the more levelheaded robbers) doesn't believe in tipping just because "society tells him to", but the rest of the criminals, some of them pretty rough customers, are all united in finding that behavior unacceptable.
- Star Wars, A New Hope: After he shoots Greedo, Han stops to pay Wuher, the Mos Eisley Cantina bartender, saying "sorry about the mess" as he leaves.
- A Running Gag in The Thin Man films is that Nick gets along famously with the many criminals he has arrested over the years. Most of his friends are either crooks or former crooks, and none of them hold anything against him for catching them. After the Thin Man even sets up a suspect whose brother Nick sent up the river, and implies that he might be out for revenge... only to have him save Nick's life during the climax because "I don't like my brother. I like his girl."
- Trading Places: The Duke Brothers don't treat their hired help well, offering only $5 bonuses (total, $2.50 from each) during the holidays. Louis Winthorpe himself doesn't treat hired help, except Coleman, particularly well. While arriving at work, he doesn't even look his helpers in the eye (although at least he addresses them by their names). Until after having lost his wealth, that is. After arriving with Billy Ray Valentine at the World Trade Center, he specifically tells their taxi driver to keep his change upon paying him.
- The Waterboy: In one game, Bobby Boucher takes a time-out to give the referee a glass of water.
- The trope runs in both directions in the The Whole [X] Yards films:
- In The Whole Nine Yards, Bruce Willis's hitman with a heart of gold threatened to violently murder the waitress who took his hamburger order down wrong. The scene also establishes that the habit of Canadians to put mayo on burgers was a Berserk Button of his.
- In the sequel The Whole Ten Yards, he beats a man senseless for berating his waitress in a restaurant (after, surprisingly, he tries talking to the guy about it calmly), then tells the man's kid to always be kind to people serving you food, and to eat his vegetables. This might have gone to show he'd become a more decent person in the interim.
- Wimbledon: Peter Colt notices that one particular ball boy keeps getting assigned to his matches and makes a point of treating him nicely. During the final match, his opponent Jake Hammond hits the same ball boy in the face with a stray serve, but doesn't apologise or even try to check if he's okay. After seeing this lack of concern, Peter decides It's Personal and becomes even more determined to beat Jake.
- The Witches (1990): Inverted by Mr Jenkins, who is particularly rude and infantilising to the hotel manager Mr Stringer, when he demands a soup that is not on the main menu. Mr Stringer does not bother to object.Mr Jenkins: Oi! What is the soup they are having?
Mr Stringer: That is the cress soup, sir.
Mr Jenkins: If they're having cress soup, I'll have a cress soup.
Mr Stringer: That is reserved for our special party. The soup on tonight's menu is cock-a-leekie, and very nice it is too.
Mr Jenkins: I don't want cock-a-leekie, I don't like cock-a-leekie, I like cress. So you will go out there, and tell the chef de cuisine that there is one more order for cress. Now there's a laddie!! - In The Zone of Interest Hedwig is horrid to her maids, which is in line with what one would expect from the wife of a high-ranking SS officer unconcerned with the genocide her husband helps perpetuate.
