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I started to think the other day about how many films exist out there where the lead character(s) are pretending/known to be something they aren't thus making up the plot line.  Movies like Bean where he is supposed to be a major art expert and Corky Romano where he is supposed to be an FBI agent.  In both cases they're just idiots. I wanted to see how many we could come up with.  

In The Man Who Knew To Little Bill Murray thinks he's in a stage-play when he's really involved in a spy conspiracy theory.  (I think, it's been a while).

That's all that I can think of...

In Point Break, Keanu Reeves "pretends" to be a surfer when he's really an FBI agent. You wouldn't think this is hard, but his acting skills are pushed to the limit even in this role.

Alec Baldwin in Miami Blues is a serial conman, making out he's a banker working the stockmarket and then goes on to impersonate a police officer.

Also, Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie... 'nuff said.  :smile:

Michael Berryman as Pluto pretending to be an army officer over the radio in the original The Hills Have Eyes... to (un)surprisingly effective results >.>

Being There - Chance the gardener is taken to be a political genius, when he's really just incredibly simple.

there's an 80s film about a cop that has to go undercover in a highschool pretending to be a student, despite the fact hes virtually gone bald and has to wear a baseball cap to cover it. forgot the name...

Tim Allen's character and TV show in Galaxy Quest (1999) mistaken for being real by aliens.

Eddie Murphy in The Distinguished Gentleman

Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire comes to mind.

Lou Costello in more than one role I should imagine.

clark kent pretending to not be superman

Well that just brings up all sorts of superhereos; Batman, Spider-man, etc...

Catch Me If You Can, where Leonardo DiCaprio, con man, was being chased by Tom Hanks. 
Just One of the Guys, teen girl fakes being a guy in another school. 
New Guy, nerdy kid becomes tough in a new high school...

That would most likely be Hiding Out (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093186/), starring Jon Cryer. Although I don't remember him being almost bald, so it may be another movie you're thinking of. But this one fits, too.

Probably Plain Clothes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095875/), with the balding Arliss Howard. He was cop in that one. In Hiding Out, Jon Cryer is an accountant on the run or something.

Another example of this is Uwe Boll trying to be a director. Epic fail.  :buggedout:

Plenty of movies where aliens take human form to blend in with society:  Candy Stripers, The Puppet Masters, They Live, The Hidden, Decoys, etc.

And the old cyborg pretending to be human trick:  Crash and Burn, Blade Runner, the Terminator movies, Alien, etc.

yeah, fair point..


it's not that one, same era though...possibly something like 'Back to School', or 'Back in class'?

There's that one 80's movie, Soul Man, with C. Thomas Howell pretending to be a black man to get a Harvard scholarship.  Though, he really just looked like a white man with darker skin, and still managed to fool everyone, including Rae Dawn Chong, and James Earl Jones.   :bouncegiggle:

- The hidden, with Kyle MachLachlan impersonating an FBI officer.

- A simple plan, where somebody else also pretends to be with the FBI.

And many WWII movies have the main characters impersonating Nazi soldiers or Gestapo at some point. Where eagles dare and Von Ryan's express come to mind.

Yep, that's the one. Ah, the 80's. Arliss Howard is the guy who was Cowboy in Full Metal Jacket. Looked like an obvious 35-year-old man trying to act like a high school student. Part of a whole slew of high school films about alternate identities, switching identities, anything about pretending to be something one is not. Other examples:

Just One of the Guys (1985)
Can't Buy Me Love (1987)
Plus others brought up on this thread.

Let's not forget also the slew of "switcheroo" films of the same era:

Like Father Like Son (1987)
Vice Versa (1988)
18 Again! (1988)

Ah the 80's.

In The Movie EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK


The Segment Where The Guy And His Wife Visit Their Friends And He Goes Upstairs Into The Woman's Room And Starts Dressing In Her Clothes , And When She Starts Coming Into The Room He Jumps Out The Window And Pretends To Be An Old Lady Waking Down The Street , And He Uses The Scarf To Cover His Moustache

Ed in The Man Who Wasn't There*



*could just be my interpretation of the film.