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buddy movie

A buddy movie is a film genre built around two mismatched or complementary characters who are forced together and have to learn to work as a team, usually while bickering their way through an adventure.

ˈbʌdi ˈmuvi48 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
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#1·Apr 28, 2026

A buddy movie is a film genre built around two mismatched or complementary characters who are forced together and have to learn to work as a team, usually while bickering their way through an adventure. Think 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, or Planes Trains and Automobiles. The formula is endlessly flexible — buddy cop, buddy road trip, buddy heist — and the dynamic between the leads is always the real point. The genre practically runs on chemistry, banter, and the eventual bromantic epiphany.

Everyone agreed the film was a classic buddy movie: two total opposites stuck in a car together for two hours, driving each other insane.
Origin: American English; 'buddy' (close friend or companion) plus 'movie'; the genre crystallised in the 1970s–80s Hollywood cinema though its roots go back to vaudeville double acts. Editorial expansion authored on Slangora.
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#2·Apr 27, 2026

(US) A buddy film.

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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.

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