Brilliant Movies With Dumb Premises

In most action movies, there's typically a catalyzing incident that convinces the protagonist to get off their bum and change their situation. In Taken, it's the kidnapping of Bryan Mills' daughter. In Die Hard, it's the capture of Nakatomi Tower. In John Wick, it's the death of a puppy, which leads to dozens upon dozens of dead gangsters and the dismantling of an entire Russian mob. 

Wick essentially purges the criminal community all because one of the mobsters goofed and killed his dog. The premise is absolutely preposterous, especially when you couple it with the fact that Wick himself doesn't take any real damage throughout the film, revealing another tenet of the core concept's goofiness: Wick is the Superman of assassins. He's the immortal puppy avenger.

Of course, none of that changes the fact that this is a supremely cathartic action flick with some of the best fight choreography and gunplay in cinematic history. It's got intriguing characters, badass action sequences, and a general sense of "oomph" that few hard-hitting crime movies are able to achieve, which is likely why it's so beloved in spite of its dumb premise.

Of all the movies on this list, this is the one that has literally zero right to be even half decent, let alone anywhere near brilliant. Yet here we are — a movie about a farting corpse that's somehow, some way, better than quite a few of its higher-concept cinematic contemporaries. 

Swiss Army Man is a story about a man named Hank who's on the verge of committing suicide — until, that is, he discovers Manny the farting corpse. Manny's not just any farting corpse, though — he's a living one (kind of like a zombie, in a sense). Armed with a companion to help him discover that life's not so bad, Hank embarks on a grand ol' journey with Manny. It's one of the most bafflingly dumb ideas the cinematic medium's ever cooked up. Yet somehow, against all odds, writer-directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan make it work: they turn that dumb premise into a heartfelt adventure fueled by two distinct, three-dimensional characters, and finally give Daniel Radcliffe a role to be remembered for besides Harry Potter. Swiss Army Man is definitely brilliant, albeit in a fairly abstract way.

We've all seen a few dumb movies where soulless, emotionless characters go on killing rampages to appease bloodthirsty audiences. Usually, however, the hollowness of said murderers is the result of unpolished, two-dimensional writing. In Rubber, it's by design — the movie's central character is a car tire, and therefore has no soul, or emotions, or, y'know, any human characteristics whatsoever. 

What Robert the tire does have (we're not making this up, its name is Robert) is the ability to commit murder and roll around. It's a freakin' homicidal car tire that has psychokinetic abilities, even though it has no brain. In no way, and in no world, should this movie be as entertaining as it is. Yet here we are, with a pretty solid, absolutely bonkers, and morbidly quirky film that's brilliant for no other reason than its ability to turn its "sentient tire" premise into a killer, one-of-a-kind rampage flick.

For all the unreliable dads out there currently at risk of losing their kids in divorce court, just give Mrs. Doubtfire a watch — it's got a foolproof plan for how to win your kids back from a court's custodial verdict. 

Mrs. Doubtfire teaches us that, in order for a dad to regain a spot in his kids' lives after losing them to their mother, he must dress up as their nanny and circumvent his ex-wife's plans to keep him and the children apart. And, in the movie, it works. Ultimately, Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) gets what he wants and regains a position in the family unit, all thanks to him conning everyone by dressing up as a female nanny in order to surreptitiously defy court orders. It's as asinine a premise as a family dramedy could conceivably have, and it remains a pleasant shock that the movie's as great as it is. Carried almost exclusively by a cheeky and charming performance by Robin Williams as well as a script that knows just how dumb its premise is, Mrs. Doubtfire remains a knockout success in the family film genre to this day.

Ain't no movie with a better dumb premise than Tootsie, a true Dustin Hoffman classic. It's the story of a stellar actor named Michael Dorsey who becomes unmarketable due to his very bad artistic temperament and resulting reputation (think along the lines of Russell Crowe before he cooled his jets). In order to skirt around his bad reputation, Michael literally dons a skirt and invents the alter ego of Dorothy Michaels. That's right: he crossdresses to keep his career alive, and becomes a breakout soap star in the process. 

And the premise doesn't just limit itself to crossdressing for career benefits; Michael's girly persona also gets him into multiple romantic entanglements. While the premise might not be dumb in the most obvious sense, it's definitely loaded with a whole bunch of cringeworthy ideas that should've resulted in a far less compelling film. Instead, Tootsie is somehow an amazing, uplifting, and heartfelt comedy, due to a witty script, strong performances from Hoffman, Jessica Lange, and Teri Garr, and expert direction from Sydney Pollack, who knew exactly when to play the premise for laughs and when to take things seriously. As far as movies about crossdressing actors go, Tootsie's the cream of the crop.