Movies Like Melvin and Howard (1980)

Melvin and Howard is a 1980 comedy, drama film from Jonathan Demme with a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Women and Desert Hearts.

Comedy Drama

The Women

1939

A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.

7.1

MagicScore

Desert Hearts

1985

While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.

7.0

MagicScore

Dark Places

2015

A woman who survived the brutal killing of her family as a child is forced to confront the events of that day.

5.9

MagicScore

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

2009

A tireless and charismatic novelty seeker, Tucker tricks his buddy Dan into lying to his fiancée Kristy, so they can go to an legendary strip club three and a half hours away to celebrate Dan’s last days of bachelorhood in proper style.

4.7

MagicScore

The Last Kiss

2006

Michael has a great job, has his 4 best friends, and is in love with a beautiful girl at 30. He loves Jenna but his life seems predictable until someone else enters his life. It seems that everybody's having relationship problems.

6.0

MagicScore

Five Times Two

2004

As young French couple Gilles and Marion officially separate, we see, in reverse order, the milestone moments in their relationship: Gilles revealing his unfaithfulness at a tense dinner party; Marion giving birth to their premature son while Gilles is elsewhere; Gilles and Marion's joyous wedding; and, finally, the fateful moment when they meet as acquaintances at an Italian beach resort, and their love affair begins.

6.4

MagicScore

The Misfits

1961

While filing for a divorce, beautiful ex-stripper Roslyn Taber ends up meeting aging cowboy-turned-gambler Gay Langland and former World War II aviator Guido Racanelli. The two men instantly become infatuated with Roslyn and, on a whim, the three decide to move into Guido's half-finished desert home together. When grizzled ex-rodeo rider Perce Howland arrives, the unlikely foursome strike up a business capturing wild horses.

6.9

MagicScore

The Wizard

1989

A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross-country, with help from a girl they meet, to compete in the ultimate video-game championship.

6.0

MagicScore

Hustlers

2019

A crew of savvy former strip club employees band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.

6.5

MagicScore

#10

The Players Club

1998

Single mother Diana struggles to provide for her child and pay for her college education. When she meets two dancers from a nearby gentlemen's club, Diana's convinced there's fast money to be made stripping.

6.2

MagicScore

#11

The Ice Harvest

2005

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

5.9

MagicScore

#12

Anora

2024

A young sex worker from Brooklyn gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as his parents set out to get the marriage annulled.

7.0

MagicScore

#13

Paris Pigalle

2018

Paris, 1982. Franck and Serge are police investigators in charge of making a good catch in the Parisian porn industry. In order to infiltrate the mafia, they take over a peep show in Pigalle riddled with debts. In attempt to jump start the business, they begin to produce short porn films.

5.3

MagicScore

#14

It Stains the Sands Red

2016

In the throes of a zombie apocalypse, a troubled woman from Las Vegas with a dark past, finds herself stranded in the desert with a lone and ravenous zombie on her tail.

5.5

MagicScore

#15

Nomadland

2021

A woman in her sixties embarks on a journey through the western United States after losing everything in the Great Recession, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

7.2

MagicScore

#16

Enter the Void

2010

This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past -- where he sees his parents before their deaths -- to the present -- where he witnesses his own autopsy -- and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.

7.3

MagicScore

#17

Bad Boys

1995

Marcus Burnett is a henpecked family man. Mike Lowrey is a footloose and fancy free ladies' man. Both Miami policemen, they have 72 hours to reclaim a consignment of drugs stolen from under their station's nose. To complicate matters, in order to get the assistance of the sole witness to a murder, they have to pretend to be each other.

6.8

MagicScore

#18

Dumb and Dumber

1994

Lloyd and Harry are two men whose stupidity is really indescribable. When Mary, a beautiful woman, loses an important suitcase with money before she leaves for Aspen, the two friends (who have found the suitcase) decide to return it to her. After some "adventures" they finally get to Aspen where, using the lost money they live it up and fight for Mary's heart.

6.6

MagicScore

#19

Fear City

1984

Strippers in Manhattan are being stalked and murdered by a psycho. A hard-nosed police detective and a conflicted ex-boxer-turned-private-eye, hired by the strip club owners, set out to find him before he strikes again.

5.3

MagicScore

#20

Showgirls

1995

Fresh to Las Vegas with no connections, Nomi Malone takes a job as an exotic dancer. Her talents are quickly noticed by Cristal, a headlining dancer who senses an opportunity to bolster her own act. But Nomi won’t play second fiddle and soon begins her venomous path to the top, ruthlessly backstabbing anyone who gets in her way.

5.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Melvin and Howard?

The top films similar to Melvin and Howard by MovieMagicScore are The Women (7.1), Desert Hearts (7.0), Dark Places (5.9). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Melvin and Howard worth watching?

Melvin and Howard holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10 from 71 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Melvin and Howard?

Melvin and Howard (1980) is a comedy, drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Paul Le Mat, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards.

Where can I find more recommendations like Melvin and Howard?

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 Women Movies like Desert Hearts Movies like Dark Places Movies like I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell Movies like The Last Kiss Movies like Five Times Two

About movies like Melvin and Howard

This ranked list pairs Melvin and Howard (1980), a comedy and drama film from Jonathan Demme, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Paul Le Mat 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 Melvin and Howard