Movies like The Goodbye Girl (1977)
The best movies like The Goodbye Girl (1977) are Author! Author! (1982), Trust (1990) and Limelight (1952). If The Goodbye Girl hooked you with its comedy and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedForrest Gump (1994)8.5/10 from 30,874 votes
- NewestIs This Thing On? (2025)Released 2025
Author! Author! (1982)
While facing the stress of his original play being produced on Broadway, playwright Ivan Travalian deals with having to raise his son, his stepdaughters, and his stepsons.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrust (1990)
After being thrown away from home, pregnant high school dropout Maria meets Matthew, a highly educated and extremely moody electronics repairman. The two begin an unusual romance built on their sense of mutual admiration and trust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLimelight (1952)
A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisIs This Thing On? (2025)
As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove with the Proper Stranger (1963)
Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano. When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFeel the Beat (2020)
After failing to make it on Broadway, April returns to her hometown and reluctantly begins training a misfit group of young dancers for a competition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Turning Point (1977)
As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star, the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face at the turning point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNext Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
An aspiring Jewish actor moves out of his parents' Brooklyn apartment to seek his fortune in the bohemian life of Greenwich Village in 1953.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Strung Free Dance (2018)
Zander Raines, a dazzling and tempestuous young choreographer, gives the break of a lifetime to two hopeful artists when he casts a stunning contemporary dancer, Barlow, and innovative pianist, Charlie, in New York’s most-anticipated new Broadway show: Free Dance. But the move throws off the show’s delicate creative balance when Charlie falls hard for Barlow, while Zander embraces her as his muse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDivine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
In a sleepy Louisiana parish, a group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated mother and let go of her painful past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTully (2018)
Marlo, a mother of three, including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant at first, she quickly forms a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWaitress: The Musical (2023)
A waitress and expert pie-maker dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this13: The Musical (2022)
After moving from New York City to Indiana, a 12 year old navigates his parents' divorce, his impending bar mitzvah and his new school's social circles.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tender Trap (1955)
A young actress flirts demurely with a swinging Manhattan bachelor who thinks he has it made.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRemember Me (2010)
Still reeling from a heartbreaking family event and his parents' subsequent divorce, Tyler Hawkins discovers a fresh lease on life when he meets Ally Craig, a gregarious beauty who witnessed her mother's death. But as the couple draws closer, the fallout from their separate tragedies jeopardizes their love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe World of Henry Orient (1964)
A mischievous, adventuresome fourteen-year-old girl and her best friend begin following an eccentric concert pianist around New York City after she develops a crush on him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisFootloose (1984)
When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock after discovering he's living in a place where music and dancing are illegal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Loving but irresponsible dad Daniel Hillard, estranged from his exasperated spouse, is crushed by a court order allowing only weekly visits with his kids. When Daniel learns his ex needs a housekeeper, he gets the job -- disguised as a British nanny. Soon he becomes not only his children's best pal but the kind of parent he should have been from the start.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShe's Funny That Way (2015)
On the set of a playwright's new project, a love triangle forms between his wife, her ex-lover, and the call girl-turned-actress cast in the production.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisSave the Last Dance (2001)
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForrest Gump (1994)
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisMartin in the Clouds (1961)
Martin and his girlfriend Zorica are two students who live as subtenants in separate flats. Since that situation has devastating effect on their love life, they yearn after the place of their own. When Martin's landlords go to the hollidays, it seems that their prayers, at least temporarily, had been listened to. However, the idilla is very short one, because other people also want to use the situation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Manhattan (1979)
Manhattan explores how the life of a middle-aged television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAs Good as It Gets (1997)
A misanthropic author, a single mother and waitress, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBilly Elliot (2000)
County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShady Business (1981)
Residents of a shanty town are faced with its destruction. With the help of the local trickster, Paja "the Bighead" moves with his family to an empty flat in New Belgrade blocks. Everything goes fine until the real owner knocks at the door.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Hunting & Gathering (2007)
When Camille falls ill, she is forced to live with Philibert and Franck.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrows (1969)
A flat broke aging boxer, living on the verge of existence, teams up with the equally desperate people in the city's suburbia to steal, cheat, and even kill for the money.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mean Streets (1973)
A small-time hood must choose from among love, friendship and the chance to rise within the mob.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTaxi Driver (1976)
Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Goodbye Girl?
The closest matches to The Goodbye Girl are Author! Author! (1982), Trust (1990) and Limelight (1952). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Goodbye Girl?
Start with Author! Author! (1982), the closest match to The Goodbye Girl.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Goodbye Girl?
Forrest Gump (1994), rated 8.5/10 by 30,874 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Goodbye Girl?
Is This Thing On? (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Goodbye Girl?
Yes: Author! Author! (1982), Trust (1990) and Limelight (1952).
How are movies similar to The Goodbye Girl chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Goodbye Girl, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.