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Being There poster

Movies that feel likeBeing There (1979)

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.

If you loved Being There, the closest films we have are My Favorite Year (1982), French Fried Vacation 2 (1979) and Real Life (1979). All three share Being There's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Clockwise (1986).

🍅 95% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Hal Ashbywittyplayfulcontemplative
5 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · TCM · Darkroom

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If Being There hit the spot, these will too

My Favorite Year poster
My Favorite Year
1982 · dir. Richard Benjamin
🍅 97%★ 7.3comedy · drama

Witty where it counts, playful underneath

Fledgling comic Benjy Stone can't believe his luck when his childhood hero, the swashbuckling matinee idol Alan Swann, gets booked to appear on the variety show he writes for. But when Swann arrives, he fails to live up to his silver screen image. Instead, he's a drunken womanizer who suffers from stage fright. Benjy is assigned to look after him before the show, and it's all he can do to keep his former idol from going completely off the rails.

French Fried Vacation 2 poster
French Fried Vacation 2
1979 · dir. Patrice Leconte
★ 7.4comedy

Witty comedy in both cases

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Being There

In this sequel to Les Bronzes (1978) summer has passed, but that doesn't mean the fun has to end for Bernard, Nathalie, Gigi, Jerome, Popeye, Jean-Claude, and Christiane.

Real Life poster
Real Life
1979 · dir. Albert Brooks
🍅 84%★ 7comedyRent or buy

Drama built on play, twice over

A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family".

Used Cars poster
Used Cars
1980 · dir. Robert Zemeckis
🍅 77%★ 6.7comedyPrime Video

Witty comedy, and it commits to that

When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.

Animal House poster
Animal House
1978 · dir. John Landis
🍅 89%★ 7.4comedy

Drama with a pulse of play, in both cases

At a 1962 College, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.

Smoke poster
Smoke
1995 · dir. Wayne Wang
🍅 89%★ 7.4comedy · drama

Both lean on stillness more than on comedy

Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.

The King of Comedy poster
The King of Comedy
1982 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 89%★ 7.8drama · comedy

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.

PlayTime poster
PlayTime
1967 · dir. Jacques Tati
🍅 98%★ 7.8comedy

Both play comedy straight

Clumsy Monsieur Hulot finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon becomes lost. His roundabout journey parallels that of an American tourist, and as they weave through the inventive urban environment, they intermittently meet, developing an interest in one another. They eventually get together at a chaotic restaurant, along with several other quirky characters.

The Party poster
The Party
1968 · dir. Blake Edwards
🍅 83%★ 7.4comedyPrime Video

Comedy in the same key

Hrundi V. Bakshi, an accident-prone actor from India, is accidentally put on the guest list for an upcoming party at the home of a Hollywood film producer. Unfortunately, from the moment he arrives, one thing after another goes wrong with compounding effect.

Clockwise poster
Clockwise
1986 · dir. Christopher Morahan
🍅 83%★ 6.6comedy

Comedy approached the same way

School headmaster Brian Stimpson is obsessed with timeliness, order, and discipline. Brian misses his train after meticulously preparing a speech for an education conference. With no one else to turn to, he asks young former student Laura Wisely for a ride. Laura, upset over a break-up, agrees to drive him in her parents' car - which alarms her mother and father, who worry that she has run away with a married man and subsequently alert the police.

Harold and Maude poster
Harold and Maude
1971 · dir. Hal Ashby
🍅 86%★ 7.8comedy · drama · romance

The same hand behind both of them: Hal Ashby

The difference: Sits closer to romance than Being There does

A deadpan young man obsessed with death meets an eccentric septuagenarian who teaches him to live life to the fullest.

Nights of Cabiria poster
Nights of Cabiria
1957 · dir. Federico Fellini
🍅 100%★ 8.1drama · comedy

A streak of stillness through both

The difference: 22 years apart, and the 1950s show

Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.

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The best-reviewed films that share Being There’s defining feeling.