Best movies like How to Beat the High Co$t of Living
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies related to How to Beat the High Co$t of Living? Offer your insights to direct others to tv series and films you've already viewed that may also rivet them. Support widening the community of people alluding videos to one another. We appreciate your input!
Plot Summary:
Oregon, 1980: Jane, Elaine and Louise are all feeling the effects of inflation and cannot afford, as the title states, the high cost of living. Jane cannot afford a babysitter or get married and if she wants privacy with her boyfriend, she has to sleep in the car. Even worse, her war veteran father comes to live with her to turn her life upside down. Louise lives a happy life with her veterinarian husband, Albert. She runs an antique shop on the side, but since it doesn't take in any profit, the IRS considers it a hobby. She needs to come up with the money to keep it going, or she will be trouble with the IRS. Elaine's husband has left her for another woman and without any money. She is in a constant struggle with banks, power companies, and gas stations. She needs money to get by and also catches the eye of police officer Jack. The local mall is having a contest that features a giant money ball that states it will help fight the inflation.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: scenic, grindhouse, independent film, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Best tv shows and movies like How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1980):
Similar in 76%
Sitting Ducks (1980)
Plot Summary:
Two small-time thieves come together as a bizarre comic duo in a quest to make their childhood dreams come true. In a limousine stuffed with cash stolen from the mob, they take off for Miami, where they plan to fly to a safe haven in Costa Rica. On the road they pick up a singer/chauffeur plus two unlikely women they meet in a Holiday Inn. Then the fun begins! A zany, hilarious, screwball road comedy about sex, money and vitamins, with an exceptional cast who deliver comic performances of manic perfection!.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 229
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 78%
Grilled (2006)
Plot Summary:
Two meat salesmen (Romano, James) will stop at nothing to get a sale.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, feel good, captivating, atmospheric, realistic
Similar in 86%
Palookaville (1995)
Plot Summary:
Jerry and his two pals, Russ and Syd, are just looking for some easy money to help them break out of their nowhere lives in their nowhere town. Despite a bungled jewelry store heist which exposes their incompetence as criminals, a fateful event (and an old black-and-white film) convinces them that they can pull off an armored-truck robbery. While they are busy plotting their caper, their dysfunctional families spin out of control, all around them.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: humorous, crime thriller, offbeat, realistic, semi serious, independent film, funny, sexy, clever, touching
Similar in 80%
Skills Like This (2007)
Plot Summary:
Max Solomon faces the awful truth that he will never be a writer. So, in a desperate attempt to find his true calling, he turns to crime. In this inventive comedy, three friends have their lives turned upside down when one of them realizes that larceny might be his best skill.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 517
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, light, feel good, offbeat, realistic, semi serious, independent film
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 79%
Everything's Gone Green (2006)
Plot Summary:
Ryan, a good-natured slacker, is tempted into a money laundering scheme while working for a lottery magazine. A capitalistic comedy that asks the question - when is "enough" enough?.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, clever, feel good, talky, whimsical
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 84%
Graduation (2007)
Plot Summary:
Four best friends, about to graduate from high school, must find a way to raise money to help a family member in need. When one of them discovers her banker father having an affair, the foursome plots to rob his bank during graduation ceremonies. When things don't go according to plan, they end up learning more about themselves in one day than they ever did in school.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Crackers (1984)
Plot Summary:
Garvey is a San Francisco pawnshop operator. His unemployed and criminal friends Dillard, Turtle, and Weslake, team up with Boardwalk, a local pimp, to burgle Garvey's shop while the owner is out of town. During the elaborate planning process, Dillard falls for a Hispanic woman, the sister of a friend. Also, Boardwalk is assigned to case a local apartment, where he meets and falls for the maid. Amidst all these romantic hijinks, Weslake puts together a burglary plan, which is executed by the makeshift gang.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, feel good, realistic, semi serious, political, offbeat
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 88%
Kaleidoscope (1966)
Plot Summary:
Romantic comedy which has Barney Lincoln and Angel McGinnis as a pair of amorous adventurers in the gambling places of London and the Riviera. Barney Lincoln is a rambling gambling man who scores sensational wins at poker and chemin de fer because he has succeeded in marking the original plates for the backs of all the playing cards manufactured in a plant in Geneva and used in all the gambling joints in Europe. In his gambling depredation, Barney is spotted by Angel McGinnis, the daughter of a Scotland Yard Inspector 'Manny' McGinnis on the lookout for a man to do a job. The inspector enlists Barney's help in playing poker with a shady London character whom Scotland Yard wants to force to financial ruin.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 862
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological thriller, feel good, humorous, realistic, stylized, semi serious
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 88%
Hunting Elephants (2013)
Plot Summary:
In this hilarious crime comedy, a gifted 12-year-old boy and three elderly men plan a bank robbery in order to seek revenge on the institution for cheating the youngster after the death of his father.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Israel, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, feel good, biting, suspense
Similar in 88%
Silver Bears (1977)
Plot Summary:
Financial wizard "Doc" Fletcher (Michael Caine) is sent by crime boss Joe Fiore (Martin Balsam) to buy a bank in Switzerland in order to more easily launder their profits. When he arrives, Fletcher finds that the bank, acquired by his associate Prince di Siracusa (Louis Jourdan), consists of some shabby offices above a restaurant. To make up for this, the Prince suggests that Fletcher invests in a silver mine owned by Shireen and Agha Firdausi (Stéphane Audran and David Warner). This solves one problem, but the mine also attracts the attention of some of the most powerful people in the silver business. Fletcher must pull out all his wheeler-dealing skills in order to keep hold of everything he's worked for, in the process romancing a banker's discontented wife (Cybill Shepherd).
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 83%
Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
Plot Summary:
Two hoplessly out of their class con-men attempt to pull off the largest bank heist of the l9th century. They gain the enmity of the most famous bank Robber in the world and the affection of a crusading newspaperwoman.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Bank Shot (1974)
Plot Summary:
A bank temporarily housed in a mobile home while a new building is built, looks like an easy target to break into. On the other hand, why not steal the whole bank, and rob it in a safer location.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious
Similar in 90%
Gold Diggers (2003)
Plot Summary:
National Lampoon's Gold Diggers is a black comedy about two losers in their twenties, Calvin Menhoffer (Will Friedle) and Leonard Smallwood (Chris Owen), who are out to get the good life without working for it. The two young men try to rob two 70-year-old sisters, Betty Mundt (Renee Taylor) and Doris Mundt (Louise Lasser). The two sisters beat the two young men up, and send them to jail. The ladies drop the charges, and invite the jailbirds to their Beverly Hills mansion. Cal gets an idea that they could marry the women for their money and live the good life. Hopefully, they will only live 6-months and at most one-year. It turns out that Betty and Doris are broke, and they have come up with a plan to marry the boys, kill them, and collect the life insurance money. After several unsuccessful murder attempts on each other, they join forces to rob Betty and Doris's rich uncle.
IMDB Rating: 3.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: humorous, absurd, funny, stylized, intense, feel good, entertaining, sex comedy, realistic, witty
Similar in 88%
A Piece of the Action (1977)
Plot Summary:
How does retired cop Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) get two career criminals, Manny Durrell (Sidney Poitier) and Dave Anderson (Bill Cosby), to follow the straight and narrow? Con them into helping juvenile delinquents turn over a new leaf. But how? Burke has never been able to nail the duo, but he uses what he knows of their seedy past to blackmail them into volunteering.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: detective, black comedy, action comedy, independent film, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, black cinema
Similar in 77%
Quick Change (1990)
Plot Summary:
With the aid of his girlfriend, Phyllis Potter, and best friend, Loomis, Grimm enters a Manhattan bank dressed as a clown, creates a hostage situation and executes a flawless robbery. The only thing left for the trio to do is make their getaway out of the city and to the airport. It sounds simple enough, but it seems that fate deserts them immediately after the bank heist. One mishap after another conspires to keep these robbers from reaching freedom.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, light, absurd, cult classic, witty, sweet, buddy comedy, fast, realistic
Similar in 89%
All for One (2011)
Plot Summary:
Four rogues, who were best friends as kids, have one big problem: they're sitting on both sides of the law. Martin is a policeman, while Nikolai, Ralf, and Timo can't distinguish between personal possessions and the possessions of others! When all four find themselves in a fix, they're forced to return to their former tricks against a common foe, Mr Niemeyer. Martin is not as successful, however, either at his job or marriage, and thinks he deserves a better life. Now he sees an opportunity to save his career by "playing" with his old friends on a mission that is so crazy that even the two foolish brothers can do some good.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: Denmark
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, light, entertaining, exciting, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 82%
King's Ransom (2005)
Plot Summary:
Hoping to foil his own gold-digging wife's plan, a loathsome businessman arranges his own kidnapping, only to realize that there are plenty of other people interested in his wealth as well.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: witty, humorous, semi serious, feel good, light, realistic, fast
Similar in 77%
The Linguini Incident (1991)
Plot Summary:
A waitress (Rosanna Arquette), a barman (David Bowie) and an underwear designer (Eszter Balint) try to rob a New York restaurant where two of them work.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: offbeat, independent film, clever, humorous, realistic, semi serious
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 85%
Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
Plot Summary:
After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it -- but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 152000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: funny, light, humorous, feel good, satirical, entertaining, hilarious, predictable, captivating, dark comedy
Similar in 75%
Special Delivery (1976)
Plot Summary:
A gang of thieves plan a daring bank robbery, making their escape across the rooftops of Los Angeles. The police are quickly called in, however, and only one of the robbers, Murdock, makes a clean getaway. Unfortunately, in order to do so, he is forced to dump the stolen cash into a mailbox, which he then finds is locked until midnight, forcing him to wait until the mailman makes his late night pickup. As he waits, he discovers that his hiding place has been observed by several other people, all of whom want a share of the loot.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 450
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: neo noir, grindhouse, independent film, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 75%
Madigan's Millions (1968)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 425
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: Italy, Spain, USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: humorous, exciting, semi serious, feel good, captivating, realistic, fast, eurospy
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 80%
Safe Men (1998)
Plot Summary:
Two untalented singers are mistaken for a pair of major league safe crackers in Providence, Rhode Island. The two are pressed into service by the local hoodlums and quickly find themselves in conflict with their professional colleagues. Romantic interest is added by the daughter of the underworld leader who won't date the men she knows are gangsters.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: light, humorous, melancholic, absurd, buddy comedy, feel good, not serious, witty, independent film, dark comedy
Similar in 86%
Wise Guys (1986)
Plot Summary:
Harry Valentini and Moe Dickstein are both errand boys for the Mob. When they lose $250,000, they are set up to kill each other. But they run off to Atlantic City and comedy follows.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: buddy comedy, feel good, humorous, semi serious, realistic, black comedy, dark comedy, fast, cult film
Similar in 80%
The Hollywood Sign (2001)
Plot Summary:
Three washed-up actors must deliver the most convincing performances of their lives as part of a dangerous plot designed to finance their triumphant comeback.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 726
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: Germany, USA, Netherlands
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 75%
Going in Style (1979)
Plot Summary:
Three senior citizens in their 70s who live together are slowly decaying in endless days with nothing to do but feed the birds. One of them comes up with an idea - rob a bank. They certainly could use the money if they get away with it and if they are caught, what could happen to three old men?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: light, touching, humorous, realistic, entertaining, semi serious, black comedy, clever, tense, sentimental
Similar in 77%
Little Cigars (1973)
Plot Summary:
A gangster's former mistress hooks up with a troupe of circus midgets who, as a sideline, rob banks and casinos.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 264
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, independent film, rough, offbeat, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious
![blank](http://wpfc.ml/b.gif)
Similar in 88%
Scorched (2003)
Plot Summary:
Three bank tellers. One goal: knock the place over. The ultimate inside jobs, plotted by three people with nothing to lose.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: funny, melancholic, humorous, feel good, semi serious, clever, entertaining, light, captivating, dark comedy
Similar in 80%
Small Time Crooks (2000)
Plot Summary:
A loser of a crook and his wife strike it rich when a botched bank job's cover business becomes a spectacular success.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: humorous, talky, melancholic, stylized, feel good, realistic, semi serious, hilarious, clever, dark comedy
Similar in 84%
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)
Plot Summary:
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: humorous, feel good, intense, light, semi serious, funny, clever, realistic, witty, cynical
Similar in 90%
The Maiden Heist (2009)
Plot Summary:
A comedy centered on three museum security guards who devise a plan to steal back the artworks to which they have become attached after they are transferred to another museum.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, light, semi serious, humorous, realistic, feel good, sweet, hilarious, sexy, clever