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Movies that feel like Being There (1979)

If you loved Being There, the closest films we have are My Favorite Year (1982), Harold and Maude (1971) and Smoke (1995). All three share Being There's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 4 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, MUBI and Darkroom and others, checked against today's data.

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.

πŸ… 95% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Hal Ashbywittyplayfulcontemplative

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If Being There hit the spot, these will too

My Favorite Year poster
My Favorite Year
1982 Β· dir. Richard Benjamin
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· 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.

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

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Smoke poster
Smoke
1995 Β· dir. Wayne Wang
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4comedy Β· drama

Contemplative comedy in both cases

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.

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The King of Comedy poster
The King of Comedy
1982 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.8drama Β· comedy

Both lean on wit 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.

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Confessions of an Invisible Girl poster
Confessions of an Invisible Girl
2021 Β· dir. Bruno Garotti
β˜… 5.3comedy Β· drama

Comedy built on play, twice over

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

When the clever but socially-awkward TetΓͺ joins a new school, she'll do anything to fit in. But the queen bee among her classmates has other ideas.

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Nights of Cabiria poster
Nights of Cabiria
1957 Β· dir. Federico Fellini
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.1drama Β· comedy

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

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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Day of the Wacko poster
Day of the Wacko
2002 Β· dir. Marek Koterski
β˜… 8.1comedy Β· drama

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

It is a bitter story about a middle-aged man, who hates his life and other people, including himself. Adam Miauczynski, the character known from director Marek Koterski's previous films, is a 49 year-old teacher, who reads poetry during school lessons and later goes home swearing and calling his neighbours' names. The worst pain for him is the next 5 minutes of living. He doesn't accept himself and even everyday contacts with others cause his aggression. Though constantly dreaming of a romantic love, he is not bold enough to make his dreams come true. The desperate Miauczynski personalizes our own fears and obsessions, which have become so visible recently.

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Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. poster
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
2003 Β· dir. Rajkumar Hirani
β˜… 8.1comedy Β· drama

Drama with a pulse of play, in both cases

A gangster sets out to fulfill his father's dream of becoming a doctor.

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The Idiots poster
The Idiots
1998 Β· dir. Lars von Trier
πŸ… 73%β˜… 6.7comedy Β· drama

Both sit in the same contemplative register

A group of people gather at a Copenhagen suburban home to break all the limitations and to bring out the 'inner idiot' in themselves.

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington poster
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939 Β· dir. Frank Capra
πŸ… 85%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: washington dc, usa

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

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Pieces of April poster
Pieces of April
2003 Β· dir. Peter Hedges
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7comedy Β· drama

Both working the same comedy territory

Quirky and rebellious April Burns lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor for help.

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Whisky poster
Whisky
2004 Β· dir. Juan Pablo Rebella
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· drama

Drama in the same key

When his long-lost brother resurfaces, Jacobo, desperate to prove his life has added up to something, looks to scrounge up a wife. He turns to Marta, an employee at his sock factory, with whom he has a prickly relationship.

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