Movies like The Great American Pastime (1956)
The best movies like The Great American Pastime (1956) are Bad News Bears (2005), Sons of the Desert (1933) and Grudge Match (2013). If The Great American Pastime hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSons of the Desert (1933)7.1/10 from 278 votes
- NewestThe Dink (2026)Released 2026
Bad News Bears (2005)
Morris Buttermaker is a burned-out minor league baseball player who loves to drink and can't keep his hands to himself. His long-suffering lawyer arranges for him to manage a local Little League team, and Buttermaker soon finds himself the head of a rag-tag group of misfit players. Through unconventional team-building exercises and his offbeat coaching style, Buttermaker helps his hapless Bears prepare to meet their rivals, the Yankees.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisSons of the Desert (1933)
Ollie and Stan deceive their wives into thinking they are taking a medically necessary cruise when they are really going to a lodge convention.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGrudge Match (2013)
A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout -- 30 years after their last match.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKeeping Mum (2005)
A pastor preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon fails to realize that his wife is having an affair and his children are up to no good.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLittle Big League (1994)
When the owner of the Minnesota Twins passes away, he bequeaths the team to his preteen grandson. The newly minted head honcho quickly appoints himself manager, causing unrest in an organization that struggles to take orders from a 12-year-old.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGame Night (2018)
Max and Annie's weekly game night gets kicked up a notch when Max's brother Brooks arranges a murder mystery party -- complete with fake thugs and federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it's all supposed to be part of the game. As the competitors set out to solve the case, they start to learn that neither the game nor Brooks are what they seem to be. The friends soon find themselves in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn over the course of one chaotic night.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Baseball (1992)
Jack Elliot, a one-time MVP for the New York Yankees is now on the down side of his baseball career. With a falling batting average, does he have one good year left and can the manager of the Chunichi Dragons, a Japanese Central baseball league find it in him?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisJudy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (2011)
Third-grader Judy Moody sets out to have the most thrilling summer of her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWhy Him? (2016)
A dad forms a bitter rivalry with his daughter's young rich boyfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreener Grass (2019)
Suburban soccer moms find themselves constantly competing against each other in their personal lives as their kids settle their differences on the field.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dink (2026)
Desperate to save a struggling country club and earn his father's respect, a washed-up tennis pro is compelled to break a sacred vow and do the unthinkable: play pickleball.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBig Business (1988)
In the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. The dizzy nurse on duty accidentally mixes the twins unbeknown to the parents. Our story flashes forward to the 1980s where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCamp Nowhere (1994)
Morris "Mud" Himmel has a problem. His parents desperately want to send him away to summer camp. He hates going to summer camp, and would do anything to get out of it. Talking to his friends, he realizes that they are all facing the same sentence: a boring summer camp. Together with his friends, he hatches a plan to trick all the parents into sending them to a camp of their own design.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFather of the Bride (1991)
George Banks is an ordinary, middle-class man whose 22 year-old daughter Annie has decided to marry a man from an upper-class family, but George can't think of what life would be like without his daughter. His wife tries to make him happy for Annie, but when the wedding takes place at their home and a foreign wedding planner takes over the ceremony, he becomes slightly insane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGood Neighbor Sam (1964)
To help his divorced neighbor claim a substantial inheritance, a family man poses as her husband. The ruse spills over into his career in advertising, and his recent promotion relies on his wholesome and moral appearance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCheaper by the Dozen (2003)
The Baker brood moves to Chicago after patriarch Tom gets a job coaching football at Northwestern University, forcing his writer wife, Kate, and the couple's 12 children to make a major adjustment. The transition works well until work demands pull the parents away from home, leaving the kids bored -- and increasingly mischievous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack to the Beach (1987)
A former beach boy and his wife go to California to visit their daughter and become part of the new beach scene.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Sandlot 2 (2005)
A decade has passed in the small town where the original Sandlot gang banded together during the summer of ’62 to play baseball and battle the Beast. Now, back at the dugout, nine new kids descend on the diamond only to discover that a descendant of the Beast lives in Mr. Mertle’s backyard – a monster of mythical proportions known as 'The Great Fear'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisHow to Eat Fried Worms (2006)
During the first day of his new school year, a fifth grade boy squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Club (1980)
The club buys a talented young player, Geoff, for a record sum of money. The team members do not like their new star and friction develops immediately. Game after game is lost until Geoff begins to realize that there is more at stake than just his own career.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Eli Manning Presents: The Undercovers - Justin Jefferson (2025)
Eli Manning sends Vikings star Justin Jefferson undercover as a nature photographer to get the inside scoop on the fast-growing sport of flag football. He’ll snap pics, confuse coaches, break ankles, and soar like the common loon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Eli Manning Presents: The Undercovers - Micah Parsons (2025)
Eli Manning recruits Micah Parsons to embrace his inner “unc” as he goes undercover as a waiter at a Dallas Cowboys fan event. Nobody knew it at the time, but this would be one of his final acts as a Cowboy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Fast and Furious (1927)
When Tom Brown, a wealthy young bachelor with a reckless penchant for speed, wrecks his car in an accident, he is assisted by Mr. Smithfield… When he meets Ethel, Mr. Smithfield's beautiful daughter, Tom falls in love with her at first sight…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Slam Dunk Ernest (1995)
Ernest P. Worrell becomes a basketball star after an angel bearing an uncanny resemblance to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gives him a pair of magic sneakers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisPros and Cons: A Fantasy Football Movie (2013)
Jack will do anything to win his league - even take out his opponents players. Jack Snow is a family man obsessed with winning his high stakes fantasy football league. He's a huge fan of fantasy football and professional football, but his wife forbids him to play. Steve-O, Jack's friend, convinces him to play one more time. Jack keeps it secret from his wife and son. He must take home the league championship in order to win the $60,000 payout.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
King of the Pins (1950)
Comedy short about Buddy Hackett as an incompetent bowler.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
L'allenatore nel pallone (1984)
Oronzo Canà is called to coach Longobarda, the football team of a small town of Northern Italy, newly promoted to the First Division. His only task is not to be relegated, but Longobarda's owner plots against him, finding the team's current ranking far too expensive, and his top Brazilian striker is affected by a deep saudade.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEscanaba in da Moonlight (2001)
On the eve of deer-hunting season in Michigan, a family of hunters contends with the shame of their eldest son never having shot his own buck.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Ice Princess (2005)
With the help of her coach, her mom, and the boy who drives the Zamboni, nothing can stop Casey Carlyle from realizing her dream to be a champion figure skater.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like The Great American Pastime and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Great American Pastime?
The closest matches to The Great American Pastime are Bad News Bears (2005), Sons of the Desert (1933) and Grudge Match (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Great American Pastime?
Start with Bad News Bears (2005), the closest match to The Great American Pastime.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Great American Pastime?
Sons of the Desert (1933), rated 7.1/10 by 278 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Great American Pastime?
The Dink (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Great American Pastime?
Yes: Bad News Bears (2005), Sons of the Desert (1933) and Grudge Match (2013).
How are movies similar to The Great American Pastime chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Great American Pastime, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.