I just inadvertently watched three movies with the exact same plot.

[friedo]

Being unemployed (or, as I like to call it, temporarily employment-challenged), I've upped my Netflix subscription from the three-at-a-time plan to the five-at-a-time plan and for the past month have been lazing about on the couch, watching DVDs and going through twelve-packs of Coke at an alarming rate.

Today I was in the mood for some stupid, juvenile comedies, and after the DVD marathod I realized that I had watched three movies with the exact same plot. To wit: Two idiots embark on a road trip for thoroughly stupid reasons, wreak havoc along the way, and are chased by people who think they are not, in fact, idiots, but especially talented and brilliant terrorists or criminals.

The movies were:
Dumb and Dumber - Harry and Lloyd embark on a road trip to Aspen to return a briefcase to the woman Lloyd has fallen in love with. They are chased by gangsters who want the briefcase because it is full of cash.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America - Beavis and Butt-Head travel across the country in search of their television and getting laid. They get accidentally mixed up in a plot to smuggle a biological weapon and are chased by an ATF agent (played brilliantly by Robert Stack) who thinks they're evil terrorist masterminds.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - Jay and Silent Bob travel to Hollywood to stop production of a movie about the comic book characters who are based on them, because everyone on the Internet hates them. They get accidentally mixed up in a plot to steal some diamonds and are chased by Federal Wildlife Marshalls for their daring orangutan heist.

I'm pretty sure there must be dozens of other movies with this story. I want to make a list, so post any more you can think of!

[Zebra]

The Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road" movies?

[Eonwe]

The Muppet Movie is something along those lines.

[Cherry2000]

Originally Posted by friedo

Being unemployed (or, as I like to call it, temporarily employment-challenged) <snip>

[hijack] I believe the term you are searching for is "involuntarily leisured" [/end hijack]

[friedo]

Originally Posted by Cherry2000

[hijack] I believe the term you are searching for is "involuntarily leisured" [/end hijack]

Ha! I like that one.

[Askance]

Originally Posted by Cherry2000

[hijack] I believe the term you are searching for is "involuntarily leisured" [/end hijack]

Nonsense. One is merely "between engagements".

[Hal Briston]

(Upon reading the headline)

So, you spent the day watching Lifetime?

[Ethilrist]

Smokey and the Bandit.

The Blues Brothers.

[Ponder Stibbons]

Well, it is a classic plot. It goes back at least as far as ...

Originally Posted by Zebra

The Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road" movies?

Darn you Zebra!!!

[rjk]

Some Like It Hot might qualify, though the buddies are on the road to escape the gangsters who are already after them.

Then there's Outrageous Fortune with Shelley Long and Bette Midler.

[Marley23]

I just watched most of Logan's Run and felt like I'd just seen a 30-year-old version of The Matrix with bad special effects.

[ouryL]

Originally Posted by Zebra

The Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road" movies?

Exactly right!!


That's why we call them road pictures.

[C K Dexter Haven]

Well, deep down inside, it goes further back than that. Dickens' Pickwick Papers has essentially the same plot. And, if you drop the need for there to be two buddies, you've got the Odyssey with essentially the same plot.

[KSO]

Road Trip--Guy accidentally sends video of himself having sex with another woman to his girlfriend so he and his buddies drive to wherever the girlfriend is to get the tape--at least, that's my vague recollection of the movie. The only scene that really stands out is the diner scene involving the waiter and the pancake. If you haven't seen it, I sure as hell don't want to spoil it for you.

Thelma and Louise?

[Stormfield]

What's up, Doc?

[Bryan Ekers]

My first thought was a Steven Seagal marathon.

[HeyHomie]

Harold and Kumar go to White Castle

[FriarTed]

Not the same plot as the OP but two films with the same plot as each other-

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES and WHITE NOISE

Man's wife dies mysteriously, he has supernatural experiences which yield clues about her death, odd stranger arrives with more clues, confrontation with evil spirits ensues.

WHITE NOISE- eh, ok.

MOTHMAN PROPHECIES- kinda cool.

[Larry Borgia]

Two idiots embark on a road trip for thoroughly stupid reasons, wreak havoc along the way, and are chased by people who think they are not, in fact, idiots, but especially talented and brilliant terrorists or criminals.

DonQuixote has a very similar plot.

[Shirley Ujest]

Do men need a good reason to go on a road trip?

[Stark Raven Mad]

Originally Posted by Shirley Ujest

Do men need a good reason to go on a road trip?

Can't speak for us all, but I require that my reasons are always three millihelens pretty, or better.

I watched a whole bunch of chick flicks a few weekends ago (involuntarily; I lost a bet) and if you asked me about their plots now I'd probably come up with a perverse crossover almost, but not quite entirely unlike the originals. They are all the same damned thing. I think their main attraction is that same pleasant forgettability of their plots.

[AskNott]

Awhile back there was a movie critic spot on NPR (Bob Garfield, maybe.) He was catching up on a handful of hit movies he hadn't seen yet. There were three that seemed, at first, to be very different. (Pirates of the Caribbean, some cop movie, and some futuristic sci-fi thing.) As he saw them, he realized that they all were about "He's a take-charge guy, who doesn't play by the rules, and he's in trouble with his captain."

Ever since then, my wife and I have often laughed to find other shows (and a few political stories) that fit that same "He's a take-charge guy, who doesn't play by the rules, and he's in trouble with his captain" mold.

[msmith537]

Originally Posted by KSO

Road Trip--Guy accidentally sends video of himself having sex with another woman to his girlfriend so he and his buddies drive to wherever the girlfriend is to get the tape--

Road Trip has the same exact plot as Overnight Delivery. Guy trying to get across country before a package reaches his girlfriend, only to realize they aren't in love anymore anyway:

Breckin Meyer=Paul Rudd (the guy)
Rachel Blanchard=Christine Taylor (old girlfriend)
Amy Smart=Reese Witherspoon (new girlfriend)

[msmith537]

Originally Posted by Stark Raven Mad

I watched a whole bunch of chick flicks a few weekends ago (involuntarily; I lost a bet) and if you asked me about their plots now I'd probably come up with a perverse crossover almost, but not quite entirely unlike the originals. They are all the same damned thing. I think their main attraction is that same pleasant forgettability of their plots.

Girl meets guy
Guy is already in a committed relationship to a woman who isn't quite right for him
Girl creates strain on the relationship with wacky hijinks
Guy almost gets married to old girlfriend
Girl confronts guy with feelings at last, most innappropriate minute
Guy realizes he is in love with the new girl and they live happily ever after

or

What being a psycho bitch looks like from the girls perspective.

[Susie Derkins]

You forgot:

Girl falls in love with rich man

Thinks he's too good for her as she is

Pretends to be something she isn't

Gets caught at it

He loves her anyway because she's hot

[Scissorjack]

The Three Amigos

A Bug's Life

Galaxy Quest

A troupe of bumbling performers are mistaken for the real deal by a society under siege by evil marauders, and are recruited to save the day: initially, they misunderstand the nature of their contract, until a preliminary skirmish establishes that they are in a real conflict. Soul searching and threats of resignation ensue, until they finally come together as a team to concoct a cunning plan based on their performance expertise, and the villains, who have previously dismissed the troupe as buffoons, are soundly routed. Valuable life lessons are learnt.

[LorieSmurf]

Originally Posted by Case Sensitive

The Three Amigos

A Bug's Life

Galaxy Quest

Never thought of it that way before. But, you're right!!

[audreyayn]

....did you just use a Cartman pick up line on him?

[Bob Scene]

The plot of Three Amigos is very similar to the plot of Seven Samurai, except that in the latter the men hired to defend the town are actually competent warriors.

[Colibri]

Originally Posted by C K Dexter Haven

And, if you drop the need for there to be two buddies, you've got the Odyssey with essentially the same plot.

Originally Posted by friedo

Two idiots embark on a road trip for thoroughly stupid reasons, wreak havoc along the way, and are chased by people who think they are not, in fact, idiots, but especially talented and brilliant terrorists or criminals.

Well, there are a few other differences, such as Odysseus (a) not being an idiot and (b) generally having havoc wreaked upon him rather than wreaking it on others (except for Polyphemus, who wreaked first). I suppose that you might consider that he was being "pursued" by Poseiden, but Poseiden was doing so because he knew exactly who Odysseus was.

[Scissorjack]

Originally Posted by Bob Scene

The plot of Three Amigos is very similar to the plot of Seven Samurai, except that in the latter the men hired to defend the town are actually competent warriors.

And Seven Samurai begat The Magnificent Seven, which begat Battle Beyond The Stars {which also starred Robert Vaughn}. While we're talking Kurosawa and Westerns, Yojimbo begat A Fistful Of Dollars, which begat Last Man Standing.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by C K Dexter Haven

Well, deep down inside, it goes further back than that. Dickens' Pickwick Papers has essentially the same plot.

The Pickwick Papers has a plot? (I'm seriously asking -- I couldn't force myself past the first one-fourth of the book; but what I read did not inspire hope it might get better, or develop a plot of any kind.)

[Scissorjack]

An Officer And A Gentleman spawned an entire genre of movies. As the lesser of two evils, a smart arsed ne'er-do-well embarks on a challenge in order to avoid an immediate inconvenience, with the intention of shirking this responsibility too. As his ordeal tries him physically and mentally, he confronts the demons which make him a smart-mouthed slacker, and finally faces a gruelling ordeal in which he triumphs. Demons are conquered. Valuable life lessons are learnt. He gets the girl.

This plot template has influenced everything from Police Academy to Ghostbusters to Good Will Hunting, as well as every Adam Sandler movie ever made.