50 Movies Like War Dogs (2016) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View War Dogs details →Todd Phillips's 2016 crime comedy-drama draws on the true story of David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, two young men who improbably landed a $300 million Pentagon contract to arm America's allies in Afghanistan. Following their rise from small-time hustlers to international arms dealers, the film mines dark comedy from real-world war profiteering while charting how ambition curdles into recklessness. It balances buddy-story energy against a queasier look at greed and consequence. It's a good fit for viewers who enjoy fast-talking, fact-based tales of ordinary men gaming a broken system, in the vein of stranger-than-fiction crime stories. Brisk, cynical and darkly funny, it keeps a wary eye on its antiheroes.
If you loved War Dogs (2016) by Todd Phillips, 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 Sneakers, The Wolf of Wall Street, Roofman. 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.
The Best Movies Similar to War Dogs
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with War Dogs in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
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 · Drama
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 · Drama
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 · Drama
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 · Drama
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 · Drama
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 · Drama
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 · Drama
Striptease
1996 · Andrew Bergman
Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to
In common: Comedy · Crime · Drama
The Longest Yard
2005 · Peter Segal
Disgraced pro football quarterback Paul Crewe lands in a Texas federal penitentiary, where manipulative Warden Hazen recruits him to advise the institution's football team of prison guards. Crewe sugg
In common: Comedy · Crime · Drama
The Sting
1973 · George Roy Hill
A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.
In common: Comedy · Crime · Drama
I Care a Lot
2021 · J Blakeson
A court-appointed legal guardian defrauds her older clients and traps them under her care. But her latest mark comes with some unexpected baggage.
In common: Comedy · Crime · Drama
In Bruges
2008 · Martin McDonagh
Ray and Ken, two hit men, are in Bruges, Belgium, waiting for their next mission. While they are there they have time to think and discuss their previous assignment. When the mission is revealed to Ke
In common: Comedy · Crime · Drama
Monster
2003 · Patty Jenkins
In 1989, prostitute Aileen Wuornos befriends and enters a relationship with a young woman named Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, Aileen's limited education lands her back on the corner. S
In common: Crime · Drama
Police Academy
1984 · Hugh Wilson
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
In common: Comedy · Crime
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
The Big Short
2015 · Adam McKay
The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.
In common: Comedy · Drama
The Terminal
2004 · Steven Spielberg
An Eastern European tourist unexpectedly finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.
In common: Comedy · Drama
Lolita
1962 · Stanley Kubrick
Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged British novelist who is both appalled by and attracted to the vulgarity of American culture. When he comes to stay at the boarding house run by Charlotte Haze, he soon
In common: Comedy · Drama
This Is Where I Leave You
2014 · Shawn Levy
When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speak
In common: Comedy · Drama
Fried Green Tomatoes
1991 · Jon Avnet
Amidst her own personality crisis, a southern housewife meets an outgoing old woman who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, two young women who experienced hardships and love in
In common: Comedy · Drama
Instant Family
2018 · Sean Anders
When Pete and Ellie decide to start a family, they stumble into the world of foster care adoption. They hope to take in one small child but when they meet three siblings, including a rebellious 15 yea
In common: Comedy · Drama
Home Alone 4
2002 · Rod Daniel
Kevin McCallister's parents have split up. Now living with his mom, he decides to spend Christmas with his dad at the mansion of his father's rich girlfriend, Natalie. Meanwhile robber Marv Merchants,
In common: Comedy
Big Daddy
1999 · Dennis Dugan
A lazy law school grad adopts a kid to impress his girlfriend, but everything doesn't go as planned. Now he's forced to grow up while navigating the challenges of fatherhood.
In common: Comedy · Drama
Dedicated to my ex
2019 · Jorge Ulloa
The film tells the story of Ariel, a 21-year-old who decides to form a rock band to compete for a prize of ten thousand dollars in a musical band contest, this as a last option when trying to get mone
In common: Comedy · Drama
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
2023 · Sammi Cohen
Stacy and Lydia are BFFs who've always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs. But things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rit
In common: Comedy · Drama
Parenthood
1989 · Ron Howard
The story of the Buckman family and friends, attempting to bring up their children. They suffer/enjoy all the events that occur: estranged relatives, the 'black sheep' of the family, the eccentrics, t
In common: Comedy · Drama
Dog
2022 · Channing Tatum
An army ranger and his dog embark on a road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway to attend a friend's funeral.
In common: Comedy · Drama
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
1994 · Stephan Elliott
Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.
In common: Comedy · Drama
The King of Comedy
1982 · Martin Scorsese
Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.
In common: Comedy · Drama
A Real Pain
2024 · Jesse Eisenberg
Mismatched cousins David and Benji reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their
In common: Comedy · Drama
The Devil Wears Prada
2006 · David Frankel
A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a majo
In common: Comedy · Drama
The Devil Wears Prada 2
2026 · David Frankel
Andy Sachs returns to Runway as Miranda Priestly navigates a new media landscape and Runway's position within. The duo reconnect with former assistant Emily Charlton, now the head of a luxury brand th
In common: Comedy · Drama
Mean Girls
2004 · Mark Waters
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
In common: Comedy · Drama
Friday
1995 · F. Gary Gray
Craig and Smokey are two guys in Los Angeles hanging out on their porch on a Friday afternoon, smoking and drinking, looking for something to do.
In common: Comedy · Drama
Annie
2014 · Will Gluck
Annie is a young, happy foster kid who's also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they'd be back for her som
In common: Comedy · Drama
Year One
2009 · Harold Ramis
When a couple of lazy hunter-gatherers are banished from their primitive village, they set off on an epic journey through the ancient world.
In common: Comedy
Lord of War
2005 · Andrew Niccol
Yuri Orlov is a globetrotting arms dealer and, through some of the deadliest war zones, he struggles to stay one step ahead of a relentless Interpol agent, his business rivals and even some of his cus
In common: Crime · Drama
Logan Lucky
2017 · Steven Soderbergh
Trying to reverse a family curse, brothers Jimmy and Clyde Logan set out to execute an elaborate robbery during the legendary Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
In common: Comedy · Crime
The Player
1992 · Robert Altman
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?
In common: Comedy · Crime · Drama
Trading Places
1983 · John Landis
A snobbish investor and a wily street con-artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
In common: Comedy
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