feelsalike.comSign in
War Dogs poster

Movies that feel likeWar Dogs (2016)

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.

If you loved War Dogs, the closest films we have are American Made (2017), Going in Style (2017) and Hustlers (2019). All three share War Dogs' witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Bottle Rocket (1996).

🍅 62% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Todd Phillipswittyplayfulgrittycontemplative
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

See it on the Mood Map

If War Dogs hit the spot, these will too

American Made poster
American Made
2017 · dir. Doug Liman
🍅 85%★ 7.1comedy · crime · dramaMax

Both land wit and play at once

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

Going in Style poster
Going in Style
2017 · dir. Zach Braff
🍅 82%★ 6.6crime · comedy · drama

The same mix in both: grit, then stillness

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.

Hustlers poster
Hustlers
2019 · dir. Lorene Scafaria
🍅 88%★ 6.3drama · comedy · crimeHulu

Both lean on wit more than on comedy

The difference: Reviewed even better

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

I, Tonya poster
I, Tonya
2017 · dir. Craig Gillespie
🍅 90%★ 7.5drama · comedyRent or buy

Drama with a pulse of play, in both cases

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.

The Wolf of Wall Street poster
The Wolf of Wall Street
2013 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 79%★ 8.2crime · drama · comedyApple TV+Paramount+

Common ground in both: corruption and rise and fall

A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort's autobiography.

Bad Santa poster
Bad Santa
2003 · dir. Terry Zwigoff
🍅 78%★ 7drama · comedy · crimeMax

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

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.

The Longest Yard poster
The Longest Yard
2005 · dir. Peter Segal
🍅 31%★ 6.4drama · comedy · crimeParamount+Starz

Both are built on the same subject: corruption

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.

Due Date poster
Due Date
2010 · dir. Todd Phillips
🍅 39%★ 6.5comedy · drama

The same hand behind both of them: Todd Phillips

The difference: Takes it somewhere less gritty than War Dogs does

Peter Highman must scramble across the US in five days to be present for the birth of his first child. He gets off to a bad start when his wallet and luggage are stolen, and put on the 'no-fly' list. Peter embarks on a terrifying journey when he accepts a ride from an actor.

Chicago poster
Chicago
2002 · dir. Rob Marshall
🍅 87%★ 7.2comedy · crime · dramaParamount+

Comedy built on stillness, twice over

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.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs poster
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 90%★ 7.2western · comedy · dramaNetflix

Witty drama in both cases

The difference: Leans harder into western than War Dogs does

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.

Adaptation. poster
Adaptation.
2002 · dir. Spike Jonze
🍅 90%★ 7.7comedy · crime · drama

Playful crime, and it commits to that

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.

Bottle Rocket poster
Bottle Rocket
1996 · dir. Wes Anderson
🍅 86%★ 6.9comedy · crime · drama

Comedy with a pulse of grit, in both cases

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 1990s show

Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an as-yet-unspecified crime spree that somehow involves his former boss, the (supposedly) legendary Mr. Henry.

In the mood for more witty?

all witty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share War Dogs’ defining feeling.