Film

Chances Are

A romantic fantasy-comedy about a man reincarnated as a younger man who falls for his own daughter twenty years later, then starts remembering his past life. It's high-concept fluff with genuine charm, playing its absurd premise straight while mining comedy from the awkwardness. Perfect if you enjoy '80s romantic tangles and don't mind a touch of the surreal.

TMDb rating3.3

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Groundhog Day1993

Like Chances Are, it takes a fantastic premise seriously and mines character depth from repetition and memory. Bill Murray's trapped-time meditation has the same blend of comedy and genuine emotion that makes the high concept work.

But It's become such a cultural touchstone that it can feel overfamiliar. The pacing in the middle section tests patience before the payoff.

Groundhog Day poster

Splash1984

Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah in a romantic fantasy that treats mermaids as real and plays the love story straight. It has that exact '80s tone—whimsical but earnest, funny without winking at the audience.

But The premise is simpler and the romance less complicated. If you want something stranger, this leans safer.

Splash poster

Ghostbusters II1989

Released the same year, same blend of supernatural weirdness and romantic subplot. Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver navigate absurdity with chemistry and humor that feels effortless.

But It's not as tight as the first film and the plot meanders. The special effects have aged in ways that distract.

Ghostbusters II poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Chances Are

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Poseidon Adventure1972

Both demand you accept their impossible premise and commit emotionally to it. Both have all-in casts treating the weird as real, creating that particular '70s-'80s magic.

A disaster film where Robert Downey Jr.'s father Robert Downey Sr. was cinematographer, tying an unexpected thread through cinema. More importantly, it has the same melodramatic commitment to an insane premise—a ship capsizes, survivors must escape upside-down—played with the utmost seriousness and emotional stakes.

But It's long, effects-heavy, and the pacing feels dated. Genre fans love it; most modern audiences find it slow and overwrought.

The Poseidon Adventure poster
More like this (8)

Always1989

Spielberg's underrated reincarnation romance, also from 1989. Richard Dreyfuss returns as a ghost trying to reach Holly Hunter. Sentimental and strange in ways that feel genuinely moving rather than manipulative.

But It's less funny and considerably more earnest. Some find the melodrama overwrought, and it's rarely quoted or remembered.

Always poster

Defending Your Life1991

Albert Brooks' afterlife romantic comedy uses fantasy elements to ask real questions about love and identity. The banter is sharp, the concept is clever, and it actually has something to say about human connection.

But It's quieter and more philosophical than Chances Are. If you want spectacle and fast laughs, this is too thoughtful.

Defending Your Life poster

Kiss Me Goodbye1982

Sally Field and Jeff Bridges in a reincarnation romance that plays similar territory—past love returning, comic complications, genuine affection under the absurdity. Underrated gem with real warmth.

But It predates Chances Are and feels more restrained. The comedy is gentler, which some will find lovely and others lazy.

Kiss Me Goodbye poster

The Accidental Tourist1988

William Hurt and Geena Davis in a romance that builds from grief and strangeness. It has the same quality of characters finding each other across emotional distance, though grounded rather than fantastic.

But There's no supernatural element, which might feel like a letdown. It's also melancholic rather than breezy—a different mood entirely.

The Accidental Tourist poster

3 Men and a Baby1987

Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson navigate domestic chaos with chemistry and heart. It shares Chances Are' tone of men bumbling through emotional situations while romance simmers.

But It's really a buddy comedy, not a romance, and the plot is thinner. If you want the love story front and center, this won't satisfy.

3 Men and a Baby poster

The Witches of Eastwick1987

Jack Nicholson as the Devil opposite three women discovering their power. It's a fantasy romance with real edge—sexier, darker, more genuinely weird than Chances Are while maintaining that '80s charm.

But It's considerably raunchier and less focused on a single romance. The tone is stranger, which some find exhilarating and others unsettling.

The Witches of Eastwick poster

Audrey Rose1977

Both hinge on a parent reconnecting with a reincarnated child. Chances Are is the rom-com version; Audrey Rose is the nightmare version—showing you what's actually terrifying about the premise.

A quiet, genuinely unsettling reincarnation drama. Jon-Erik Hexum and Marsha Mason in a story where a man claims his dead daughter has been reborn into another man's child—but it's played as psychological horror, not romance. Hypnotic and disturbing in ways Chances Are never attempts.

But It's slow-burn and melancholic, with a bleak ending. There's no comedy, and the atmosphere is creepy rather than whimsical. Some find it pretentious.

Audrey Rose poster

Liquid Sky1982

Both use fantasy/sci-fi premises to explore desire and identity. Chances Are is accessible wish-fulfillment; Liquid Sky is the fever dream version where desire is actually dangerous and transformative.

A Soviet sci-fi art film about an alien presence over Manhattan that feeds on heroin and sexual pleasure. Anne Carlisle in a gender-bending dual role, synth score, sexuality as cosmic force. It's genuinely weird and visually hypnotic in ways American mainstream films weren't allowed to be in 1989.

But It's genuinely alienating (intentionally). Slow, experimental, in Russian with subtitles, with a visual style that feels deliberately anti-entertaining. Many viewers find it pretentious or simply boring.

Liquid Sky poster

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