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Movies that feel like Cool Hand Luke (1967)

If you loved Cool Hand Luke, the closest films we have are Thief (1981), Breathless (1960) and Places in the Heart (1984). All three share Cool Hand Luke's contemplative and melancholy feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Stuart Rosenbergcontemplativegrittymelancholyromantic
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If Cool Hand Luke hit the spot, these will too

Thief poster
Thief
1981 Β· dir. Michael Mann
πŸ… 80%β˜… 7.4crime Β· thriller Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: grief

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than Cool Hand Luke does

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

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Breathless poster
Breathless
1960 Β· dir. Jean-Luc Godard
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.6drama Β· crime Β· romance

Both are built on the same subject: mortality

The difference: Leans harder into romance than Cool Hand Luke does

A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.

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Places in the Heart poster
Places in the Heart
1984 Β· dir. Robert Benton
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.4drama

The same preoccupation in both: grief

The difference: Missing the grit of Cool Hand Luke

In 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.

Feels alike?
La Dolce Vita poster
La Dolce Vita
1960 Β· dir. Federico Fellini
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8comedy Β· drama

Common ground: mortality

The difference: Not nearly as gritty as Cool Hand Luke

Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.

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Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father poster
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.5documentary Β· crime

Both land grit and melancholy at once

The difference: 41 years apart, and the 2000s show

In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.

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Tell No One poster
Tell No One
2006 Β· dir. Guillaume Canet
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5drama Β· thriller Β· crime

Contemplative and romantic in the same breath

A man receives a mysterious email appearing to be from his wife, who was murdered years earlier. As he frantically tries to find out whether she's alive, he finds himself being implicated in her death.

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Once Upon a Time in the West poster
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968 Β· dir. Sergio Leone
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.5drama Β· western

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.

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

Crime with a pulse of grit, in both cases

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

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Magnolia poster
Magnolia
1999 Β· dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
πŸ… 82%β˜… 8drama

Melancholy drama in both cases

On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.

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Get Carter poster
Get Carter
1971 Β· dir. Mike Hodges
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.3crime Β· thriller

Both lean on romance more than on crime

Jack Carter is a small-time hood working in London. When word reaches him of his brother's death, he travels to Newcastle to attend the funeral. Refusing to accept the police report of suicide, Carter seeks out his brother’s friends and acquaintances to learn who murdered his sibling and why.

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Nobody Knows poster
Nobody Knows
2004 Β· dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.

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Lantana poster
Lantana
2001 Β· dir. Ray Lawrence
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.2crime Β· drama Β· mystery

Gritty crime in both cases

Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers suspects that her husband John is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges -- drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other's involvement.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Cool Hand Luke’s defining feeling.