# Movies with the same plot. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839 "2010-08-20T05:16:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/101 "2010-08-31T01:05:10Z")
Strong, intelligent, gorgeous woman is going to be married within 24 hours, but before she can marry her new love, she has to see her ex-husband, Cary Grant, one more time. Naturally, her ex is still in love with her and makes it clear he never wanted to divorce, and furthermore, he disapproves of her fiance. He goes about making her life difficult in little ways, stooping in somewhat underhanded tactics designed to mock her fiance and knock her off guard. She resists him for as long as she can, but he’s really charming when he’s not being a jackass, plus he’s _Cary Grant_, so she ditches her good-hearted fiance and reconciles with Mr. Grant. _The Awful Truth_, _His Girl Friday_, _The Philadelphia Story_. With a few minor tweaks it becomes _My Favorite Wife_. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/102 "2010-09-01T22:16:36Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > > > _Taylor of Panama_ is _Our Man in Havana_ > > _Made of Honor_ is _My Best Friend’s Wedding_ > > > > Of course there are the countless Akira Kurosawa knock-offs which are too numerous to list… > > Yeah, that bastard Shakespeare _totally_ ripped off _The Seven Samurai_ and _Throne Of Blood_ to write _King Lear_ and _Macbeth_. Lazy fuck. I think you mean _Ran_ instead of _Seven Samurai_. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/103 "2010-09-02T18:13:53Z")
Primary Colors, and Wag the Dog. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/104 "2010-09-02T18:31:13Z")
**Fight Club** , **Office Space** , **American Beauty**. Same damn movie, or at least same protagonist. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/105 "2010-09-02T18:36:37Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Strong, intelligent, gorgeous woman is going to be married within 24 hours, but before she can marry her new love, she has to see her ex-husband, Cary Grant, one more time. Naturally, her ex is still in love with her and makes it clear he never wanted to divorce, and furthermore, he disapproves of her fiance. He goes about making her life difficult in little ways, stooping in somewhat underhanded tactics designed to mock her fiance and knock her off guard. She resists him for as long as she can, but he’s really charming when he’s not being a jackass, plus he’s _Cary Grant_, so she ditches her good-hearted fiance and reconciles with Mr. Grant. > > _The Awful Truth_, _His Girl Friday_, _The Philadelphia Story_. With a few minor tweaks it becomes _My Favorite Wife_. Sweet Home Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![Corninshit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Corninshit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corninshit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/106 "2011-08-14T17:56:30Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Improbably beautiful prostitute falls for an American schnook who wants to “save” her, after she sings the theme song which becomes a huge international hit. **Breakfast at Tiffany’s** and **Never On Sunday**. Both circa 1961. > > Video game takes on a life of its own. **The Last Starfighter** and **War Games.** Both circa 1984. > > An under-appreciated singer is redeemed by True Love. **I Walk the Line** (2005) and **Beyond the Sea** (2004). > > Family isn’t what you’re born into, it’s where you find it. **My Life as a Dog** (1985) and **Boogie Nights** (1997). > > Human guy falls hard for cartoon chick. **Who Framed Roger Rabbit?** (1988) and **Cool World** (1992). > > New girl in school sucks up to the popular clique to subvert them from within. **Heathers** (1989), \*\*Mean Girls \*\*(2004). > > Eccentric trio saves city from pseudo-science gone berserk. **Ghostbusters** (1984), **Evolution** (2001). > > Fake teacher instills a love of music. **The Music Man, The School of Rock**. > > Sleazy rock star meets his number one fan. \*\* Bye Bye Birdie, Win a Date with Ted Hamilton!\*\* > > Sexually precocious teenaged girl finds out men are scumbags. [Too numerous to mention.] > > **Big Momma’s House** and any **Madea** movie. Big Momma’s house was Mrs. Doubtfire. Both were Tootsie. ---
**Author:** ![Corninshit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Corninshit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corninshit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/107 "2011-08-14T17:58:06Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > **Fight Club** , **Office Space** , **American Beauty**. Same damn movie, or at least same protagonist. Remake Fight Club with chicks and you have Black Swan. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/108 "2011-08-14T21:34:42Z")
[My Boyfriend’s Back (1993)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107626/) and [Boy Eats Girl](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0415679/) (2005)? ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/109 "2011-08-14T21:37:32Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > New girl in school sucks up to the popular clique to subvert them from within. **Heathers** (1989), \*\*Mean Girls \*\*(2004). That’s not the plot of the movie Heathers. For one thing, Winona Ryder’s character wasn’t new and she was already popular. The plots between the two movies are fairly different. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Mean Girls, but I don’t remember it containing quite as many murders as Heathers did. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/110 "2011-08-14T21:42:04Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > What substance was Mozart abusing in _Amadeus_? Ink? You’re not confusing him with Falco, are you? Alcohol ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/111 "2011-08-14T21:55:05Z")
Night of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and every other zombie movie ever made. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/112 "2011-08-14T22:05:52Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > **Honeymoon In Vegas** and **Indecent Proposal** were both about a rich guy buying sex from another guy’s wife because the other couple is desperate for cash. I hate to be the guy who nitpicks a year-old post, but I’ve seen this comparison before and I feel like it’s important to note that there’s no “cash for sex” transaction in Honeymoon in Vegas, and that they couple in question aren’t married. The rich guy is paying for a “date” with Nic Cage’s girlfriend. He’s buying an opportunity to try and steal the girl, which, in my book, is arguably sleazier than paying for sex. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/113 "2011-08-14T22:24:39Z")
Cynical American anti-hero unwittingly entangles himself in a fight with an East-Asian magical cabal. His true grit and saracstic attitude are exactly the tools that allow him to defeat evil and go home with the girl. **Big Trouble in Little China** and **The Golden Child** (both 1986) ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/114 "2011-08-15T00:32:13Z")
The hero works for a super-secret government agency that has been penetrated by a mole. The mole turns out to be the hero’s best friend and mentor, who convinces the head of the agency that the hero is the mole. In the course of escaping from his former colleagues, the hero smashes a giant aquarium, releasing the creatures that live in it. To gather important information, the hero must break into a well-guarded office building in Washington, D.C. A colleague who knows the the break-in is coming says, “This guy’s a ghost”/“These guys are ghosts.” The hero sneaks inside disguised as a first responder and accesses a supercomputer to get the info he needs. In the end, he clears his name and brings the bad guy to justice. _Mission Impossible_ (the first one) and _Eraser_ ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/115 "2011-08-15T03:16:17Z")
Writer on deadline with writer’s block hires a secretary for dictation, and slowly, inexorably, during the course of plotting the story, they fall in love. Paris When It Sizzles (1964) Alex and Emma (2003) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/116 "2011-08-15T03:41:00Z")
> [@Ferd\_Burfel](#): > > Writer on deadline with writer’s block hires a secretary for dictation, and slowly, inexorably, during the course of plotting the story, they fall in love. > > Paris When It Sizzles (1964) > Alex and Emma (2003) Also, **Music and Lyrics**. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/117 "2011-08-16T10:26:35Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > How about eXistenz and Inception? Yeah, I thought the same thing. **Barton Fink** and **Sunset Boulevard**? **Lensman** and **Star Wars**? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/118 "2011-08-16T12:44:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Our hero, who had grown up as an orphan hearing about great adventures of old, found himself going on a quest with several others in which they had to destroy a powerful object and kill a villain. A wise old man who aided them sacrificed himself for them, but he returned later to give them advice. The hero lost an appendage in a battle with the villain and learned that the almost magical powers that he had acquired could be misused. Although all the central characters were rewarded, the hero has no family to return to and no romantic partner. > > _Star Wars_ and _The Lord of the Rings_ Quite a few similarities to Harry Potter as well. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/119 "2011-08-19T08:23:55Z")
I could be totally wrong (& I’m sure somebody will tell me) but from what I remember, there are seven plots. Every story line is a variation of these. Some of them are: man versus man; man versus himself; man versus nature; fish out of water; love of (money, power, women etc) I can’t remember all of them. I’d say everybody’s working with what they’ve got. A talented writer gives a fresh point of view—so you don’t realize you’re eating canned beans again. They “put a little English on it.” (pool hall term) Sometimes you can find it. This is an old example but like with “Love Story” (I know—barf) it’s supposed to be a love story between a guy & girl, but I felt like it was really between the guy & his father. Sometimes people can throw in something new, different—and it becomes a “film” or “a good book” or a haunting song. These usually win awards. The rest pull in a paycheck for all involved & feed our entertainment-hungry little minds for a while. Hence “Rocky IV” & Milli Vanilli. I just try to find the nuggets in the gravel—but swallow the gravel when I need to fill my craw. (chicken term) ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839/120 "2011-08-19T08:27:56Z")
“one of my wives is missing.” a 70s movie with james franciscus as the villain and jack klugman as the cop. the story line was repeated in an 80s movie with farrel (MASH) as the villain and elliot gould as the cop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-the-same-plot/550839.md?page=7)