Movies like Matinee Idle (1930)
The best movies like Matinee Idle (1930) are Deathtrap (1982), Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (2020) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013). If Matinee Idle hooked you with its comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLouis C.K.: Hilarious (2010)7.8/10 from 320 votes
- NewestAmerican Dreamer (2022)Released 2022
Deathtrap (1982)
A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (2020)
Jerry Seinfeld takes the stage in New York and tackles talking vs. texting, bad buffets vs. so-called "great" restaurants and the magic of Pop Tarts.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMuch 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 thisJerry Seinfeld: I'm Telling You for the Last Time (1998)
Taped for HBO in August 1998, on the final date of Jerry Seinfeld's tour appearances at New York City's Broadhurst Theater, I'm Telling You for the Last Time presents the standup comedian's so-called "final" standup, or at least his final tour with the standup material that made him famous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion (2007)
From an inauspicious beginning performing comedy routines in the back of a burger joint in New York, unorthodox stand-up star Zach Galifianakis has made a splash on the scene with his inimitable brand of humor. In this live show filmed at San Francisco's Purple Onion nightclub, the versatile funnyman serves up a healthy dose of his signature wit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChelsea Peretti: One of the Greats (2014)
Standup special filmed live at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Out of England 2 (2010)
The comic performs at the Chicago Theatre.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmy Schumer: Mostly Sex Stuff (2012)
A ratings hit! Amy Schumer debuts her one-hour special in front of a live audience at the Historic Fillmore Theatre in San Francisco. Nothing is off limits as Schumer airs every hilarious, messed up detail of her dating and sex life, from encounters with unexpected body parts to hate-filled personal grooming appointments. In her matter-of-fact raunchy style, at odds with her self-described "Cabbage Patch Kid" appearance, Schumer tells stories of a boyfriend who makes dirty requests over dinner, the way she outsmarts her birth control, and a shocking ending to a seemingly innocent cab ride.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Mouse That Roared (1959)
The Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides that the only way to get out of their economic woes is to declare war on the United States, lose and accept foreign aid. They send an invasion force (in chain mail, armed with bows and arrows) to New York and they arrive during a nuclear drill that has cleared the streets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel Iglesias: Hot and Fluffy (2007)
Gabriel Iglesias is one of the fastest-rising comics today! With his unique brand of humor, lovable stage presence and wide range of voices and impressions, it's no wonder that he already has a huge fan following. Now you can see Comedy Central's "Comic of the Year" in his sold-out performance at the historic Fox Theatre in Bakersfield, California!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain (2011)
Experience the show that quickly became a national phenomenon. Get an up-close and personal look at Kevin back in Philly where he began his journey to become one of the funniest comedians of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisLove Happy (1949)
The Marx Brothers help young Broadway hopefuls when they get mixed up with gangsters due to a tin of sardines containing Romanoff diamonds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies 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 thisJim Jefferies: Freedumb (2016)
Returning for a second Netflix comedy special, Jim Jefferies unleashes his famously ferocious black humor to a packed house in Nashville, Tennessee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmerican Dreamer (2022)
In this winsome comedy, an entitled Economics professor pursues a tactic to buy an ailing widow’s mansion for nothing, but he quickly realizes that his seemingly foolproof strategy won’t be as easy as he thought.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDave Chappelle: The Age of Spin (2017)
Comedy icon Dave Chappelle makes his triumphant return to the screen with a pair of blistering, fresh stand-up specials. Filmed at The Palladium in Los Angeles, California, in March 2016.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIliza Shlesinger: Freezing Hot (2015)
Smart and brazen comedian Iliza Shlesinger shares her unflinchingly honest observations on the differences between men and women. Filled with hashtag-able catch phrases, this is a laugh-out-loud revelation exposing some of women’s best kept - and ugliest - secrets, including truths about first date attire, fantasy break-ups and the tireless pursuit of not being cold while still looking hot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLouis C.K.: Live at The Comedy Store (2015)
This material was developed and prepared over the last year or so, mostly in comedy clubs. This special kind of goes back to when he used to just make noises and be funny for no particular reason. It felt right to him to shoot this special in a club to give it that live immediate intimate feeling. The show is about an hour long. The opening act, who is seen at the beginning (good place for an opening act) is Jay London. One of his favorite club comics going way back to the late 80s when he first started in working in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSomething's Gotta Give (2003)
When perpetually single, aging music industry exec Harry Sanborn, and his latest trophy girlfriend, Marin, arrive at her mother's beach house in the Hamptons, they find that her mother, playwright Erica Barry, also plans to stay for the weekend. Erica is scandalized by the relationship and Harry's sexist ways. But when Harry has a heart attack while there, and the doctor prescribes bedrest, his only option is to stay at the Barry home. Left in the care of Erica and his doctor, a love triangle starts to take shape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShakespeare in Love (1998)
Young William Shakespeare is forced to stage his latest comedy, 'Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter', before it's even written. When lovely noblewoman Viola de Lesseps auditions for a role, they fall into forbidden love — and Shakespeare's play finds a new life (and title). As their relationship intensifies, the comedy soon transforms into tragedy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlithe Spirit (2020)
A spiritualist medium holds a seance for a writer suffering from writers block but accidentally summons the spirit of his deceased first wife which leads to an increasingly complex love triangle with his current wife of five years.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisMoliere (2007)
Molière, a down-and-out actor-cum-playwright up to his ears in debt. When the wealthy Jourdain offers to cover that debt so that Molière's theatrical talents might help Jourdain win the heart of a certain widowed marquise, hilarity ensues.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBullets Over Broadway (1994)
After young playwright, David Shayne obtains funding for his play from gangster Nick Valenti, Nick's girlfriend Olive miraculously lands the role of a psychiatrist—but not only is she a bimbo who could never pass for a psychiatrist—she's a dreadful actress. David puts up with the leading man who is a compulsive eater, the grand dame who wants her part jazzed up, and Olive's interfering hitman/bodyguard—but, eventually he must decide whether art or life is more important.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou Can't Have Everything (1937)
Starving playwright Judith Wells meets playboy writer of musicals, George Macrae, over a plate of stolen spaghetti. He persuades producer Sam Gordon to buy her ridiculous play "North Winds" just to improve his romantic chances, and even persuades her to sing in the sort of show she pretends to despise. But just when their romance is going well, Gordon's former flame Lulu reveals the ace up her sleeve...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMan of La Mancha (1972)
In the 16th century, poet, playwright and part-time actor Miguel de Cervantes has been arrested, together with his manservant, by the Spanish Inquisition. They're accused of presenting an entertainment offensive to the Inquisition. Inside the huge dungeon into which they have been cast, the other inmates gang up on Cervantes and his manservant, staging a mock trial, with the intention of stealing or burning his possessions. Cervantes wishes to desperately save a manuscript he carries with him and stages, with costumes, makeup, and the participation of the other prisoners, an unusual defense—the story of Don Quixote.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Lear (1988)
A descendant of Shakespeare tries to restore his plays in a world rebuilding itself after the Chernobyl catastrophe obliterates most of human civilization.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Bedtime Story (1941)
A Broadway playwright wants to keep on writing plays for his wife to star in, but all she wants is to retire to Connecticut and, following a few 'worlds-apart" discussion of the issue, they get a divorce. The actress marries a banker in a fit of pique only to quickly discover the divorce was not valid. She communicates this information to her not-yet ex-husband and he, to prevent consummation of the invalid marriage rescues her by sending plumbers, waiters, porters, chambermaids, bellhops, desk clerks, exterminators and, finally, a crowd of roistering conventioneers to the suite to ensure no bedtime story would take place there
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like Matinee Idle and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Matinee Idle?
The closest matches to Matinee Idle are Deathtrap (1982), Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (2020) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Matinee Idle?
Start with Deathtrap (1982), the closest match to Matinee Idle.
What is the highest-rated movie like Matinee Idle?
Louis C.K.: Hilarious (2010), rated 7.8/10 by 320 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Matinee Idle?
American Dreamer (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Matinee Idle?
Yes: Deathtrap (1982), Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (2020) and Much Ado About Nothing (2013).
How are movies similar to Matinee Idle chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Matinee Idle, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.