Different movie, but same actor, same plot device (films, action, comedy)

[Tracysherm]

I was watching some DVDs that I haven't watched in a long time, and one was Final Analysis from 1992. It's a drama/mystery/suspense movie starring Kim Bassinger and Richard Gere. Bassinger's character has a condition they call "pathological intoxication" that causes her to become completely psychotic when she ingests alcohol. She ends up murdering someone, etc.

This rung a bell for me. So I took out Blind Date from 1987. This is a goofy comedy starring Bruce Willis and Kim Bassinger. In this movie, with a completely different plot from the above movie, Bassinger's character also has a medical condition that causes her to become completely psychotic and out of control when she ingests alcohol. This time it's not murder, but all kind of mayhem and hijinks that ensue.

But here are two very different movies that hinge on Kim Bassinger having a little known medical condition involving alcohol-induced psychosis.

Can you think of other pairs of movies in which the same actor interacted with the same plot device?

Please don't include action movie heroes, as we all know they essentially play the same character in every movie. And no "John Wayne played a cowboy in these two different movies" or "Charles Bronson played a badass who solved a crime by breaking laws himself."

[Tracysherm]

Here's another one:

In Coming To America (and Eddie Murphy comedy movie from 1988) James Earl Jones plays a King from Africa whose son embarks on a journey away from home, the journey which becomes the plot of the whole movie. Then in The Lion King, a 1994 animated movie, Jones plays (well, does the voice of) a "king" from Africa whose son embarks on a journey away from home, which becomes the plot of the whole movie. But here's the kicker: in both of those movies, the African queen married to the king is played by Madge Sinclair.

[TurcoLoco]

I was going to make a list but this is much easier!

[Tracysherm]

Those are cool, but did not involve the same actor.

Now if Tom Hanks starred in two movies in which he was a cop with a police dog for a partner, THAT would fit this thread.

[bellakin123]

I always thought Vanilla Sky and Eyes Wide Shut, both with Tom Cruise, were very similar. Both are about jealousy and obsession and both seemed to have that sense of confusion and erratic dreams/hallucinations. In both movies Tom Cruise's character was wealthy. Masks also seemed to be a theme in both movies.

[Grandstander]

"Meatballs" and "Stripes" were more or less the same story of misfits led by Bill Murray who rise above it all and win the day. There is no difference whatsoever between the character Murray played in Meatballs and the one he played in Stripes. The highlight of each of those films is Murray delivering the hilarious eve of battle inspiration speech.

[OwlKaMyst]

Mathew McConaughey-
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Failure to Launch.