
50 Movies Like Police Academy (1984) You Need to Watch Next
New rules enforced by the Lady Mayoress mean that sex, weight, height and intelligence need no longer be a factor for joining the Police Force. This opens the floodgates for all and sundry to enter th
Updated June 2026
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If you loved Police Academy (1984) by Hugh Wilson, here are 50 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are Horrible Bosses, Life, The Instigators. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
50 Movies Similar to Police Academy

Horrible Bosses
2011 · Seth Gordon
For Nick, Kurt and Dale, the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses into dust. Quitting is not an option, so, with the benefit of a few-to
In common: Comedy · Crime

Life
1999 · Ted Demme
Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Instigators
2024 · Doug Liman
Rory and Cobby are unlikely partners thrown together for a heist. But when it goes awry, they team up with an unusual accomplice — Rory's therapist — to outrun police, backward bureaucrats, and a veng
In common: Comedy · Crime

Pink Flamingos
1976 · John Waters
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given t
In common: Comedy · Crime

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
1998 · Guy Ritchie
A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be oper
In common: Comedy · Crime

Going in Style
2017 · Zach Braff
Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.
In common: Comedy · Crime

White Chicks
2004 · Keenen Ivory Wayans
Two FBI agent brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, accidentally foil a drug bust. To avoid being fired they accept a mission escorting a pair of socialites to the Hamptons--but when the girls are disf
In common: Comedy · Crime

Little Man
2006 · Keenen Ivory Wayans
After leaving prison, dwarf criminal Calvin Sims joins his moron brother Percy in stealing an expensive huge diamond from a jewelry store for the mobster Walken. They are chased by the police, and Cal
In common: Comedy · Crime

Heathers
1989 · Michael Lehmann
A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Hustle
2019 · Chris Addison
Two female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, compete to swindle a naïve tech prodigy out of his fortune. A remake of the 1988 comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
In common: Comedy · Crime

Wolfs
2024 · Jon Watts
Hired to cover up a high-profile crime, a fixer soon finds his night spiralling out of control when he's forced to work with an unexpected counterpart.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994 · Peter Segal
Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Adding to his problems, Frank's wif
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
1991 · David Zucker
Bumbling lieutenant Frank Drebin is out to foil the big boys in the energy industry, who intend to suppress technology that will put them out of business.
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988 · David Zucker
When the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Hustlers
2019 · Lorene Scafaria
A crew of savvy former strip club employees band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
1995 · Steve Oedekerk
Summoned from an ashram in Tibet, Ace finds himself on a perilous journey into the jungles of Africa to find Shikaka, the missing sacred animal of the friendly Wachati tribe. He must accomplish this b
In common: Comedy · Crime

BlacKkKlansman
2018 · Spike Lee
Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
In common: Comedy · Crime

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2000 · Joel Coen
In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Wolf of Wall Street
2013 · Martin Scorsese
A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration. Based on Jordan Belfort's autobiography.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Cruella
2021 · Craig Gillespie
In 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, a young grifter named Estella is determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appet
In common: Comedy · Crime

Roofman
2025 · Derek Cianfrance
A former Army Ranger and struggling father turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname "Roofman." After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside
In common: Comedy · Crime

We're the Millers
2013 · Rawson Marshall Thurber
A veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Baby's Day Out
1994 · Patrick Read Johnson
Baby Bink couldn't ask for more: he has adoring (if somewhat sickly-sweet) parents, lives in a huge mansion, and he's just about to appear in the social pages of the paper. Unfortunately, not everyone
In common: Comedy · Crime

War Dogs
2016 · Todd Phillips
Based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
1997 · Jay Roach
As a swinging fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy. But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes
In common: Comedy · Crime

American Made
2017 · Doug Liman
The true story of pilot Barry Seal, who transported contraband for the CIA and the Medellin cartel in the 1980s.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Sneakers
1992 · Phil Alden Robinson
When shadowy U.S. intelligence agents blackmail a reformed computer hacker and his eccentric team of security experts into stealing a code-breaking 'black box' from a Soviet-funded genius, they uncove
In common: Comedy · Crime

22 Jump Street
2014 · Phil Lord
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt and Jenko when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on th
In common: Comedy · Crime

Some Like It Hot
1959 · Billy Wilder
In Prohibition-era Chicago, musicians Joe and Jerry witness a mob hit, and flee the state in an all-female band disguised as Josephine and Daphne, but further complications set in.
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Thursday Murder Club
2025 · Chris Columbus
A group of senior sleuths passionate about solving cold cases get plunged into a real-life murder mystery in this comic crime caper.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Heartbreakers
2001 · David Mirkin
Max and Page are a brilliant mother/daughter con team who have their grift down to a fine science. Max targets wealthy, willing men and marries them. Page then seduces them, and Max catches her husban
In common: Comedy · Crime

Murder Mystery 2
2023 · Jeremy Garelick
After starting their own detective agency, Nick and Audrey Spitz land a career-making case when their billionaire pal is kidnapped from his wedding.
In common: Comedy · Crime

One Battle After Another
2025 · Paul Thomas Anderson
Washed-up revolutionary Bob exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missi
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Big Lebowski
1998 · Joel Coen
Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged
In common: Comedy · Crime

Snatch
2000 · Guy Ritchie
Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookies, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
1996 · Paris Barclay
When Ashtray moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging co
In common: Comedy · Crime

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
1994 · Tom Shadyac
He's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. The Ace is on the case to find the Miami Dolphins' missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino. He goes eyeball to eyeball with a man-eating shark, stakes out the Miami
In common: Comedy · Crime

Hit Man
2024 · Richard Linklater
A mild-mannered professor moonlighting as a fake hit man in police stings ignites a chain reaction of trouble when he falls for a potential client.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Bad Boys: Ride or Die
2024 · Adil El Arbi
After their late former Captain is framed, Lowrey and Burnett try to clear his name, only to end up on the run themselves.
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Naked Gun
2025 · Akiva Schaffer
Only one man has the particular set of skills... to lead Police Squad and save the world: Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. Following in his father's footsteps, he must solve a murder case to prevent Police Squad
In common: Comedy · Crime

Beverly Hills Cop
1984 · Martin Brest
Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs in his time, but when his best friend is murdered, he heads to sunny Beverly Hills to work the case l
In common: Comedy · Crime

Baywatch
2017 · Seth Gordon
Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon butts heads with a brash new recruit. Together, they uncover a local criminal plot that threatens the future of the Bay.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Bad Boys II
2003 · Michael Bay
Detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey of the Miami Narcotics Task Force are tasked with stopping the flow of the drug Ecstasy into Miami. They track the drugs to the whacked-out Cuban drug lord Jo
In common: Comedy · Crime

21 Jump Street
2012 · Phil Lord
When cops Schmidt and Jenko join the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover as high school students. They trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, and set o
In common: Comedy · Crime

The A-Team
2010 · Joe Carnahan
A man who loves when a plan comes together, Col. Hannibal Smith leads a close-knit team of elite operatives and Iraq War veterans. Framed for a crime they didn't commit, Smith and his men, Capt. H.M.
In common: Comedy · Crime

Miss Congeniality
2000 · Donald Petrie
When the local FBI office receives a letter from a terrorist known only as 'The Citizen', it's quickly determined that he's planning his next act at the Miss America beauty pageant. Because tough-as-n
In common: Comedy · Crime

Game Night
2018 · John Francis Daley
Max and Annie's weekly game night gets kicked up a notch when Max's brother Brooks arranges a murder mystery party -- complete with fake thugs and federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it's a
In common: Comedy · Crime

Caught Stealing
2025 · Darren Aronofsky
Burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of late 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a t
In common: Comedy · Crime

Jawbreaker
1999 · Darren Stein
When an exclusive clique of teenage socialites accidentally murder their best friend on the morning of her birthday, the three girls responsible conspire to hide the truth.
In common: Comedy · Crime

The Whole Nine Yards
2000 · Jonathan Lynn
After a mobster agrees to cooperate with an FBI investigation in order to stay out of prison, he's relocated by the authorities to a life of suburban anonymity as part of a witness protection program.
In common: Comedy · Crime