10 Great Movies Filmed in Florida

Florida is always at the top of the list when Americans are asked where they would like to retire. Living on the beach is what everyone seems to aspire to. Is it really the definition of the American Dream? That is certainly how it is portrayed in many movies filmed in Florida. Peerspace is a great choice for locating photo and film shoot locations in Florida, where it can also easily stand-in for the tropical Caribbean or southeast Asia in films. As the following list of movies filmed in Florida demonstrates, the state has a lot going for it besides warm breezes and sandy beaches.

1. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Upon release, Midnight Cowboy was extremely controversial. The film stars Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman as they struggle for survival on the streets of New York and is compelling. Voight plays country boy Joe Buck who meets “Ratso” Rizzo, a street hustler played by Dustin Hoffman. The two men team together, but as Ratso’s health declines, Joe cares for him with predictable results. In fact, the movie is a poignant and shocking glimpse into the underbelly of American society. While mostly filmed in New York, the movie concludes with a memorable scene during a bus trip down the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, FL.

2. Caddyshack (1980)

This cult classic stars Bill Murray as Carl Spackler, a slow-witted greenskeeper who is at war with the gophers infiltrating the greens at the Bushwood Country Club in Beverly Hills. Danny Noonan (Michael O’Keefe) works as a caddy to earn enough money to go to college. This movie is a favorite of golf fans and comedy fans alike. Golf scenes were filmed at the Rolling Hills Golf Club in Davie, FL and the dinner scene was filmed at the Boca Raton Hotel in Boca Raton, FL.

3. Cocoon (1985)

Ron Howard directed this touching science fiction fantasy in which the residents of a Florida retirement facility discover a “fountain of youth” in the pool house. Apparently, some aliens from outer space have been using the swimming pool to store their cocooned friends, and the swimming pool has consequently acquired a powerful, rejuvenating effect. What would you do if you were in their shoes? The movie was shot in and around the retirement villages of St. Petersburg, FL.

4. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Directed by Tim Burton, the movie stars Johnny Depp as a strange creature with artistic abilities and Winona Ryder as an average girl who falls in love with him. Edward Scissorhands is an animated creature built by a scientist (Vincent Price). Unfortunately, the scientist dies before he can finish building Edward, leaving him with scissor blades instead of hands. Despite his artistic talents and kind spirit, Edward’s hands make him an outcast. This is a quintessential offering among movies filmed in Florida, as it was filmed in the very nondescript suburbs of Tampa Bay.

5. Cape Fear (1991)

Directed by Martin Scorsese, this thriller stars Nick Nolte as Sam Bowden, an attorney who withholds evidence that would acquit Max Cady (played by Robert De Niro). Max spends 14 years in prison, but after being released, he stalks the Bowden family in a revenge plot. Sam realizes that he must commit a crime in order to protect his wife and daughter. The story takes place in North Carolina, but several memorable scenes were shot in Fort Lauderdale, the Everglades, and Hollywood, FL.

6. My Girl (1991)

Macaulay Culkin plays Thomas, a young boy whose best friend is a girl named Vada, played by Anna Chlumsky. Vada’s mother died while giving birth to her, and her father (Dan Aykroyd) operates a mortuary out of their home. The other kids think she’s ‘weird’ and to make the situation even more difficult, Vada is in love with her English teacher, Mr. Bixler (Griffin Dunne). While the story is set in Pennsylvania, it was filmed in Sanford, Mirror Lake and Plant City, FL.

7. The Bodyguard (1992)

Whitney Houston plays a famous singer/actress with a dangerous stalker who hires a former Secret Service agent as her bodyguard (Kevin Costner). While she initially resents him, the famous actress comes to respect her bodyguard immensely after he proves his true worth to her by saving her life repeatedly. But is it really love? Some performance scenes were shot at the famous Fontainebleau Hilton Hotel in Miami.

8. True Lies (1994)

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Harry, a spy who pretends to be an ordinary salesman. Jamie Lee Curtis plays his wife Helen who is thinking about starting an affair with Simon (Bill Paxton), a used-car salesman who pretends to be a spy. When Helen is kidnapped by a terrorist with nuclear missiles, the secret agent must save the world and reinvigorate his marriage at the same time. Some exciting action scenes were filmed at the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys, making this one of the more memorable movies filmed in Florida.

9. The Waterboy (1998)

Adam Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a strange kid raised by an overbearing mother named Helen (Kathy Bates). Bobby is the water boy for a very successful college football team. When Bobby gets fired, he takes a job as the water boy for the losing team, led by nondescript Coach Klein (Henry Winkler). When the coach witnesses Bobby beating up a player who teased him, the coach sees his potential and adds him to the team. Miraculously, the team goes on to win all their games with Bobby as a linebacker. The story takes place in Louisiana, but the movie was filmed in Jacksonville, Orlando, and Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, making this a favorite among Florida sports fans for movies filmed in Florida.

10. Magic Mike (2012)

Channing Tatum stars as Mike, a popular male stripper in Tampa, FL who spends his days doing any kind of odd job to earn money. When Mike meets a young guy he calls the Kid (Alex Pettyfer), he sees potential in him and tries to teach him how to be a male stripper. However, the story gets complicated when Mike falls in love with the Kid’s sister, who is not impressed with the stripper lifestyle. 

Movies filmed in Florida: conclusion

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