Walter White vs. film’s best drug dealers

Sunday night FINALLY brought the return of Breaking Bad, setting the stage for the ultimate downfall of one of the most compelling (or, depending on your personal outlook, purely despicable) characters in TV history. Walter White may be the most prominent drug dealer currently slingin’ it on screen, but he’s not the only one to have found entertainment infamy. To celebrate the beginning of the end, let’s see how Heisenberg stacks up with some of his big-screen peers.

Be warned, there are spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t caught up on all four and a half seasons (plus last night’s premiere) of Breaking Bad, stop reading now and just watch it! Seriously, what have you been doing?

Jay & Silent Bob (Jason Mewes & Kevin Smith) – Clerks, etc.

Saul Silver (James Franco) – Pineapple Express

Let’s just call this the “fun-loving pot dealer” category. Kevin Smith’s signature duo started out as just a couple of goofy guys hanging out in front a convenience store, doing terrible freestyles, selling as much weed as they could, and getting themselves into various shenanigans. The one thing they have over Walter White in spades is the whole “participating in saving the world” thing: Walt would never help locate God’s soul in a comatose man unless God offered him something in return. So purely as citizens, Jay and Silent Bob have a leg up.

Meanwhile, Saul is simply trying to make a living when his buddy/client sees his boss kill somebody, firmly getting Saul in over his head. That part about being over your head is something Walt is very familiar with, though he will forever and always claim superiority in any situation in which he finds himself. At least Saul has a little fun being totally out of his depth!

But if we’re grading these three on drug-dealing prowess, they score much closer to Badger and Skinny Pete than Heisenberg himself. They’re loveable sidekick types who are in it mainly because they enjoy getting high and having a good time, lacking the cruelty or calculating mind that Walter possesses.

Lance (Eric Stoltz) – Pulp Fiction

Not exactly a big-time drug lord here. Lance doesn’t have an intimidating bone in his body, and while Walt is nowhere near as badass as he thinks he is (and occasionally pretends to be), even in his more sniveling moments he’d run this guy into the ground. Lance is a squirmy, unimpressive little man who deals heroin to John Travolta’s Vincent Vega, then proceeds to panic mightily when Vega brings an overdosing Mia Wallace to his house. Walt certainly takes the villainy cake in this comparison though, because at least Lance helped save the OD-ing girl’s life, instead of watching her choke on her own vomit. Humanity point goes to Lance on this one.

Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) – Goodfellas

Aside from their criminality, there aren’t a whole lot of parallels between the paths taken by Walter White and real-life mobster Henry Hill, immortalized in what is arguably Martin Scorsese’s best film. Hill grew up in the organized crime business, and is fluent in the language of breaking the law. He’s willing to put himself on the line, choosing to take a prison sentence as a young man rather than rat someone out. Walt is much too self-serving to ever make that kind of sacrifice, and thus lacks the mostly-loyal partners that Hill had (at least for a time).

Where Walt really succeeds over Henry Hill is in the intelligence department. Hill does several stints in jail for his activities with the mob, but Walt’s schemes (and, yes, a healthy helping of blind, dumb luck) keep him out of the clink and, until Hank’s recent trip to the Whites’ throne room, off the authorities’ radar. Walt also benefits heavily from never going so far as to use the product he’s dealing. Henry enjoys the white powder he’s selling a little too much, which causes his behavior to become more and more erratic until he’s finally caught and forced to turn state’s evidence against his former associates. Walt may be extraordinarily self-destructive, but it’s never quite as obvious as that.

Tony Montana (Al Pacino) – Scarface

Without question, this is the most apt comparison on this list. For an idea of just how far Walter White is likely to fall, we have to look no further than Scarface himself, Tony Montana. Tony does some very bad things on his way to the top – murder, betrayal, and deceit are his bread and butter, and by the end of the movie he’s at the top of the cartel. It’s no wonder we see Walt watching Scarface with Walt, Jr. in season five – this powerful drug kingpin that Montana becomes is how Walt sees himself. Walt revels in that control, that dominance, but his pride and his ego make him believe he’s even bigger than Tony.

But Tony and Walt are even more alike than the latter realizes – Tony is his own worst enemy too, his paranoia pushing away all his closest allies and leaving him vulnerable to the onslaught that destroys him in the end. He’ll never admit it to himself, but Walt is destined for the same fate. His hubris, which has only grown as his story has unfolded, gives him the deadly notion that he is untouchable, smarter than everyone around him, too clever to go out on anything but his own terms.