Movies Like About Schmidt (2002)

About Schmidt is a 2002 comedy, drama film from Alexander Payne with a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Farewell and Jeff, Who Lives at Home.

Comedy Drama

The Farewell

2019

A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is given a terminal diagnosis. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.

7.4

MagicScore

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

2012

Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.

6.2

MagicScore

Downhill

2020

Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.

5.3

MagicScore

Joe Dirt

2001

Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligerent, trailer park-raised eight-year-old. Now, blasting Van Halen in his jacked-up economy car, the irrepressibly optimistic Joe hits the road alone in search of his folks.

5.6

MagicScore

Sissi

1955

The young Bavarian princess Elisabeth, who all call Sissi, goes with her mother and older sister Néné to Austria where Néné will be wed to an emperor named Franz Joseph, Yet unexpectedly Franz runs into Sissi while out fishing and they fall in love.

7.3

MagicScore

Badhaai Ho

2018

A 25-year-old man tries to suppress his embarrassment when his mother announces that she is pregnant.

7.2

MagicScore

The Wedding Banquet

1993

A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order to keep his parents off his back and to get the woman a green card. Chaos follows when his parents arrive in New York for the wedding.

7.2

MagicScore

Blue Iguana

2018

He's a low level criminal with no future and just out of prison. She's a low level lawyer never noticed by others, a lost soul without a life. Their anger and hostility makes them serious criminals. Love happens in the strangest of places.

5.7

MagicScore

The Thin Man

1934

A husband and wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.

7.5

MagicScore

#10

Phantom Thread

2017

In 1950s London, a renowned dressmaker's meticulous lifestyle begins drastically changing as his relationship with his young muse intensifies.

7.3

MagicScore

#11

The Divorcee

1930

When a woman discovers that her husband has been unfaithful, she decides to pay him back in kind.

6.2

MagicScore

#12

Almanya: Welcome to Germany

2011

After living 45 years in Germany, the Turkish Hüseyin Yilmaz, seventy, announces to his family that he has bought a house in Turkey and they should return to make the necessary reforms. The idea is unwelcome and causes very heated discussions. In addition, Canan, a granddaughter of Hüseyin, announces she is pregnant and the father is her English boyfriend, and no one knew anything.

6.6

MagicScore

#13

Seven Years of Marriage

2003

After seven years of marriage, a couple of professional workers (he, a doctor and she, a banker) try to refresh their sex life.

5.2

MagicScore

#14

Love Is Everything

2018

The Christmas fever of the December time starts with the arrival of an unusual Santa to the city. It will be a storm of exceptional events.

4.5

MagicScore

#15

Stage Mother

2020

A conservative church-choir director moves from Texas to San Francisco to run her deceased gay son's drag club.

6.2

MagicScore

#16

Still Walking

2008

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

7.8

MagicScore

#17

The Long Goodbye

2020

A short about racism and Islamophobia in the UK.

6.7

MagicScore

#18

Lez Bomb

2018

A closeted young woman brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving, only to have her coming-out efforts thwarted by the unexpected arrival of her male roommate.

6.7

MagicScore

#19

The Box

2009

Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.

5.6

MagicScore

#20

The Fitzgerald Family Christmas

2012

The siblings of the Fitzgerald family must decide if the dad who abandoned them 20 years ago can come home for Christmas. Can the big Irish clan get past their grievances to be a family again?

6.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like About Schmidt?

The top films similar to About Schmidt by MovieMagicScore are The Farewell (7.4), Jeff, Who Lives at Home (6.2), Downhill (5.3). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is About Schmidt worth watching?

About Schmidt holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10 from 1,311 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is About Schmidt?

About Schmidt (2002) is a comedy, drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis.

Where can I find more recommendations like About Schmidt?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more comedy recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Farewell Movies like Jeff, Who Lives at Home Movies like Downhill Movies like Joe Dirt Movies like Sissi Movies like Badhaai Ho

About movies like About Schmidt

This ranked list pairs About Schmidt (2002), a comedy and drama film from Alexander Payne, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jack Nicholson take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

← Back to About Schmidt