10 Buddy Comedies Worth Watching If You’re Still Riding High on ‘Little Brother’
Netflix’s ‘Little Brother‘ is a 2026 comedy directed by Matt Spicer, starring John Cena as a successful real estate agent whose life is turned upside down when his eccentric mentee from a Big Brother-Little Brother program unexpectedly comes back into his life. The film follows Rudd Landy, a man whose carefully ordered existence is thrown into chaos when the lovably chaotic Marcus Pinchel reappears after years apart.
Critics have described the film as a profane, bawdy, slapstick-infused comedy with sentimental moments, one that knows exactly what kind of movie it is and largely embraces it. If the odd couple energy, the warmth hiding underneath the raunchy surface, and the sheer commitment of its leads left you wanting more, this list has you covered.
‘Step Brothers’ (2008)
‘Step Brothers’ is a 2008 comedy directed by Adam McKay, written by Will Ferrell and McKay from a story by Ferrell, McKay, and John C. Reilly, following two immature middle-aged men who still live with their single parents and are forced to share a home after their parents marry. When Brennan’s mother and Dale’s father wed, their constant rivalry strains the marriage and leads to one hilarious situation after another.
The film grossed $128.1 million and received mixed reviews, though it has since cemented itself as a cult classic for its gleefully raunchy humor. Much like ‘Little Brother’, the central joy of ‘Step Brothers’ is watching two completely mismatched personalities collide before discovering they have far more in common than either would ever admit.
‘I Love You, Man’ (2009)
‘I Love You, Man’ is a 2009 bromantic comedy written and directed by John Hamburg, starring Paul Rudd as a friendless man struggling to find a best man for his upcoming wedding, and the new best friend Jason Segel he finds whose presence strains his relationship with his fiancée Rashida Jones. The film grossed $92 million on a $40 million budget and marked the third collaboration between Segel and Rudd.
The film has an approval rating of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, where its critical consensus calls it a heartfelt and hilarious showcase for its two leads. For anyone who loved the way ‘Little Brother’ explores the awkward, touching process of two men figuring out how to actually need each other, this is an essential watch.
‘The Hangover’ (2009)
‘The Hangover’ is a 2009 comedy directed by Todd Phillips, starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis as three friends who wake up after a bachelor party in Las Vegas with no memory of the previous night and a missing groom they must locate before his wedding. The film became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States at the time, surpassing a record held by Beverly Hills Cop for almost 25 years, and went on to earn over $467 million worldwide.
The ensemble dynamic here mirrors the chaos-plus-camaraderie formula that makes ‘Little Brother’ tick so well. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture in the Musical or Comedy category and spawned two sequels, though neither matched the original’s critical reception.
‘Pineapple Express’ (2008)
‘Pineapple Express’ is a 2008 action stoner comedy directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, starring Rogen and James Franco as a process server and his marijuana dealer who are forced to flee from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after witnessing a murder. The film grossed $102 million worldwide on a $26 million budget and has since developed a cult following.
What makes ‘Pineapple Express’ such a fitting companion to ‘Little Brother’ is how it wraps genuine affection between two very different guys inside a wildly escalating premise. The chemistry between Rogen and Franco carries the film just as much as any joke in the script, making it one of the defining odd couple comedies of its era.
‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ (2006)
‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ is a 2006 sports comedy directed by Adam McKay, featuring Will Ferrell as an immature yet successful NASCAR driver alongside John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Amy Adams. The film grossed $163.4 million worldwide against a $72.5 million budget and received positive reviews that praised the chemistry between Ferrell and Reilly.
Since its release, ‘Talladega Nights’ has become a cult classic and is regarded as one of Will Ferrell’s finest films. The buddy dynamic between Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr. carries the same warmth underneath the absurdity that ‘Little Brother’ delivers in such abundance.
‘The Other Guys’ (2010)
‘The Other Guys’ is a 2010 buddy cop action comedy directed by Adam McKay, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as two mismatched desk-bound NYPD detectives who stumble onto the biggest case of their careers while Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson appear in supporting roles. The film grossed $170.9 million worldwide and was praised by critics for the assured comic chemistry between its two leads.
Rotten Tomatoes describes the film as a clever parody of cop-buddy action-comedies that delivers several impressive action set pieces alongside plenty of big laughs. Ferrell playing a straight-laced accountant-detective opposite Wahlberg’s hot-tempered cop is textbook odd couple comedy, executed with the kind of physical precision that fans of John Cena’s deadpan work in ‘Little Brother’ will recognize immediately.
’21 Jump Street’ (2012)
’21 Jump Street’ is a 2012 buddy cop action comedy directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as police officers forced to relive high school when they are assigned to prevent the outbreak of a new synthetic drug. The film grossed $201.6 million worldwide and is the top-grossing high school comedy film of all time.
The central genius of the film is watching two people who genuinely shouldn’t work together discover that they absolutely do. Its self-awareness allows it to poke fun at the very nature of reboots and sequels while still delivering a fresh and entertaining story that resonates with a broad audience.
‘We’re the Millers’ (2013)
‘We’re the Millers’ is a 2013 comedy directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, and Will Poulter in the story of a small-time pot dealer who convinces his neighbors to pose as his fake family in order to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the United States. The film grossed over $270 million worldwide against a $37 million budget.
The film earns its place on this list because of how convincingly it sells the bond between people who have absolutely no business caring about each other. Like ‘Little Brother’, the comedy comes from chaos but the story works because the emotional stakes quietly become real as the laughs pile up.
‘The Nice Guys’ (2016)
‘The Nice Guys’ is a 2016 neo-noir buddy action comedy written and directed by Shane Black, starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as a private eye and a hired enforcer who team up to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl in 1970s Los Angeles. Gosling stated that when he read the script he immediately pictured Crowe as his counterpart, saying the movie just immediately became so funny, and both actors accepted their roles within three days.
Critics called the film a throwback to buddy comedies of a bygone era, elevated by a knowing script and the irresistible chemistry of its leads. The film is arguably one of the sharpest, most stylish odd couple comedies of the decade, and it remains a cult favorite that deserves far more attention than its box office suggested.
‘Dumb and Dumber’ (1994)
‘Dumb and Dumber’ features Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as Lloyd and Harry, two best friends and absolute idiots who go on a road trip with a briefcase full of money and a heart full of love, and it remains one of the great buddy comedies. The Farrelly Brothers push their characters through countless indignities while never truly punching down at them, giving the film a surprising warmth beneath all the slapstick.
Carrey and Daniels play their characters with a blissful ignorance and a genuine attempt to connect with the world around them, and the film is widely regarded as an obvious template for every two-idiots-on-a-dumb-adventure comedy that followed it. If you found yourself laughing hardest at the pure, joyful chaos Eric André brings to ‘Little Brother’, this is the film that essentially invented the blueprint for that kind of performance.
Whether you blew through ‘Little Brother’ in one sitting or found yourself rewinding your favorite scenes, which of these buddy comedies do you think comes closest to capturing that same magic of two wildly mismatched personalities somehow making you root for them against all odds?
