From Josey to Jesse to Jennifer – Best Movies Set in Missouri

Have you ever had one of those times when you were thinking about nothing in particular and suddenly the thought comes to mind, "I wonder if there have been any movies that have been set in the great state of Missouri?"

The short answer to that question is oh, heck yeah.

A search of imdb.com lists nearly a hundred different movies where the setting has been somewhere in the Show-Me State.

Here are the ones that article called the best Missouri movies.

1. Waiting for Guffman (1997) - "An aspiring director and the marginally talented amateur cast of a hokey small-town Missouri musical production go overboard when they learn that someone from Broadway will be in attendance." Set in the fictional town of Blaine, Missouri.

2. Winter's Bone (2010) - "An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact." Made a star of Jennifer Lawrence. Gets extra points because this was also filmed in Missouri, in the Branson area.

3. The Outlaw Josie Wales (1976) - "Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family." Clint Eastwood directed and starred.

4. The Lookout (2007) - "Chris is a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank, where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist." Set in the Kansas City area, but filmed in Canada.

5. I Shot Jesse James (1949) - "Bob Ford murders his best friend Jesse James in order to obtain a pardon that will free him to marry his girlfriend but is plagued by guilt and self-disgust." Not to be confused with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.