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The Ballad of Buster Scruggs poster

Movies that feel likeThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War. Following the tales of a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling the West to an uncertain future, and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride.

If you loved The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the closest films we have are Going in Style (2017), The Big Lebowski (1998) and American Made (2017). All three share The Ballad of Buster Scruggs' gritty and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Bad Santa (2003).

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If The Ballad of Buster Scruggs hit the spot, these will too

Going in Style poster
Going in Style
2017 Β· dir. Zach Braff
πŸ… 82%β˜… 6.6crime Β· comedy Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: bank robbery

The difference: Leans further into crime

Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.

The Big Lebowski poster
The Big Lebowski
1998 Β· dir. Joel Coen
πŸ… 79%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· crime

Joel Coen directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Goes its own way on the stillness

Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.

American Made poster
American Made
2017 Β· dir. Doug Liman
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· crime Β· dramaMax

The same mix in both: grit, then wit

The true story of pilot Barry Seal, who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel in the 1980s.

I, Tonya poster
I, Tonya
2017 Β· dir. Craig Gillespie
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.5drama Β· comedyRent or buy

Playful where it counts, contemplative underneath

Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the sport is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.

Hustlers poster
Hustlers
2019 Β· dir. Lorene Scafaria
πŸ… 88%β˜… 6.3drama Β· comedy Β· crimeHulu

Comedy built on grit, twice over

A crew of savvy former strip club employees band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.

War Dogs poster
War Dogs
2016 Β· dir. Todd Phillips
πŸ… 62%β˜… 7.1comedy Β· crime Β· drama

Witty drama, and it commits to that

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? poster
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2000 Β· dir. Joel Coen
πŸ… 78%β˜… 7.7adventure Β· comedy Β· crimePrime Video

Joel Coen working the same nerve twice

The difference: Lighter on stillness

In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.

Chicago poster
Chicago
2002 Β· dir. Rob Marshall
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.2comedy Β· crime Β· dramaParamount+

Western with a pulse of play, in both cases

Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Bad Santa poster
Bad Santa
2003 Β· dir. Terry Zwigoff
πŸ… 78%β˜… 7drama Β· comedy Β· crimeMax

Both lean on stillness more than on comedy

You'd better watch out - Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.

A Million Ways to Die in the West poster
A Million Ways to Die in the West
2014 Β· dir. Seth MacFarlane
πŸ… 33%β˜… 6.1comedy Β· western

Gritty western in both cases

As a cowardly farmer begins to fall for the mysterious new woman in town, he must put his new-found courage to the test when her husband, a notorious gun-slinger, announces his arrival.

The Longest Yard poster
The Longest Yard
2005 Β· dir. Peter Segal
πŸ… 31%β˜… 6.4drama Β· comedy Β· crimeParamount+Starz

Witty drama in both cases

Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe lands in a Texas federal penitentiary, where manipulative Warden Hazen recruits him to advise the institution's football team of prison guards. Crewe suggests a tune-up game which lands him quarterbacking a crew of inmates in a game against the guards. Aided by incarcerated ex-NFL coach and player Nate Scarborough, Crewe and his team must overcome not only the bloodthirstiness of the opposition, but also the corrupt warden trying to fix the game against them.

Adaptation. poster
Adaptation.
2002 Β· dir. Spike Jonze
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.7comedy Β· crime Β· drama

Comedy with a pulse of play, in both cases

Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean's book become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the other's.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ defining feeling.