Movies Like How I Was Independent

If you liked How I Was Independent (1963), a comedy movie directed by Vasily Zhuravlyov, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Thunderstruck (2012)
★ 6.2/10Also comedy
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.
2
Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016)
★ 7.1/10Also comedy
Hawaiian-shirt enthusiast Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias finds the laughs in racist gift baskets, Prius-driving cops and all-female taco trucks.
3
Duplex (2003)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy
When a young couple buys their dream home, they have no idea what the sweet little old lady upstairs is going to put them through!
4
Jim Jefferies: Freedumb (2016)
★ 7.2/10Also comedy
Returning for a second Netflix comedy special, Jim Jefferies unleashes his famously ferocious black humor to a packed house in Nashville, Tennessee.
5
Old Boys (2018)
★ 6.6/10Also comedy
In the school-set re-working of Cyrano, an awkward but imaginative pupil helps the handsome but spectacularly dim school-hero pursue the fiery daughter of a visiting French teacher.
6
Taking Care of Business (1990)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy
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.
7
American Dreamer (2022)
★ 6/10Also comedy
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.
8
Brain Donors (1992)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy
Three manic idiots—a lawyer, a cab driver and a handyman—team up to run a ballet company to fulfil the will of a millionaire. Stooge-like antics result as the trio try to outwit the rich widow and her scheming big-shot…
9
The Mouse That Roared (1959)
★ 6.4/10Also comedy
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…
10
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
★ 7.6/10Also comedy
After high school slacker Ferris Bueller successfully fakes an illness in order to skip school for the day, he goes on a series of adventures throughout Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron, all…
11
Spa Weekend (2026)
★ 6.5/10Also comedy
Four lifelong friends realize that somewhere between careers, relationships, families, and everyday responsibilities, they’ve forgotten how to take care of themselves and each other. Burned out and overdue for a break…
12
Ricky Gervais Live: Animals (2003)
★ 7/10Also comedy
Ricky Gervais entertains a live audience in his first stand-up routine.
13
Sleeper (1973)
★ 6.8/10Also comedy
Miles Monroe, a clarinet-playing health food store proprietor, is revived out of cryostasis 200 years into a future world in order to help rebels fight an oppressive government regime.
14
Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)
★ 6.3/10Also comedy
Disaster strikes when a criminal mastermind reveals the identities of all active undercover agents in Britain. The secret service can now rely on only one man - Johnny English. Currently teaching at a minor prep…
15
Airborne (1993)
★ 6.1/10Also comedy
Good-natured teen surfer Mitchell Goosen finds himself staying with his aunt and uncle in Cincinnati, Ohio when his parents head to Australia for work. There he meets his cousin, Wiley, and together they try to…
16
Gotcha! (1985)
★ 6/10Also comedy
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
17
Iliza Shlesinger: War Paint (2013)
★ 6.5/10Also comedy
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…
18
The Three Stooges (2012)
★ 5.8/10Also comedy
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…
19
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2014)
★ 6.8/10Also comedy
A documentary filmmaker interviews the now-famous Trevor Slattery from behind bars.
20
The Thursday Murder Club (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also comedy
A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.