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A longstanding vestige since the old days of Hollywood — harkening back to the 1930s with Frank Capra comedies — the fish out of water movie has long been a reliable storytelling device for studios to produce. It’s a reliable foible to exploit when taking a character and putting them in a circumstance they should never be in or a place they don’t belong. Devices like time travel (Back to the Future), aging backward or forwards (Big) and even taking a detective and putting them in an unfamiliar setting (In the Heat of the Night) are all modes of the same kind of movie. While so many of these kinds of films exist across a spectrum of genres, these are some of the best films that take advantage of a character evolving to adjust to their new setting.
10 Year of The Dragon
With an expertly studied and researched script from Oliver Stone, who spent several months interviewing Chinese-American gangsters to prepare the story, Year of The Dragon finds a New York City detective, Stanley White (Mickey Rourke), in over his head. Navigating the muddy waters and streets where gangsters inhabit a different ethical code than he’s used to, Michael Cimino directs all the criminality with a sheen of romanticism that he bought to his epics previously. “It’s Vietnam all over again,” mutters White at one point. A marriage of minds that catapults this neo-noir drama into a morally ambiguous clash of cultures.
9 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
In Hollywood, if you want to make a sequel, go bigger. After the instant classic status of Chris Columbus’ Home Alone, the only way to match the gimmickry and wit of the young Kevin McCallister was to take him to the Big Apple. There’s no playground larger for a kid with the charisma of Kevin, rich with his dad’s credit cards and his two nemeses free from prison, hot on his tail. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York catches the magic of New York during the holidays and imparts the wisdom of love and the importance of family in the form of one friendly pigeon lady in Central Park.
8 Moscow on the Hudson
Paul Mazursky has a carefully constructed comedic humanity to all the films he directs. Underneath the glee, there’s a soft heart where characters find themselves even in the glibbest parts of life. Moscow on the Hudson is a prime example of the heart and warmth Mazursky captures, especially in a city as chaotic as Manhattan. With an endearing portrayal of immigrant life from Robin Williams, we see a man assimilate as best he can as he adjusts to life outside of Russia. It carefully observes and highlights a spectrum of interactions you could only experience in the city that never sleeps.
7 My Cousin Vinny
An Italian gangster comedy turned courtroom drama, Marisa Tomei stole the show as the firecracker cousin to two goons (Ralph Macchio and Joe Pesci) and helps get them out of trouble. Leaning into hilarious Italian caricatures and playing into the Southern stereotypes that cause tension between the characters and the court. Tomei used her character’s litigious, academic automobile knowledge to the hilarious effect that rode her all the way to a surprising Oscar win for My Cousin Vinny.
6 In the Heat of the Night
The swampy confines of rural life in the south during the 60s had its nebbish racism and lawlessness. In the Heat of the Night — a seminal American classic — Norman Jewison uses the trappings of a noir, murder mystery to show what it’s like for a person of color to navigate. Sidney Poitier’s legendary grace and charisma were perfect for Virgil Tibbs, a big-city homicide detective who unwillingly becomes ensnared in a murder case because of a run-in with the local chief, played by Rod Steiger. The film has an unsettling, mysterious atmosphere that puts us in the shoes of Tibbs as he has to navigate this ugly landscape and still do his job uninterrupted. A classic film that went on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
5 Midnight Cowboy
The first and only film to receive the X-rating from the MPAA and still go on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Midnight Cowboy is a film depicting the hardships of trying to make it in the Big Apple. Jon Voight stars as “Joe Buck,” a transplant from Texas who finds his tall, charming good looks will best serve him as a male sex worker. On a lone journey through the streets, he meets a fellow hustler in Dustin Hoffman. Voight and Hoffman form a bond of broken male camaraderie as they get acquainted with how cruel and unforgiving a city can be. Midnight Cowboy is an unforgettable tale.
4 Beverly Hills Cop
Eddie Murphy’s rise to superstardom felt self-evident; his charisma, wild comic energy, and ability to elevate any schtick into a burst of laughter made him one of the greatest comedic screen personas of all time. With Beverly Hills Cop, it was obvious he was here to stay. Playing a cop from Detroit headed to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his friend, Axel Foley sticks out like a sore thumb. But, his ability to show that law enforcement is incompetent by satirizing their behavior, Beverly Hills Cop is a showcase for Murphy’s talent.
3 Some Like It Hot
One of the great comedies ever made by the legendary Billy Wilder (Sunset Blvd, The Apartment) Some Like It Hot is a screwball classic that puts two friends on the run from the mafia. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis star as the two musicians forced to join arms — disguised as women — with an all-girl band before the mafia catches on. Wilder fills the film with close-call gags and slapstick humor that’s a remnant of the old days of Hollywood. The cast rounded out by none other than screen icon Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot is a classic fish out of water folly.
2 North By Northwest
The most absurdly entertaining picture Alfred Hitchcock ever made, North by Northwest is a non-stop ride of close-calls, whodunits, and expertly designed set-pieces. Two of the most famous scenes in the history of cinema happen a near 30 minutes apart. The crop-duster close call and then the chase atop Mount Rushmore, one of the ultimate bad guy hangouts. Hitchcock relied on the always reliable and cool Cary Grant to face off against the suave villainy of James Mason as Grant has to get himself out of false murder accusations. A path that leads him down a dangerous road, but done in the style that only the master himself could direct. As Grant finds himself in unchartered territory he never loses his cool.
1 Back to the Future
The classic time travel flick and one that endures because of an iconic turn from Michael J. Fox as the charismatic, spry Marty McFly with the assistance of Christopher Lloyd as the equally rambunctious scientist — Back to the Future is the ultimate fish out of water movie. Transplanting a young high school kid from the classic ilk of 1980s High School suburbia to the 1950s, Marty must fight for his way back home. It’s got the Spielbergian touch from Robert Zemeckis who creates a world unto itself, launching a franchise in the process.
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