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Time to face the uncomfortable truth about getting older! Join us as we count down our picks for the most brutally honest portrayals of a midlife crisis in movies and TV! From quiet existential dread to full-blown spectacular meltdowns, these films and shows capture that unsettling feeling that life somehow slipped through your fingers. Which portrayal hits closest to home?
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00:00You're probably just having a midlife crisis.
00:03Did you buy a Porsche?
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:06And today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 best and most honest reflections
00:10of a midlife crisis found in both movies and TV.
00:14Any thoughts at all on why you blacked out?
00:19I don't know. Stress, maybe.
00:23Number 20. Our flag means death.
00:26Oh yes, I guess the big note is more energy.
00:29We're swashbuckling. We're looting. Let's have fun with it.
00:32Let's start with a high seas adventure tackling domestic dread.
00:36Steed Bonnet has everything a wealthy gentleman could want,
00:38yet he feels suffocated by his predictable family life.
00:42His bold solution? Ditch it all to become an 18th century pirate.
00:46Sure, the execution relies on hilarious historical absurdity,
00:49but those underlying emotional beats remain startlingly relatable.
00:53Craving a total reinvention to escape the crushing weight of societal expectations
00:57is textbook midlife crisis material.
00:59But yeah, trading a fancy carriage for a pirate ship
01:02obviously isn't a realistic option for most of us today, unfortunately.
01:07Which is your favorite of all the horses?
01:09Hanifax.
01:10Very pretty and very fast.
01:12Yes, he's wonderful.
01:13I like Arthur.
01:14He has kind eyes.
01:19And which is your favorite pig?
01:27If you've made it to middle age, chances are you've clocked up countless what-if moments.
01:32And it's probable that at least one of those is linked to your love life.
01:37Kate Reynolds.
01:38Her assistant said you could reach her at home after 8.
01:41Kate Reynolds was my girlfriend in college.
01:43In The Family Man, Nicolas Cage has an opportunity to live the life he might have had
01:47if he'd stayed with his former girlfriend, rather than pursuing a successful career.
01:51You want this, Cage?
01:53I want it.
01:57What follows has him rethinking infidelity,
02:00uncharacteristically playing with his food,
02:02and cringing, nay crying, over home videos of a past he sadly never actually had.
02:07Oh.
02:10Suspend your disbelief for this, and it will reaffirm your love for life.
02:14You have to promise me, Kate, because if you don't,
02:16then it's like it never happened, and I don't think I can live with that.
02:18Number 18.
02:19Fleischman is in trouble.
02:21Grandpa emoji.
02:22You're hot.
02:22Angry with possible smoke coming from sides of the mouth emoji.
02:26You have to understand that Toby was not exactly a desired property in his youth.
02:30Here we have a devastating, uncomfortable look at a modern marriage collapsing under the weight of time.
02:36This stellar miniseries explores how two intelligent people can share the exact same life,
02:41but emerge with conflicting realities.
02:43It tackles the bitter resentment of divorce,
02:46the sudden panic of physical aging,
02:47and the quiet mourning of lost youth without any filter.
02:50The brilliance lies in its shifting perspectives,
02:53reminding audiences that we are almost always the villain in someone else's personal narrative.
02:58Watching Toby and Rachel navigate their disastrous separation
03:01provides immense and painful emotional precision.
03:04I don't know, I worry about the kids.
03:06I hate weekends when I don't have them.
03:10I freak out when I wake up in my new apartment,
03:12which, by the way, is like a hovel compared to the palace I just moved out of.
03:15Number 17.
03:17JCVD.
03:18This seems simple what?
03:20A semi-fictionalized biopic of action movie icon Jean-Claude Van Damme,
03:25JCVD sees the actor play himself,
03:27caught amid a post office heist in Brussels.
03:34In the movie, Van Damme is in the twilight years of his career.
03:37Roles are no longer available,
03:39his popularity is waning,
03:41and he has plenty of other off-screen problems as well.
03:43In short, Van Damme is not the icon he once was,
03:47and is struggling to adjust.
03:57A film that hinges especially on an incredibly emotive
04:01fourth-wall-breaking monologue scene,
04:03JCVD shows the muscles in a whole new light.
04:13Number 16.
04:14Cobra Kai.
04:15Whoa, whoa, whoa.
04:16What the hell is this?
04:17Don't worry, it's gonna be level, I'm just lining it up.
04:20You put it on the wrong wall.
04:22I said the wall across from the door.
04:26This is the wall across from the door.
04:28Not that door, idiot.
04:29Few series understand the pathetic reality of peaking in high school quite like this one.
04:34Johnny Lawrence enters his 50s looking at an unfulfilled existence.
04:37Haunted by past teenage defeats,
04:39he desperately craves a meaningful do-over.
04:42True, Johnny works through his woes via teen karate gang wars,
04:46yet the core sentiment stays grounded in genuine sadness.
04:49The narrative brilliantly exposes the dangers of nostalgia
04:52and the fear that your best days are decades behind you.
04:55It serves as an action-packed, surprisingly funny reminder that sometimes,
05:00the hardest opponent you will ever face on the mat is your own profound sense of failure.
05:05This is Johnny Lawrence.
05:06He and I go way back, right, buddy?
05:09This guy was the toughest dude in my high school.
05:11Number 15.
05:12The Incredibles.
05:13Thank you, Mr. Incredible.
05:14You've done it again.
05:15Yeah, you're the best.
05:16No, I'm just here to help.
05:17A midlife crisis can be inspired by a longing for the glory days.
05:21With The Incredibles,
05:22Pixar shows this mentality through the eyes of a retired superhero.
05:25But I suggest you stand clear.
05:27There could be trouble.
05:28No, no, he's quite tight.
05:29The fame and adoration of times gone by
05:32has former superhero Mr. Incredible
05:34desperate to escape the monotony of a settled life and an office job.
05:38I'm calling to celebrate a momentous occasion.
05:40We are now officially moved in.
05:43Yeah, well, that's great, honey.
05:44But considering his wife and kids also happen to have amazing powers,
05:48his not-so-ordinary family finds themselves called back to their crime-fighting past
05:52and saving the world from danger once again.
05:54Abort, abort, abort!
06:09Even if the suits of yesteryear are a little tighter than they once were,
06:13Pixar entertainingly shows us that even a mundane life filled with love can be its own adventure.
06:19I'm not encouraging.
06:20I'm just asking how fast...
06:22Honey!
06:24Number 14.
06:25Your Friends and Neighbors
06:26Or maybe you've been wrapped up in the conventions of marriage and children
06:30for so long,
06:31living amongst other married people with children
06:34that you haven't considered that there may be an entire segment of the population
06:37who make different choices and have different goals.
06:39This sharp apple comedy bluntly satirizes the emptiness of affluent middle age.
06:44Jon Hamm shines as Coop,
06:46a recently fired hedge fund manager who gets divorced
06:48and starts robbing his wealthy neighbors to keep up appearances.
06:52Yes, his extreme criminal pivot acts as a heightened comedic metaphor.
06:56However, the grief and terrifying loss of identity that Coop experiences
07:00feel painfully genuine throughout the story.
07:02Audiences watch a man grapple with the sudden realization
07:05that his entire self-worth was tied to a paycheck and vanishing social status.
07:10So, um...
07:13How's a single life?
07:17Well...
07:17Has its moments.
07:19Number 13.
07:20Fantastic Mr. Fox
07:21Honey, I'm seven non-Fox years old now.
07:24My father died at seven and a half.
07:25I don't want to live in a hole anymore.
07:27And I'm going to do something about it.
07:29In another animated portrayal of middle-aged problems,
07:32Wes Anderson takes the director's chair for this stop-motion effort of the Roald Dahl adaptation.
07:37I've got it.
07:38There's not a moment to lose.
07:39Why didn't I think of this sooner?
07:40Mr. and Mrs. Fox were once the finest thieves around.
07:43But with the birth of their son, they're forced to lead more responsible lives.
07:47What are you wearing?
07:48Why a cape with the pants tucked into your socks?
07:55Well, I guess he's just...
07:58different.
07:59However, for Mr. Fox, the romance of the raid and thrill of the chase are just too tempting to ignore.
08:08His escapades land the family in hot water, though.
08:11Or should that be cider, as this movie shows how far a fox will go to avenge its tail.
08:16One of those slovenly farmers is probably wearing my tail as a necktie by now.
08:21Number 12.
08:22Dead to Me
08:22Wow, that's very generous.
08:25But you don't have to take pity on me.
08:27Just because I'm a 41-year-old barren woman sleeping in an assisted living facility.
08:32Yes, I do.
08:33Don't let the murder mystery rapper fool you.
08:35This dark comedy boasts an incredibly accurate depiction of aging.
08:39Beyond the endless cliffhangers,
08:40Jen and Judy's turbulent friendship delivers an unfiltered look at the sheer exhaustion required to keep your life afloat in
08:47your 40s.
08:48The writers tackle the likes of profound grief, failing marriages, and the physical toll of getting older with refreshing candor.
08:55It highlights how middle-aged women often feel simultaneously overwhelmed by endless responsibilities and entirely unsupported by the world.
09:02Dead to Me proves that sometimes, a chaotic disaster is the only way to genuinely confront the quiet, lingering pain
09:09you have successfully suppressed for years.
09:12Why are there raisins in this?
09:14I honestly don't know.
09:15I like it.
09:17I'm sick of other people's food.
09:19Me too.
09:23I miss dad's cooking.
09:25Me too.
09:26Number 11.
09:27City Slickers
09:28Value this time in your life, kids.
09:30Of course, this is the time in your life when you still have your choices.
09:33And it goes by so fast.
09:36Disillusioned with what life has given him, Billy Crystal stars as Mitch Robbins.
09:39And as demonstrated by his classroom pep talk, Mitch's outlook on life is about as bleak as it's possible to
09:45be.
09:4630s, you raise your family, you make a little money, and you think to yourself,
09:50What happened to my 20s?
09:52But when he and two friends leave the city for two weeks to work a cattle drive,
09:56they're all forced into a change of perspective.
09:58Your life is a do-over.
10:01You got a clean slate.
10:03The wizened cowboy Curly Washburn claims to know the secret to life,
10:07and it's just up to Mitch to locate the reason for his.
10:10That's great, but what's the one thing?
10:14That's what you gotta figure out.
10:16Number 10.
10:17Beef
10:28This Netflix comedy serves up the uniquely modern, burnout-fueled flavor of a midlife collapse.
10:33A minor parking lot dispute between two strangers quickly spirals out of control, exposing layers of suppressed rage.
10:40Danny and Amy look entirely different on the surface,
10:43but the relentless weight of familial obligations and career expectations crushes them equally.
10:48The series forces viewers to confront the realization that achieving your goals doesn't necessarily bring inner peace.
10:54Their petty feud morphs into a destructive outlet for their despair,
10:58cleverly demonstrating how anger and burnout will eventually explode and ruin the things you've built.
11:03Humans can go days without water, so relax.
11:06That is 100% not true.
11:08Oh yeah? How long then?
11:10I don't know. 19 hours?
11:1219? I've slept 19 hours without water, you idiot.
11:15Who sleeps that long?
11:17I had a bad day.
11:19Number 9.
11:20Crazy Stupid Love
11:21What are you, in a fraternity?
11:22Are you insane?
11:23Who says love has to make sense?
11:25Boasting an ensemble cast intrinsically linked by Steve Carell's hapless middle-ager Cal Weaver,
11:30this movie is definitely crazy and, at times, even stupid.
11:33I'm here to something else.
11:34Really?
11:35I've only had sex with one woman in my entire life.
11:38Honest or not honest?
11:39That's honest.
11:40In the beginning, Cal must come to terms with his newfound status as a single man,
11:45after his wife reveals that she's been unfaithful.
11:47Where are your wallets?
11:51By forming an unlikely friendship with a relentless womanizer, Cal does begin to build a new life.
11:57But even so, he still loves the mother of his children.
12:00I have loved her even when I've hated her.
12:04Only married couples will understand that one.
12:06What follows is a monumental mix-up and a laugh-out-loud look at relationships.
12:11I'm gonna beat you until your brains fall out!
12:13Time out! Time out! Hold on! Hold on!
12:15Number 8. Breaking Bad
12:16Nah, come on! Man, some straight like you giant stick up his ass, all of a sudden at age, what,
12:2460?
12:24He's just gonna break bad? I'm 50.
12:27Long before the cartels and explosions took over, this iconic drama began with a quiet reckoning.
12:32Walter White turns 50 and realizes that he played by the rules his whole life with absolutely nothing to show
12:37for it.
12:38He's not taken seriously, he has no money, his marriage lacks romance, and now, worst of all, he has cancer.
12:45That inciting incident provides a brutally honest look at masculine inadequacy and financial desperation.
12:51Although the narrative quickly introduces a much larger tapestry, Walt's initial awakening strikes a universal nerve.
12:57Viewers get a front-row seat to exactly what happens when decades of simmering resentment finally boil over.
13:16Number 7. Manhattan
13:21Woody Allen has a habit of bringing at least a little beauty out of a midlife crisis, with the magical
13:26realism of Midnight in Paris being a prime example.
13:29That's, you know, what the present is, it's a little unsatisfying because life's a little unsatisfying.
13:35But we've gone further back in the Allen archive and selected Manhattan as an especially memorable tale of middle age.
13:41You married your teacher?
13:44Yeah, yeah, of course.
13:44Very, very...
13:45Well, listen to that, I mean, he failed me and I fell in love with him.
13:48That's perfect, yeah.
13:49I know, I mean, I was sleeping with him and he had the nerve to give me an F.
13:52Allen stars as Isaac Davis, a twice-divorced 40-something writer of comedy.
13:57Really, you like that?
13:58The photographs downstairs, you can tell you that?
14:01Great, absolutely great.
14:03Intent on finding at least a little focus for his existence, Davis frequents art galleries and discusses world literature,
14:09all the while looking for love against a dazzling New York backdrop.
14:12Everybody gets corrupted.
14:17Look, you have to have a little faith in people.
14:19Number 6. Mad Men
14:21Goes backwards, forwards.
14:28It takes us to a place where we ache to go again.
14:34Don Draper might just be the patron saint of the modern midlife crisis.
14:38Over seven stylish seasons, the writers methodically strip away his glamorous facade,
14:43revealing a hollow guy perpetually outrunning his own emptiness.
14:46The plot painfully illustrates that endless reinventions, new marriages, and fleeting desires never fix a fundamentally broken core.
14:54It plays out as an agonizingly slow-burn disaster,
14:57where the protagonist achieves the ultimate American dream,
15:00only to realize the victory means nothing without genuine connections.
15:04Where you headed?
15:05St. Paul.
15:08I can go that way.
15:09Great.
15:21I don't want to take you out of your way, man.
15:23It's not a problem.
15:24Number 5. Falling Down
15:26Listen, fellas, I've had a really rare morning.
15:30I mean, I'm not in the mood to come...
15:32Where should he pay?
15:33How about that f***ing briefcase, man?
15:35While most midlife crisis movies offer some hope of a positive resolution,
15:39Falling Down sees Michael Douglas play an estranged parent,
15:43ex-husband, and formerly employed Down and Out,
15:45who has reached rock bottom and is staying there.
15:48I'm the bad guy?
15:49Yeah.
15:55How'd that happen?
15:56As his frustration at life gets the better of him,
15:59he sets off on a city-wide rampage,
16:01acquiring greater weapons as he goes.
16:04You got these stupid electric carts for you old men
16:06who have nothing better to do?
16:10William Foster isn't exactly a bad person.
16:12He's just been pushed to do bad things,
16:14and woe betide anyone who gets in his way.
16:17I want breakfast.
16:18Yeah, well, hey, I'm really sorry.
16:21Yeah.
16:22Well, hey, I'm really sorry, too.
16:24Number 4. The Sopranos
16:43This show isn't regarded as one of the best because of its fun mafia story.
16:47It has that, yes, but at its core,
16:49The Sopranos is one of the most relatable stories ever told.
16:52Tony Soprano's overarching journey centers on the scary realization
16:56that he is completely trapped by the life he fought so hard to build.
16:59His panic attacks stem directly from heavy family burdens,
17:03declining health, and a profound loss of youthful purpose.
17:06Those legendary therapy scenes still act as a masterclass in psychological unraveling,
17:11frankly exposing the hollowness of material wealth
17:14and the everyday struggles of simply existing.
17:16You know my feelings.
17:18Every day is a gift.
17:22It just...
17:24It doesn't have to be a pair of socks.
17:26Number 3. Lost in Translation
17:28Does it get easier?
17:30No.
17:34Yes.
17:35In this comedy-drama, Bill Murray shines as Bob Harris,
17:38an aging American movie star stuck filming a whiskey commercial in Tokyo, Japan.
17:43For relaxing times, make it Centauri time.
17:47Scarlett Johansson's Charlotte is a recent graduate
17:50following her photographer husband to the city,
17:52with no clear idea of what she wants to do in life.
17:55The more you know who you are and what you want,
17:59the less you let things upset you.
18:06Yeah.
18:08I just don't know what I'm supposed to be.
18:10The pair forms an unexpected friendship thanks to their shared insomnia,
18:14and helps each other through both the fears of youth
18:17and the dissatisfaction of experience.
18:19I hope your Porsche works out.
18:22Cheers to that.
18:23Cheers to that.
18:25Kanpai.
18:26Lost in Translation leaves its audience deep in thought,
18:29whether they're middle-aged or otherwise.
18:37Number 2. Better Things
18:48This is perhaps the most unvarnished and authentic portrayal of middle age ever broadcast on TV.
18:54Created by and starring Pamela Adlon,
18:57Better Things follows a working actor raising three daughters
18:59while also managing her sharply declining mother.
19:02You won't find sensationalized tropes like dramatic affairs,
19:06sudden career changes, or illegal escapades here.
19:08Instead, the focus remains on the exhausting reality of just surviving
19:12as a crucial part of the sandwich generation.
19:15It bravely celebrates the unglamorous endurance test of middle age,
19:19its humor coming directly from the relatable struggles of simply getting older.
19:22If I want to have my daughter in my house, I have to have him here.
19:28Is that okay with you?
19:30No, it's really not, but it's what's going on.
19:33Number 1. American Beauty
19:35Lester, just stop it!
19:37No, no.
19:38You
19:39don't get to tell me what to do
19:43ever
19:44again.
19:45With five Academy Awards under its belt,
19:47American Beauty follows the story of Lester Burnham
19:49and his infatuation with Angela, a high school classmate of his daughter's.
19:53This is my friend, Angela Hayes.
19:56Okay.
19:58Good to meet you.
19:59You were also good tonight.
20:01Very
20:03precise.
20:04Needless to say, Lester undertakes the very definition of a midlife crisis in the film.
20:09He dreams of girls half his age,
20:11he relentlessly works out,
20:12buys cars,
20:13and ruthlessly lets his family know just what he thinks of them.
20:16I am sick and tired of being treated like I don't exist.
20:19You two do whatever you want to do,
20:21whenever you want to do it,
20:22and I don't complain.
20:24Now, all I want-
20:24Oh, you don't complain!
20:25Oh, please, excuse me.
20:26Excuse me.
20:27I must be psychotic then.
20:28If you don't complain,
20:29what is this?
20:30Yeah, let's bring in the laugh meter
20:32and see how loud it gets on that one.
20:34You don't compl-
20:35It can make for difficult viewing,
20:37but it's also essential viewing.
20:39American Beauty is just a beautiful movie.
20:42I'm just an ordinary guy
20:43with nothing to lose.
20:45Which of these do you think nailed the feeling
20:47of a midlife crisis the most?
20:49Let us know in the comments.
20:51Let us know in the comments.
20:54We'll see you next time.
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