Detour

In the film Detour, the main character Al could be considered both a hero and an anti-hero. From the very beginning it is obvious that he is the protagonist- he gets spotlights to the face and we can hear his internal monologue. The viewer wants him to do well in life, to be successful, to get the girl, partly just because he looks so sad all the time. But we know that none of these things will come to be. Al will get caught up with circumstances beyond his control and will be doomed to escape what people will perceive him as, although this in itself makes him a criminal. In order to be the hero, he has to play the anti-hero a little bit. Sadly for him, this alter-ego begins to consume him the deeper he gets involved in the plot and with Vera. By the end of the film when he accidentally murders Vera, the viewer begins to feel less sorry for him, as we have seen him degrade and become more and more anti-heroish. Still though, we are reminded of the life he had before and in the final scene when he is arrested, we feel sad that it had to go down this way. It couldn't have been avoided, the world was going to get him no matter what.