Movies like The Associate (1979)
The best movies like The Associate (1979) are Heartbeat (1938), She Does Not Drink, Smoke or Flirt But... She Talks (1970) and The Wild Goose Chase (1975). If The Associate hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedPlayTime (1967)7.7/10 from 708 votes
- NewestComédie-Française (2026)Released 2026
- In FrenchHeartbeat (1938)Also in French
Heartbeat (1938)
A pompous grocer’s assistant in Marseille annoys a visiting film crew so much that they prank him with a phony acting contract; believing it to be real, the “schpountz” heads to Paris for his new career.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShe Does Not Drink, Smoke or Flirt But... She Talks (1970)
Housemaid Georgette loves to gossip and this causes major trouble to people around her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wild Goose Chase (1975)
The whole intrigue is centered around carte-blanche documents kept in a vault. Whoever fills in the blank becomes the owner of a revue. Big money is involved. The nephew of the owner of the vault is trying to cheat his uncle and have his name in the documents. Everything is even more complicated because the manager of the bank has a finger in the pie, too. Who but a humble bank-teller (Pierre Richard) will ruin the scheme?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHold-up (1985)
Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages. While confusing and ridiculing the police with his strange behavior, he calmly manages to rid the bank of a fortune. But then an unsatisfied companion arouses trouble...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar (1991)
Angelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
A Florida con man uses the recent death of the long time Congressman from his district, who he just happens to share a last name with, to get elected to his version of paradise, the U.S. Congress, where the money flows from lobbyists.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSqueak-squeak (1963)
Léonard Monestier owns a large fortune, alas his wife Cynthia made a bad investment in a worthless oil concession. Far from letting this get him down, Léonard decides to find a sucker to buy this concession from him. Right on cue appears Antoine Brévin, a befuddled billionaire who is very interested in Léonard's beautiful daughter Patricia and would do anything to win her hand...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadiostars (2012)
Ben, who dreamed of himself as a comic in New York, is back in Paris, his professional and emotional life in complete disarray. He encounters Alex, the star host of the Breakfast Club, a popular morning radio show. With Cyril, a forty-something who'd prefer not to be, and Arnold, the charismatic leader of the gang, they call the shots on Blast FM. In next to no time Ben is hired to write for them. He's barely joined the team when a tidal wave hits the station: Breakfast Club listenership is in free fall. They set out on a bus to travel to every corner of France to meet and win over their public once again. For these arrogant Parisians, a real journey of initiation arises from this radio-phonic road trip, shaking up all their certainties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOscar (1967)
This film originated as a play in Paris. The story focuses on the one-day adventures of Bertrand Barnier played with a genius of French cinema, Louis de Funes. In the same morning he learns that his daughter is pregnant, an employee stole a large amount of money from his company, his maid is about to resign in order to marry a wealthy neighbor and his body builder is interested in marrying his daughter. The seemingly complicated story-line is full of comedy or errors and some of the most hilarious mime scenes of the French cinema.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWould I Lie to You? (1997)
Jobless loner Eddie Vuibert gets a lucky break when a rich Jewish entrepreneur mistakes him for a Jew and gives him a sweet job in the Parisian fashion district.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ladykillers (1955)
Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Con artist Lawrence Jamieson is a longtime resident of a luxurious coastal resort, where he enjoys the lavish fruits of his deceptions -- that is, until a competitor, Freddy Benson, shows up. When the new guy's lowbrow tactics impinge on his own sophisticated work and believing him to be the infamous conman 'The Jackal', Lawrence resolves to get rid of him. Confident of his own duplicitous talents, he challenges Freddy to a winner-takes-all competition: whoever swindles their latest mark, American heiress Janet Colgate, out of $50,000 first can stay, while the other must leave town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBanzaï (1983)
Michel works there manically solving people's problems over the phone. He is about to tie the knot with his girl friend Isabelle, an airline hostess. She flies all over the world, he hates to leave the office. A series of madcap mishaps involving theft or injury (as you would expect in his line of work) ensues after Michel promises Isabelle nothing will delay their marriage and she promises in turn that she's done flying. Once this unlikely promise is made, it becomes premise and both are forced into escalating white lies to maintain the appearance of keeping their word. Their predicament mounts as Isabelle is forced to do a few more flights, while Michel is compelled to travel to New York, Tunisia, and finally Hong Kong, where they are finally reunited in the throes of a contrived and hilarious drug deal involving a 747, water taxi chases, and martial arts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlayTime (1967)
Clumsy Monsieur Hulot finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon becomes lost. His roundabout journey parallels that of an American tourist, and as they weave through the inventive urban environment, they intermittently meet, developing an interest in one another. They eventually get together at a chaotic restaurant, along with several other quirky characters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLouise-Michel (2008)
In this radical and endearing black comedy, a group of retrenched female factory workers decide to pool their compensation money… and hire a hit man to liquidate their boss.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGuardian Angels (1995)
A sleazy Paris nightclub owner and ex-detective flies to Hong Kong to rescue the young son of a friend murdered by the Chinese mob.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpoiled Brats (2021)
The billionaire is tired of the whims of his own children and decides to teach them a lesson. He announces to them that he has become bankrupt. Now spoiled teenagers will have to do what they have never done: go to work, learn to love and value life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Three Stooges (2012)
Left on the doorstep of an orphanage run by nuns, three newborn knuckleheads grow up to be finger-poking, nyuk-nyuking janitors named Larry, Curly and Moe. When they learn that financial problems will soon force the only home they've ever known to close, the trio sets out to raise $830,000 in one month. Out in the world for the very first time, the three innocent bumblers become embroiled in a murder plot and find stardom on a TV reality show.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Brain (1969)
Arthur and Anatole are two little robbers. They want to rob money, money that will travel in a special train from Paris to Bruxelles. They don't know that other people have planned to do the same thing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisComédie-Française (2026)
At the Comédie-Française, there is one golden rule: the play is never canceled. Unfortunately for Nina, everything else is—just three hours before the premiere of her first staging. An actor is stuck on a train, tensions explode, equipment breaks down, egos clash, and panic sets in. With no way out and time slipping away, Nina must hold the show together at all costs. Will she make it until the curtain rises?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSunday Driver (2024)
Bazza's late for the match again, but he's confident he'll get there in time...until he bumps into the Sunday drivers...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Crocodile Dose (2026)
On their first summer back from college, best friends Curtis, Jimmy, and Abe embark on a fantastical 24-hour odyssey of drugs and alcohol on their way to a house party hosted by Curtis’s ex-girlfriend, Jane. When their pursuit of hedonism leads to Jane and Curtis reuniting prematurely, Curtis is unable to handle his emotions and loses touch with his relationships and reality.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
My Mom's New Boyfriend (2008)
After several years away, FBI agent Henry Durand returns to find his mother, Marty, a much different person: Having long mourned for Henry's father, she is now embracing single life. One day, while Marty, Henry and his new fiancée, Emily, are out for a walk, they meet Tommy, a mysterious stranger with whom Marty then becomes involved. However, through his FBI contacts, Henry learns that Tommy is suspected of being an art thief. As a young federal agent, Henry is given a difficult assignment: spy on his mother and her boyfriend who is suspected of leading a gang of art thieves.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like this99 Francs (2007)
Paris, France, 2001. Octave Parango, a young advertiser working at the Ross & Witchcraft advertising agency, lives a suicidal existence, ruled by cynicism, irresponsibility and debauchery. The obstacles he will encounter in developing a campaign for a new yogurt brand will force him to face the meaning of his work and the way he manages his relationship with those who orbit around his egotistic lifestyle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNow and Then (1995)
Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty, four childhood girlfriends — Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta — recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJo (2019)
A writer plots to murder a blackmailer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers while the authorities question about the method of their escape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVideo Girlfriend (1988)
Win a date with the real video girlfriend!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
It's the 1970s and San Diego anchorman Ron Burgundy is the top dog in local TV, but that's all about to change when ambitious reporter Veronica Corningstone arrives as a new employee at his station.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDodecahedron of Luck: The family fortune and how I almost lost it, but didn't (2025)
A young wealthy duchess wagers her family fortune, in an instant her life could change, but doesn't
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like The Associate and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Associate?
The closest matches to The Associate are Heartbeat (1938), She Does Not Drink, Smoke or Flirt But... She Talks (1970) and The Wild Goose Chase (1975). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Associate?
Start with Heartbeat (1938), the closest match to The Associate.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Associate?
PlayTime (1967), rated 7.7/10 by 708 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Associate?
Comédie-Française (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like The Associate?
Yes: Heartbeat (1938), She Does Not Drink, Smoke or Flirt But... She Talks (1970) and The Wild Goose Chase (1975).
How are movies similar to The Associate chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Associate, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.