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Movies that feel like Withnail & I (1987)

If you loved Withnail & I, the closest films we have are Election (1999), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and The King of Comedy (1982). All three share Withnail & I's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium and Paramount Plus Essential and others, checked against today's data.

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty, they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

πŸ… 84% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Bruce Robinsonwittyplayfulcontemplativedarkly funny

When is Withnail & I streaming? β†’

If Withnail & I hit the spot, these will too

Election poster
Election
1999 Β· dir. Alexander Payne
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.2comedy Β· drama

Dark comedy sits at the heart of each

A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.

Feels alike?
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) poster
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2014 Β· dir. Alejandro G. IΓ±Γ‘rritu
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.7drama Β· comedy

Both built around dark comedy

The difference: A 2010s film, from a different era of filmmaking

A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.

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

Witty and playful in the same breath

The difference: None of the dark humor that defines Withnail & I

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.

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

Comedy built on stillness, twice over

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.

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

Witty drama, and it commits to that

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.

Feels alike?
The Trip poster
The Trip
2011 Β· dir. Michael Winterbottom
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7comedy Β· drama

Northern england and countryside, at the center of both

When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon.

Feels alike?
The Devil Wears Prada poster
The Devil Wears Prada
2006 Β· dir. David Frankel
πŸ… 75%β˜… 7drama Β· comedy

Comedy with a pulse of play, in both cases

A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.

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Little Miss Sunshine poster
Little Miss Sunshine
2006 Β· dir. Valerie Faris
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

Both trade on stillness more than on being drama

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

Feels alike?
The Truman Show poster
The Truman Show
1998 Β· dir. Peter Weir
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.2comedy Β· drama

Darkly funny comedy in both cases

In a picture-perfect seaside town, an insurance salesman begins to realize that his entire existence may be staged and observed by a vast unseen audience as part of a long-running real-time reality TV show.

Feels alike?
The Grand Budapest Hotel poster
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014 Β· dir. Wes Anderson
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· drama

Witty drama in both cases

The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protΓ©gΓ©. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.

Feels alike?
The Big Short poster
The Big Short
2015 Β· dir. Adam McKay
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

Both work the same play

The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.

Feels alike?
Sunshine Cleaning poster
Sunshine Cleaning
2008 Β· dir. Christine Jeffs
πŸ… 74%β˜… 6.8comedy Β· drama

Both run contemplative where it counts

A single mother and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in this off-beat dramatic comedy. In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school the mom starts an unusual business – a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service.

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The best-reviewed films that share Withnail & I's defining feeling.