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Meet John Doe poster

Movies that feel likeMeet John Doe (1941)

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

If you loved Meet John Doe, the closest films we have are Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), The Girl on the Bridge (1999) and Love Is All You Need (2012). All three share Meet John Doe's contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is I Know Where I'm Going! (1945).

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If Meet John Doe hit the spot, these will too

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town poster
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1936 Β· dir. Frank Capra
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama Β· romance

The same hand behind both of them: Frank Capra

The difference: Easier on the melancholy than Meet John Doe

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

The Girl on the Bridge poster
The Girl on the Bridge
1999 Β· dir. Patrice Leconte
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.4drama Β· comedy Β· romance

Both land stillness and wit at once

The difference: 58 years apart, and the 1990s show

It's night on a Paris bridge. A girl leans over Seine River with tears in her eyes and a violent yearning to drown her sorrows. Out of nowhere someone takes an interest in her. He is Gabor, a knife thrower who needs a human target for his show. The girl, Adele, has never been lucky and nowhere else to go. So she follows him. They travel along the northern bank of the Mediterranean to perform.

Love Is All You Need poster
Love Is All You Need
2012 Β· dir. Susanne Bier
πŸ… 75%β˜… 6.5comedy Β· romance Β· dramaRent or buy

The same mix in both: play, then romance

Ida, a Danish hairdresser who has lost her hair to cancer, returns home from the hospital one day to find her husband is cheating on her. She decides to travel to Italy on her own for her daughter's wedding, but discovers on arriving that the wedding gathering will present its own challenges.

City Lights poster
City Lights
1931 Β· dir. Charlie Chaplin
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.5comedy Β· drama Β· romancePrime VideoMax

Tender and melancholy in the same breath

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

Harold and Maude poster
Harold and Maude
1971 Β· dir. Hal Ashby
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Drama with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

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

Holiday poster
Holiday
1938 Β· dir. George Cukor
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.7comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

The difference: Trades the melancholy of Meet John Doe for an angle of its own

Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams β€” Julia Seton, the spoiled daughter of a socially prominent millionaire β€” and she's agreed to marry him. But when Johnny plans a holiday for the two to enjoy life while they are still young, his fiancΓ©e has other plans & that is for Johnny to work in her father's bank!

I Know Where I'm Going! poster
I Know Where I'm Going!
1945 Β· dir. Michael Powell
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.4romance Β· drama Β· comedy

Playful romance in both cases

Plucky Englishwoman Joan Webster travels to the remote islands of the Scottish Hebrides in order to marry a wealthy industrialist. Trapped by inclement weather on the Isle of Mull and unable to continue to her destination, Joan finds herself charmed by the straightforward, no-nonsense islanders around her, and becomes increasingly attracted to naval officer Torquil MacNeil, who holds a secret that may change her life forever.

Lolita poster
Lolita
1962 Β· dir. Stanley Kubrick
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.5drama Β· comedy Β· romance

Drama built on romance, twice over

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon becomes obsessed with Lolita, the woman's teenaged daughter.

The Apartment poster
The Apartment
1960 Β· dir. Billy Wilder
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.3comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Tender comedy, and it commits to that

Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.

Pandora's Box poster
Pandora's Box
1929 Β· dir. G.W. Pabst
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.7drama Β· crime Β· romanceMax

Melancholy romance, and it commits to that

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Meet John Doe does

The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.

The Cameraman poster
The Cameraman
1928 Β· dir. Edward Sedgwick
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.

The Shop Around the Corner poster
The Shop Around the Corner
1940 Β· dir. Ernst Lubitsch
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Meet John Doe’s defining feeling.