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Movies that feel like Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)

If you loved Good Bye, Lenin!, the closest films we have are Happy Gilmore (1996), Nobody Knows (2004) and Life As We Know It (2010). All three share Good Bye, Lenin!'s melancholy and romantic feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Paramount Plus Premium and Peacock Premium and others, checked against today's data.

Alex Kerner's mother was in a coma while the Berlin wall fell. When she wakes up he must try to keep her from learning what happened (as she was an avid communist supporter) to avoid shocking her which could lead to another heart attack.

πŸ… 91% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Wolfgang Beckerwittyplayfulcontemplativemelancholyromantic

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If Good Bye, Lenin! hit the spot, these will too

Happy Gilmore poster
Happy Gilmore
1996 Β· dir. Dennis Dugan
πŸ… 66%β˜… 7comedy

Both are built on the same subject: grief

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

Failed hockey player-turned-golf whiz Happy Gilmore β€” whose unconventional approach and antics on the green courts the ire of rival Shooter McGavin β€” is determined to win a PGA tournament so he can save his granny's house with the prize money. Meanwhile, an attractive tour publicist tries to soften Happy's image.

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

One thread runs through both: grief

The difference: None of the wit Good Bye, Lenin! is built on

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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Life As We Know It poster
Life As We Know It
2010 Β· dir. Greg Berlanti
πŸ… 29%β˜… 6.5comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Both land wit and play at once

The difference: Sits closer to romance than Good Bye, Lenin! does

After a disastrous first date for caterer Holly and network sports director Messer, all they have in common is a dislike for each other and their love for their goddaughter Sophie. But when they suddenly become all Sophie has in this world, Holly and Messer must set their differences aside. Juggling careers and social calendars, they'll have to find common ground while living under the same roof.

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

The same mix in both: stillness, then melancholy

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

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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Captain Fantastic poster
Captain Fantastic
2016 Β· dir. Matt Ross
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.8drama Β· comedy

The same preoccupation in both: socialism

Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent.

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Life Is Beautiful poster
Life Is Beautiful
1997 Β· dir. Roberto Benigni
πŸ… 80%β˜… 8.6comedy Β· drama

Both lean on romance more than on comedy

A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.

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City of Men poster
City of Men
2007 Β· dir. Paulo Morelli
πŸ… 74%β˜… 7.2drama

Contemplative drama in both cases

Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.

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Toni Erdmann poster
Toni Erdmann
2016 Β· dir. Maren Ade
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· drama

Comedy built on wit, twice over

Convinced that his daughter has forgotten how to laugh, a father shows up unannounced while she's living abroad and bombards her with outrageous jokes.

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Babel poster
Babel
2006 Β· dir. Alejandro G. IΓ±Γ‘rritu
πŸ… 68%β˜… 7.5drama

Melancholy drama, and it commits to that

Tragedy strikes a married couple vacationing in the Moroccan desert, which jumpstarts an interlocking story involving four different families.

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Lilting poster
Lilting
2014 Β· dir. Hong Khaou
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.2drama

Drama with a pulse of romance, in both cases

A young man of Chinese-Cambodian descent dies, leaving behind his isolated mother and his lover of four years. Though the two don't share a language, they grow close through their grief.

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

Contemplative comedy, and it commits to that

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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The Holdovers poster
The Holdovers
2023 Β· dir. Alexander Payne
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.9drama Β· comedy

Both work the same play

A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them β€” a damaged, brainy troublemaker β€” and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

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The best-reviewed films that share Good Bye, Lenin!’s defining feeling.