# I just inadvertently watched three movies with the exact same plot. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639 "2005-04-28T23:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/1 "2005-04-28T23:44:04Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/2 "2005-04-29T01:19:06Z")
The Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” movies? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/3 "2005-04-29T01:46:02Z")
_The Muppet Movie_ is something along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![Cherry2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cherry2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry2000)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/4 "2005-04-29T02:55:34Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Being unemployed (or, as I like to call it, temporarily employment-challenged) \ [hijack] I believe the term you are searching for is “involuntarily leisured” 😃 [/end hijack] ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/5 "2005-04-29T04:08:28Z")
> [@Cherry2000](#): > > [hijack] I believe the term you are searching for is “involuntarily leisured” 😃 [/end hijack] Ha! I like that one. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/6 "2005-04-29T04:16:34Z")
> [@Cherry2000](#): > > [hijack] I believe the term you are searching for is “involuntarily leisured” 😃 [/end hijack] Nonsense. One is merely “between engagements”. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/7 "2005-04-29T16:05:00Z")
(Upon reading the headline) So, you spent the day watching _Lifetime_? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/8 "2005-04-29T16:13:32Z")
Smokey and the Bandit. The Blues Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/9 "2005-04-29T16:15:32Z")
Well, it _is_ a classic plot. It goes back at least as far as … > [@Zebra](#): > > The Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” movies? Darn you **Zebra**!!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/10 "2005-04-29T16:59:06Z")
[Some Like It Hot](http://imdb.com/title/tt0053291/) might qualify, though the buddies are on the road to escape the gangsters who are already after them. Then there’s [Outrageous Fortune](http://imdb.com/title/tt0093690/) with Shelley Long and Bette Midler. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/11 "2005-04-29T22:11:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/12 "2005-04-29T22:16:27Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > The Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” movies? Exactly right!! :rolleyes: That’s why we call them road pictures. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/13 "2005-04-29T22:36:21Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/14 "2005-04-30T00:23:34Z")
_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_? ---
**Author:** ![Stormfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@Stormfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormfield)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/15 "2005-04-30T01:02:24Z")
[What’s up, Doc?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069495/) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/16 "2005-04-30T03:31:32Z")
My first thought was a Steven Seagal marathon. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/17 "2005-04-30T11:18:50Z")
_Harold and Kumar go to White Castle_ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/18 "2005-04-30T14:48:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/19 "2005-04-30T15:16:10Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639/20 "2005-04-30T15:36:13Z")
Do men need a good reason to go on a road trip? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-inadvertently-watched-three-movies-with-the-exact-same-plot/301639.md?page=2)