Movies Like Guarding Tess (1994)

Guarding Tess is a 1994 comedy, drama film from Hugh Wilson with a MovieMagicScore of 6.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Autograph Hound and Winner.

Comedy Drama

The Autograph Hound

1939

While trying to collect autographs at a Hollywood studio, Donald meets a number of movie stars, and runs afoul of a security guard.

6.7

MagicScore

Winner

2024

Winner is a brilliant young misfit from Texas who finds her morals challenged while serving in the U.S. Air Force and working as an NSA contractor. A fresh take on the traditional whistleblower thriller, the coming-of-age story follows an idealistic young woman persecuted for standing by her principles.

7.0

MagicScore

Snowden

2016

CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.

7.1

MagicScore

Enemy of the State

1998

The life of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert 'Bobby' Dean is turned upside down after a chance meeting with a college buddy while holiday shopping. Unbeknownst to Dean, he's just been burdened with a videotape of a congressman's assassination. Hot on the trail of this tape is a ruthless group of National Security Agents commanded by a belligerently ambitious NSA official named Reynolds. Using satellite surveillance, bugs, and other sophisticated snooping devices, the NSA infiltrates every facet of Dean's existence, tracing each physical and digital footprint he leaves while also framing him for murder. With the help of the mysterious Brill, he attempts to throw the NSA off his trail and prove his innocence.

7.1

MagicScore

Thoughtcrimes

2003

Freya McAllister suddenly starts hearing voices in her head on the night of her High School Prom. One night Dr Michael Welles arrives telling Freya that she isn't crazy but that her voices are the thoughts of everyone around her. He teaches her to turn her telepathic powers into a powerful gift. What he doesn't say is that he works for the National Security Agency...

6.4

MagicScore

Mercury Rising

1998

Renegade FBI agent Art Jeffries protects a nine-year-old autistic boy who has cracked the government's new "unbreakable" code.

6.3

MagicScore

My Fellow Americans

1996

They used to run the country. Now they're running for their lives! Two on-the-lam former Presidents of the United States. Framed in a scandal by the current President and pursued by armed agents, the two squabbling political foes plunge into a desperately frantic search for the evidence that will establish their innocence.

6.0

MagicScore

Citizenfour

2014

In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.

7.7

MagicScore

A Good American

2015

A Good American tells the story of the best code-breaker the USA ever had and how he and a small team within NSA created a surveillance tool that could pick up any electronic signal on earth, filter it for targets and render results in real-time while keeping the privacy as demanded by the US constitution.

7.0

MagicScore

#10

Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest

1997

Jessica Fletcher searches for a woman who witnessed the murder of a man trying to expose a serious flaw in a top-secret government satellite code.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

Risk

2017

Capturing the story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with unprecedented access, director Laura Poitras finds herself caught between the motives and contradictions of Assange and his inner circle in a documentary portrait of power, betrayal, truth and sacrifice.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

Project X

2016

A top-secret handbook takes viewers on an undercover journey to Titanpointe, the site of a hidden partnership. Narrated by Rami Malek and Michelle Williams, and based on classified NSA documents, PROJECT X reveals the inner workings of a windowless skyscraper in downtown Manhattan.

6.3

MagicScore

#13

Blackhat

2015

Nicholas Hathaway, a furloughed convict, and his American and Chinese partners hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta. As Hathaway closes in, the stakes become personal as he discovers that the attack on a Chinese nuclear power plant was just the beginning.

5.5

MagicScore

#14

Clockstoppers

2002

Until now, Zak Gibbs' greatest challenge has been to find a way to buy a car. But when he discovers an odd wristwatch amidst his father's various inventions and slips it on -- something very strange happens. The world around him seems to come to a stop, everything and everybody frozen in time. Zak quickly learns how to manipulate the device and he and his quick-witted and beautiful new friend, Francesca, start to have some real fun.

5.3

MagicScore

#15

The Speed of Thought

2011

Joshua Lazarus (Nick Stahl) is a telepath who has been raised in a NSA foster home. Lazarus helps the government by using his abilities. He is told by the agency that the telepathy is a side effect of Widmann's Disease, and that he will become insane in time and eventually die from the illness. However, Lazarus meets a woman with similar powers (Mía Maestro) who does not have any sign of the disease, launching Lazarus to confront the lies he has been told

4.5

MagicScore

#16

Friday After Next

2002

Craig and his cousin Day Day have finally moved out of their parents' houses and into their own crib, working nights at a local mall as security guards. When their house is robbed on Christmas Eve they set out to track down the culprit.

6.3

MagicScore

#17

Bread and Roses

2000

Maya is a quick-witted young woman who comes over the Mexican border without papers and makes her way to the LA home of her older sister Rosa. Rosa gets Maya a job as a janitor: a non-union janitorial service has the contract, the foul-mouthed supervisor can fire workers on a whim, and the service-workers' union has assigned organizer Sam Shapiro to bring its "justice for janitors" campaign to the building. Sam finds Maya a willing listener, she's also attracted to him. Rosa resists, she has an ailing husband to consider. The workers try for public support; management intimidates workers to divide and conquer. Rosa and Maya as well as workers and management may be set to collide.

6.3

MagicScore

#18

Observe and Report

2009

Mall security guard Ronnie Barnhardt is called into action to stop a flasher from turning shopper's paradise into his personal peep show. But when Barnhardt can't bring the culprit to justice, a surly police detective is recruited to close the case.

5.4

MagicScore

#19

Smokin' Aces

2006

When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.

6.5

MagicScore

#20

My Bodyguard

1980

Clifford Peache, an easygoing teenager, is finding less than easy to fit in at his new high school, where a tough-talking bully terrorizes his classmates and extorts their lunch money. Refusing to pay up, Clifford enlist the aid of an overgrown misfit whose mere presence intimidates students and teachers alike. But their "business relationship" soon turns personal as Clifford and the troubled loner forge a winning alliance against their intimidators - and a very special friendship with each other.

6.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Guarding Tess?

The top films similar to Guarding Tess by MovieMagicScore are The Autograph Hound (6.7), Winner (7.0), Snowden (7.1). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Guarding Tess worth watching?

Guarding Tess holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.0/10 from 339 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Guarding Tess?

Guarding Tess (1994) is a comedy, drama film directed by Hugh Wilson, starring Shirley MacLaine, Nicolas Cage, Austin Pendleton.

Where can I find more recommendations like Guarding Tess?

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 Autograph Hound Movies like Winner Movies like Snowden Movies like Enemy of the State Movies like Thoughtcrimes Movies like Mercury Rising

About movies like Guarding Tess

This ranked list pairs Guarding Tess (1994), a comedy and drama film from Hugh Wilson, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Shirley MacLaine 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.

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