Movies like The Rookie (1959)
The best movies like The Rookie (1959) are The Errand Boy (1961), Cadet Kelly (2002) and What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966). If The Rookie hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCadet Kelly (2002)6.2/10 from 642 votes
- NewestDriver's Ed (2026)Released 2026
The Errand Boy (1961)
Paramutual Pictures wants to know where all the money is going so they hire Morty to be their spy. Morty works for Mr. Sneak and gets a job in the mail room so that he can have access to the lot. But all that Morty ever finds is that he can cause havoc no matter what he does.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCadet Kelly (2002)
Hyperactive teenager Kelly is enrolled into a military school when her new stepfather becomes the Commandant. At first she has problems fitting in and taking orders until she tries out for the drill team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisHow to Irritate People (1969)
A pre-Monty Python mockumentary, written by and presented by John Cleese, that provides tips on learning how to irritate people.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAnuvahood (2011)
Kenneth (who likes to call himself Kay) begins to realise he's just another wannabe bad boy... even less than a loser in fact. After quitting his job at Laimsbury's, Kay vows to become a respected gangster... or cry trying. A pulls-no-punches, coming-of-age story, centering on one directionless hopeless "shotter", who finds his true worth in the face of urban adversity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBabes (2024)
After getting pregnant from a one-night stand, a single woman leans on her married best friend and mother of two to guide her through gestation and beyond.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdventures in Public School (2018)
A socially-awkward, home-schooled kid forces his way into public school against his suffocating, but loving, mother's wishes.
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 thisDriver's Ed (2026)
A group of teens hit the road in a stolen driver's ed car, racing against time to help a lovesick high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Time for Sergeants (1958)
Georgia farm boy Will Stockdale is about to bust with pride. He’s been drafted. Will’s ready. But is Uncle Sam ready for Will?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIliza Shlesinger: War Paint (2013)
Her innocent appearance is just a cover for Last Comic Standing winner Iliza Shlesinger's acerbic, stream-of-conscious comedy that she unleashes on an unsuspecting audience in her hometown of Dallas in "War Paint," her first stand-up special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFun with Dick and Jane (1977)
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008)
An HBO special edited from three performances from Chris Rock's 2008 comedy tour: London (dark suit, dark shirt), Johannesburg (black suit, white shirt) and New York (shiny jacket). Topics include the ongoing presidential campaign, the possibility of a black president, George W. Bush, gas prices, low-paid jobs, ringtones and bottled water, sex, relationships and the correct use of the n-word
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJimmy Carr: His Dark Material (2021)
Jimmy Carr finds humor in the darkest of places in this stand-up special that features his dry, sardonic wit — and some jokes he calls "career enders."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004)
While Ron Burgundy's rivalry with Veronica Corningstone escalates quickly, a group of unprofessional thieves better known as 'The Alarm Clock' try to make the truth known, whatever that may mean...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeld Up (1999)
What should have been a romantic getaway turns into one hilarious debacle after another when Michael's woman dumps him in the desert where he gets carjacked by a teenager and he is taken hostage in a stickup at the local Sip and Zip.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe After Party (2018)
When an aspiring rapper goes viral for the wrong reasons, he thinks his career is sunk. But a wild party gives him one more chance to make it right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGreat Guns (1941)
Laurel and Hardy join the army. They are hardly soldiers, but they believe their employer, (Dick Nelson) will need them now he's drafted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarry On Regardless (1961)
After a bunch of no-hopers approaches an employment agency, the anarchy mounts as they do a series of odd jobs, including a chimp's tea party, trying to stay sober at a wine tasting… and demolishing a house.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Wrecked (2005)
18-year-old Jenny Taylor is ecstatic when she finds out that her favorite rock star, Jason Masters, is a guest at the tropical resort where she is working for the summer. When they are both thrown overboard during a Caribbean cruise, she saves his life and they find themselves stranded on a remote beach. Deliriously in love with the idea of time alone with him, she manages to hide the fact that they're a stone's throw away from their resort.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisWe're Not Dressing (1934)
Beautiful high society type Doris Worthington is entertaining guests on her yacht in the Pacific when it hits a reef and sinks. She makes her way to an island with the help of singing sailor Stephen Jones. Her friend Edith, Uncle Hubert, and Princes Michael and Alexander make it to the same island but all prove to be useless in the art of survival. The sailor is the only one with the practical knowhow to survive but Doris and the others snub his leadership offer. That is until he starts a clam bake and wafts the fumes in their starving faces. The group gradually gives into his leadership, the only question now is if Doris will give into his charms.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Mystery on Monster Island (1981)
A young European boy living in San Francisco is reluctant to marry his long-term girlfriend because he wants to travel around the world first. His wealthy uncle agrees to send him on a global expedition aboard his ship, but en route the boy and his travelling companion are shipwrecked on a remote island, populated by countless prehistoric creatures as well as gold-hunting bandits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
RSC Live: Twelfth Night (2018)
Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love – hilarious and heartbreaking. Two twins are separated in a shipwreck, and forced to fend for themselves in a strange land. The first twin, Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who dotes on OIivia, who falls for Viola but is idolised by Malvolio. Enter Sebastian, who is the spitting image of his twin sister... Christopher Luscombe, Director of the ‘glorious’ (Daily Telegraph) Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing (2014 and 2016), returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company to tackle Shakespeare’s greatest comedy, a brilliantly bittersweet account of "the whirligig of time".
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Geometra Prinetti, selvaggiamente Osvaldo (1976)
Italian comedy about a man who gets shiqwrecked on a lonely island.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Survival List (TBA)
A highbrow reality TV producer named Annie, against her wishes, is assigned to a new show hosted by a famous survival expert, Chopper Lane. However, when a shipwreck strands them on a deserted island, Annie discovers Chopper is a fraud and knows nothing about survival, leaving her in charge of figuring out how to keep them alive. Forced to work together, they begin to discover an unlikely chemistry.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Miss Robin Crusoe (1953)
This 1954 feminist version of "Robinson Crusoe" stars Amanda Blake as a woman shipwrecked on a jungle island. Also with George Nader and Rosalind Hayes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Adventures of Eliza Fraser (1976)
An old captain & his young wife share a lot of adventures after they're shipwrecked and captured by Aborigines on an island near Australia.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Back-Room Boy (1942)
Jilted by his fiancee, Arthur Pilbeam gets a job as far away from women as possible. Alone in a lighthouse, he soon finds that 12 other people end up living on the tiny island. Thirteen is an unlucky number; and one-by-one they disappear ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Little Robinson Crusoe (1924)
Left an orphan by the death of his father, Mickey Hogan sails for Australia to live with relatives, but he is shipwrecked and stranded on an island inhabited by cannibals who worship him as a war god.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like The Rookie and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Rookie?
The closest matches to The Rookie are The Errand Boy (1961), Cadet Kelly (2002) and What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Rookie?
Start with The Errand Boy (1961), the closest match to The Rookie.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Rookie?
Cadet Kelly (2002), rated 6.2/10 by 642 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Rookie?
Driver's Ed (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Rookie?
Yes: The Errand Boy (1961), Cadet Kelly (2002) and What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966).
How are movies similar to The Rookie chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Rookie, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.