One can argue, rather easily, the reason we are in such a financial mess today is greed. There are, of course, different dimensions to this greed. Whether it be deregulation, or approving mortgages to people at astronomical interest rates that had no money, well, pick your poison. So, perhaps, while we try to kill time while waiting in the unemployment line together, we can find some solace in remembering some of the greediest characters from motion pictures and their eventual comeuppance.

5. Michael Brantley (Tom Everett Scott) - Boiler Room (2000)

A poor man's Gorden Gekko if...

Happy Birthday to American tennis player Venus Williams (1980), Mexican singer Paulina Rubio (1971), Canadian punk-rocker Bif Naked (1971), "Rush" actor Jason Patric (1966), "Stuck on You" star Greg Kinnear (1963), Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe (1960), Dead Kennedy's singer Jello Biafra (1958), "Napoleon Dynamite" actor Jon Gries (1957), love song crooner Barry Manilow (1943), "Trading Places" actor Ralph Bellamy (1904; d. 1991), Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898; d. 1972), and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky 1882; d. 1971).

Happy Birthday to American tennis player Venus Williams (1980), Mexican singer Paulina Rubio (1971), Canadian punk-rocker Bif Naked (1971), "Rush" actor Jason Patric (1966), "Stuck on You" star Greg Kinnear (1963), Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe (1960), Dead Kennedy's singer Jello Biafra (1958), "Napoleon Dynamite" actor Jon Gries (1957), love song crooner Barry Manilow (1943), "Trading Places" actor Ralph Bellamy (1904; d. 1991), Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898; d. 1972), and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky 1882; d. 1971).