What are some movies about uptight people who learn to let go?
August 5, 2016 9:08 AM Subscribe
I can think of some examples that are kind of like this - Risky Business, Clueless, Planes Trains and Automobiles... what are some others?
Bonus points if the person is the main character of the movie, rather than the foil for the main character (I feel like a lot of these movies are two-handers where the lead, usually male, butts heads with the uptight female lead).
I think "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey would be right up that alley.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:14 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Autumnheart at 9:14 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
A Sure Thing
Bringing up Baby
Baby Boom
Pretty Woman
Up
posted by ReluctantViking at 9:23 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
Bringing up Baby
Baby Boom
Pretty Woman
Up
posted by ReluctantViking at 9:23 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
Harold and Maude
posted by cakelite at 9:27 AM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by cakelite at 9:27 AM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
When Harry Met Sally, although it won't get me any bonus points.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:29 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:29 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
Falling Down?
But seriously, the protagonist in Zhang Yang's "Shower" fits the bill - it's a lovely, life-affirming movie.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:30 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
But seriously, the protagonist in Zhang Yang's "Shower" fits the bill - it's a lovely, life-affirming movie.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:30 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which might qualify for bonus points.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
This is almost a cliché script feature in Hollywood:
Elizabethtown
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Swingers
posted by cardboard at 9:32 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Elizabethtown
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Swingers
posted by cardboard at 9:32 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Along Came Polly
"A buttoned up newlywed finds his too organized life falling into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate."
posted by neda at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
"A buttoned up newlywed finds his too organized life falling into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate."
posted by neda at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
Jurassic World, formulaically.
posted by cocoagirl at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by cocoagirl at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
I also think Bend It Like Beckham probably qualifies, although the uptightness is more imposed on the protagonist from the outside (her family/cultural norms) than by her own strictures.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:34 AM on August 5, 2016
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:34 AM on August 5, 2016
Grease. Tell me about it, Stud.
Dirty Dancing. Like....everyone in the whole cast.
posted by the webmistress at 9:44 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
Dirty Dancing. Like....everyone in the whole cast.
posted by the webmistress at 9:44 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
Bringing Up Baby?
posted by Logophiliac at 9:59 AM on August 5, 2016
posted by Logophiliac at 9:59 AM on August 5, 2016
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
posted by blurker at 10:06 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by blurker at 10:06 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Seconding kimota's recommendation of "Parenthood". Although it can be kind of ensembly and there are other plotlines, Steve Martin's character is the most central; he has a strong arc of starting out very anxious, neurotic, and wound up tight, especially re: his kids, and by the end he explicitly learns how to let go and take life as it comes.
posted by theatro at 10:07 AM on August 5, 2016
posted by theatro at 10:07 AM on August 5, 2016
Every single Tom Cruise movie. It's what he does.
As Good As it Gets
Lost in Translatation
posted by Melismata at 10:10 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
As Good As it Gets
Lost in Translatation
posted by Melismata at 10:10 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
The man without a face
posted by Michele in California at 10:13 AM on August 5, 2016
posted by Michele in California at 10:13 AM on August 5, 2016
Mary Poppins (Mr. Banks)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:14 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:14 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh, and in Jim Carry movies:
The Mask
Once Bitten
posted by Michele in California at 10:14 AM on August 5, 2016
The Mask
Once Bitten
posted by Michele in California at 10:14 AM on August 5, 2016
Desperately Seeking Susan
posted by Mchelly at 10:14 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 10:14 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
Greenberg is arguably about a man failing at this.
posted by AndrewInDC at 10:15 AM on August 5, 2016
posted by AndrewInDC at 10:15 AM on August 5, 2016
Also some of my favorites:
Ruthless People
Harold and Maude
The Goodbye Girl
posted by Mchelly at 10:15 AM on August 5, 2016
Ruthless People
Harold and Maude
The Goodbye Girl
posted by Mchelly at 10:15 AM on August 5, 2016
The Accidental Tourist
posted by Kriesa at 10:25 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Kriesa at 10:25 AM on August 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
Maybe As Good As It Gets
posted by salvia at 10:43 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by salvia at 10:43 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
9 to 5 (the Lily Tomlin character)
posted by holborne at 10:46 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by holborne at 10:46 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
The African Queen
posted by Kriesa at 10:52 AM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Kriesa at 10:52 AM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
Up.
(Am I really the first to suggest it?) ETA: I am not. Thank goodness!
posted by Crystalinne at 10:58 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
(Am I really the first to suggest it?) ETA: I am not. Thank goodness!
posted by Crystalinne at 10:58 AM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
a Sandra Bullock trifecta: Miss Congeniality, The Proposal, and The Heat
posted by specialagentwebb at 11:00 AM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by specialagentwebb at 11:00 AM on August 5, 2016 [4 favorites]
Perfect Sense. Warning: this is easily the grimmest movie I've seen in several years. Which is not to say I didn't like it, but it is not the wacky comedy you usually get in the "learn to let go" genre.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:14 AM on August 5, 2016
posted by Lyn Never at 11:14 AM on August 5, 2016
Midnight Run. Very funny. Stars Charles Grodin and Robert Deniro who plays an uptight bounty hunter who if memory serves me right lightens up in the end.
posted by newpotato at 11:43 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by newpotato at 11:43 AM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
Romancing the Stone
posted by Michele in California at 11:50 AM on August 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Michele in California at 11:50 AM on August 5, 2016 [5 favorites]
Thelma and Louise. Both characters change quite a bit during their road trip. Louise goes from extremely controlling and ordered to complete abandon and freedom. Themla begins from a position of feeling like a nothing to discovering her inner strength. Both women go from very artificial to authentic and bonded. The year it was released, Terminator Two was also released. I thought it was ironic that two women in a thunderbird with a gun was more frightening to men than Arnold Schwartzenegger killing the entire Los Angeles police force. And we're still living with a version of this same tired, tired cliche.
posted by effluvia at 12:20 PM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by effluvia at 12:20 PM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
Beauty and the Beast! Also, this is a recurring theme throughout Star Trek, especially with Klingons and Vulcans who are trying to be functional members of a Starfleet crew.
BTW the tropes you're looking for include Uptight Loves Wild.
posted by SMPA at 12:37 PM on August 5, 2016
BTW the tropes you're looking for include Uptight Loves Wild.
posted by SMPA at 12:37 PM on August 5, 2016
Roman Holiday.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:43 PM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:43 PM on August 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
There's a 90s TV show called Due South that plays a lot with this trope (he's a Mountie! he's a schlubby Italian-American Chicago police officer!). Bonus: the uptight one is played by the remarkably handsome Paul Gross.
The original The Shop Around the Corner.
posted by praemunire at 1:29 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
The original The Shop Around the Corner.
posted by praemunire at 1:29 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Every movie with Meryl Streep in it
posted by ariadne_88 at 1:36 PM on August 5, 2016
posted by ariadne_88 at 1:36 PM on August 5, 2016
The Producers
posted by ubiquity at 2:16 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ubiquity at 2:16 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
"The Efficiency Expert" (Anthony Hopkins)
Originally released as "Spotswood"
posted by John Borrowman at 4:39 PM on August 5, 2016
Originally released as "Spotswood"
posted by John Borrowman at 4:39 PM on August 5, 2016
Strictly Ballroom.
posted by apricot at 5:34 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by apricot at 5:34 PM on August 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Dirty Dancing
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 7:46 PM on August 5, 2016
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 7:46 PM on August 5, 2016
Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off
John Cleese's character Archie in A Fish Called Wanda
Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot
Margaret Dumont in every single Marx Brothers movie
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 5:45 AM on August 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
John Cleese's character Archie in A Fish Called Wanda
Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot
Margaret Dumont in every single Marx Brothers movie
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 5:45 AM on August 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
Little Miss Sunshine
posted by raider at 10:33 AM on August 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by raider at 10:33 AM on August 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
Trading Places
posted by overeducated_alligator at 11:23 AM on August 6, 2016
posted by overeducated_alligator at 11:23 AM on August 6, 2016
Adaptation, also starring Nicholas Cage
posted by polecat at 1:45 PM on August 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by polecat at 1:45 PM on August 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
posted by my-username at 11:49 PM on August 6, 2016
posted by my-username at 11:49 PM on August 6, 2016
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