Movies like Desperate Moves (1980)
The best movies like Desperate Moves (1980) are Much Ado About Nothing (2013), Taking Care of Business (1990) and Seriously Single (2020). If Desperate Moves hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)7.9/10 from 259 votes
- NewestLouis C.K.: Ridiculous (2026)Released 2026
Much Ado About Nothing (2013)
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaking Care of Business (1990)
An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly ends up in the hands of a friendly convict who poses as him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeriously Single (2020)
While her free-living bestie urges her to embrace singlehood, a commitment-craving social media expert can't stop following the life of a former love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016)
Hawaiian-shirt enthusiast Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias finds the laughs in racist gift baskets, Prius-driving cops and all-female taco trucks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisImpractical Jokers: The Movie (2020)
The story of a humiliating high school mishap from 1992 that sends the Impractical Jokers on the road competing in hidden-camera challenges for the chance to turn back the clock and redeem three of the four Jokers.
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 thisLouis C.K.: Ridiculous (2026)
From a bee getting shot in New York City to paying strangers to take his aging father, Louis C.K. unleashes the ridiculous thoughts in his mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEddie Murphy Raw (1987)
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on '80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom's hamburgers and much more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEddie Izzard: Dress to Kill (1999)
Eddie Izzard takes her show to San Francisco to give a brief history of pagan and Christian religions, the building of Stonehenge, the birth of the Church of England and of Western empires, and the need for a European dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018)
John Mulaney relays stories from his childhood and "SNL," eviscerates the value of college and laments getting older in this electric comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies 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 thisLouis C.K.: Hilarious (2010)
In this unique and dynamic live concert experience, Louis C.K.'s exploration of life after 40 destroys politically correct images of modern life with thoughts we have all had...but would rarely admit to.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDylan Moran: Like, Totally (2006)
Dylan Moran returns with an all-new stand-up show. Unpredictable, startling, bizarre, elegiac, but above all brilliant and hilariously funny, Moran is a master of comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisThe Ladies Man (1961)
After his girl leaves him for someone else, Herbert gets really depressed and starts searching for a job. He finally finds one in a big house which is inhabited by many, many women. Can he live in the same home with all these females?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
86-year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion: his 8 year-old grandson, Billy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdam Sandler: Love You (2024)
Adam Sandler hits the stage for a thrillingly unpredictable comedy special featuring songs, jokes, party-crashing dogs and plenty of love.
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 thisLouis C.K.: Oh My God (2013)
Filmed at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, AZ on February 15th and 16th, 2013, Oh My God is Louis C.K.'s fifth stand-up special, his first for HBO since 2007's Shameless, and his first since winning a Emmy Award for writing on his acclaimed show on FX, Louie. Performed in the round in front of a live audience, he discusses such topics as the food chain, animals, divorce, strange anecdotes, broken morality, murder and mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDave Chappelle: The Closer (2021)
As he closes out his slate of comedy specials, Dave takes the stage to try and set the record straight — and get a few things off his chest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStarsky & Hutch (2004)
Join uptight David Starsky and laid-back Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson as they're paired for the first time as undercover cops. The new partners must overcome their differences to solve an important case with help from street informant Huggy Bear and persuasive criminal Reese Feldman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMystery Men (1999)
When Champion City's hero Captain Amazing is kidnapped by the recently paroled supervillain Casanova Frankenstein, a trio of average, everyday superheroes -- Mr. Furious, the Shoveler and the Blue Raja -- assemble a new super team to save him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisLove at First Bite (1979)
Dracula and Renfield relocate to '70s era New York in search of Cindy Sondheim, the reincarnation of Dracula's one true love, Mina Harker. "Trouble adjusting" is a wild understatement for the Count as he battles Cindy's psychiatrist, Jeffrey Rosenberg, a descendant of Van Helsing, who may be in love with Cindy too.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiscomRobulated (2025)
Given one last shot at redemption, a disgraced detective and his hotshot apprentice investigate a local disco crime lord -- but as hubris and a personal connection to the case surface, the line between friend and foe shrinks as thin as the badge... or dance-off demands.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Humanap Ka Ng Panget (1991)
Three boys from the slums of Manila find their luck has changed when one of them learns he's the heir of a rich man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Vamos Cantar Disco Baby (1979)
Orphanage Santa Cecília teeters on the brink of bankruptcy as a real-estate firm plans to raze it and its surrounding forest. Three girls receive a magical gift of song from a mysterious old woman, on the condition they never kiss a boy, to earn money and save the home. With reporter Raul and social worker Gretchen’s help, their rising fame threatens the developer’s scheme. In a last-ditch effort, the developer’s son kidnaps them, but unexpected feelings for one girl force him to reconsider.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
A Piece of the Action (1977)
How does retired cop Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) get two career criminals, Manny Durrell (Sidney Poitier) and Dave Anderson (Bill Cosby), to follow the straight and narrow? Con them into helping juvenile delinquents turn over a new leaf. But how? Burke has never been able to nail the duo, but he uses what he knows of their seedy past to blackmail them into volunteering.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Dracula Bites the Big Apple (1979)
Dracula travels to New York for a change of scenery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Chiang Khan Story (2014)
Two childhood friends who bonded at their town's cinema reunite as adults when their big-screen passions bring them together on the same movie set.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Greasy Strangler (2016)
Ronnie runs a Disco walking tour with his son, Brayden. When a sexy woman takes the tour, it begins a competition between father and son for her love. It also signals the arrival of an oily strangler who stalks the streets at night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Desperate Moves?
The closest matches to Desperate Moves are Much Ado About Nothing (2013), Taking Care of Business (1990) and Seriously Single (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Desperate Moves?
Start with Much Ado About Nothing (2013), the closest match to Desperate Moves.
What is the highest-rated movie like Desperate Moves?
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018), rated 7.9/10 by 259 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Desperate Moves?
Louis C.K.: Ridiculous (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Desperate Moves?
Yes: Much Ado About Nothing (2013), Taking Care of Business (1990) and Seriously Single (2020).
How are movies similar to Desperate Moves chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Desperate Moves, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.