Movies like Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale (2019)
The best movies like Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale (2019) are Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes (2017), Dave Chappelle: The Closer (2021) and Demetri Martin: The Overthinker (2018). If Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale hooked you with its comedy and tv movie, 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
- NewestRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)Released 2025
Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes (2017)
Mike Birbiglia declares that a joke should never end with "I’m joking." In his all-new comedy, Birbiglia tiptoes hilariously through the minefield that is modern-day joke-telling. Join Mike as he learns that the same jokes that elicit laughter have the power to produce tears, rage, and a whole lot of getting yelled at. Ultimately it's a show that asks, “How far should we go for the laugh?”
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 thisDemetri Martin: The Overthinker (2018)
With his signature one-liners and drawings, Demetri Martin muses on doughnut holes, dogs, sports bars, the alphabet's most aggressive letters and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouth Park (Not Suitable for Children) (2023)
After it's discovered that a teacher at South Park Elementary has an OnlyFans page, Randy is compelled to take a closer look at the seedy underbelly of the world of online influencers.
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 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 thisBill Burr: Drop Dead Years (2025)
In what might be his most personal and introspective hour yet, Bill offers hilarious takes on everything from male sadness to dating advice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHasan Minhaj: The King's Jester (2022)
Filmed at the historic Brooklyn Academy of Music, Hasan Minhaj returns to Netflix with his second stand-up comedy special Hasan Minhaj: The King's Jester. In this hilarious performance, Hasan shares his thoughts on fertility, fatherhood, and freedom of speech.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones (2019)
Dave Chappelle takes on gun culture, the opioid crisis and the tidal wave of celebrity scandals in this defiant stand-up special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarc Maron: Too Real (2017)
Battle-scarred stand-up comedian Marc Maron unleashes a storm of ideas about meditation, mortality, documentary films and our weird modern world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Chappelle: Killin' Them Softly (2000)
Dave Chappelle returns for a stand-up to D.C. and riffs on politics, police, race relations, drugs, Sesame Street and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisClear History (2013)
Nathan Flomm, in order to avoid the humiliation of having missed out on a hugely successful business, assumes a new identity on Martha's Vineyard. He plots revenge when his former business partner moves to the same town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRicky Gervais: Mortality (2025)
Ricky Gervais tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaylor Tomlinson: Have It All (2024)
Can Taylor Tomlinson have it all? From dating woes to dream jobs to inventive dirty talk, she shares life's ups and downs in this stand-up comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaylor Tomlinson: Look at You (2022)
Breakups. Therapy. Bangs. Taylor's gone through some stuff since her quarter-life crisis, and she spins her mental health journey into insightful comedy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSteve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life (2018)
Comedians and writers Steve Martin and Martin Short perform a live comedy set with music by The Steep Canyon Rangers and jazz pianist, Jeff Babko, at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJimmy Carr: Funny Business (2016)
British comedian Jimmy Carr unleashes his deadpan delivery and wickedly funny one-liners to a sold-out audience at the UK's Hammersmith Apollo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDie Hart (2023)
Kevin Hart - playing a version of himself - is on a death-defying quest to become an action star. And with a little help from John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Josh Hartnett - he just might pull it off.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDr. Strange (1978)
A psychiatrist becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth in order to battle an evil Sorceress from the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHard to Die (1990)
While doing the inventory for a lingerie outlet in a high rise office building, five attractive women are terrorized by a series of bizarre killings. They suspect that the strange janitor, who witnessed another series of killings six months previously, is at the bottom of the whole thing. Little do they know the real horror that they face in the end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking (2017)
Seth Green and Matthew Senreich serve up hilarious Walking Dead-inspired satire in this special featuring the zany stop-motion animation of Adult Swim’s “Robot Chicken.”
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLa Classe américaine (1993)
George Abitbol, the classiest man in the world, dies tragically during a cruise. The director of an American newspaper, wondering about the meaning of these intriguing final words, asks his three best investigators, Dave, Peter and Steven, to solve the mystery. (Sixteen French actors dub scenes from various Warner Bros. films to create a parody of Citizen Kane, 1941.)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDon't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
When Ashtray moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging cousin Loc Dog, who along with the requisite pistols and Uzi carries a thermo-nuclear warhead for self-defense. Will Ashtray be able to keep living the straight life?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last Foxtrot in Burbank (1973)
Cult director Charles Band brings you this "Last Tango in Paris" spoof with editing by acclaimed filmmaker John Carpenter.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Meteor Man (1993)
One night Jefferson Reed gets hit in the chest by a souped-up chunk of meteor. So he can fly, but he's scared of heights. He can master the information in any book ... for about thirty seconds. Now his friends and family want him to protect their community from the dreaded Golden Lords.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisBlazing Saddles (1974)
Crafty railroad worker Bart becomes the first Black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the citizens of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new protector. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend Jim are their only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Pirate Movie (1982)
Left behind by her friends on a boat trip, contemporary teen Mabel takes pursuit but is knocked unconscious on an island, where she has a dream involving pirates, sisters, a modern major-general, romance, and adventure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Death of Michael Mouse (2025)
A lyrical mediation on the life, love, and journey of infamous star Mickey Mouse as he reunites with an ex-girlfriend after he is let go by Disney.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Star Wars: A New Toke (2025)
A long time ago in a lockdown far, far away... a filmmaker had nothing better to do, so she recreated her favourite film from memory but only using assets from 1995's children's game/ animation software/ fever dream Microsoft 3D Movie Maker. What resulted was a surreal animated homage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale?
The closest matches to Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale are Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes (2017), Dave Chappelle: The Closer (2021) and Demetri Martin: The Overthinker (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale?
Start with Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes (2017), the closest match to Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale?
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018), rated 7.9/10 by 259 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale?
Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once Upon an American Adventure, or A Purely Russian Tale, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.