Best movies like Jane Austen in Manhattan
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Two teachers vie for the right to stage a play written by Jane Austen when she was twelve years old.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: romantic drama, independent film, clever, humorous, realistic, experimental, semi serious, avant garde, crying
Best tv shows and movies like Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980):
Similar in 83%
Illuminata (1998)
Plot Summary:
It's the start of the 20th century, and Tuccio, resident playwright of a theatre repertory company offers the owners of the company his new play, "Illuminata". They reject it, saying it's not finished, and intrigue starts that involves influential critic Bevalaqua, theatre star Celimene, young lead actors and other theatre residents.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Spain, USA, Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: melancholic, artsy, stylized, humorous, witty, intellectual, independent film, clever, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 85%
My Geisha (1962)
Plot Summary:
A director's (Yves Montand) wife (Shirley MacLaine) poses as a geisha to win the lead in his Japanese production of "Madame Butterfly.".
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: retro, clever, humorous, realistic, talky, semi serious, romantic comedy
Similar in 78%
Dogtown (1997)
Plot Summary:
Philip Van Horn, who left his small town a long time ago to become a Hollywood actor and hasn't had any success at that, returns to the town for a visit. There he is uniformally met like some kind of celebrity and movie star. He uses it to impress his (and everybody's) school love Dorothy, her life now a grey boring experience.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 481
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, crying
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Similar in 85%
The Leading Man (1996)
Plot Summary:
Successful playwright Felix Webb has a new play, 'The Hit Man', in rehearsal. Directed by his old friend Humphrey, it is already being hailed as a masterpiece; but Felix can't enjoy his success. He has fallen passionately in love with Hilary, a beautiful, fiesty young actress, and is preparing to desert his perfect family, his wife Elena and three lively children. His intolerable situation is further complicated when Humphrey casts Hilary as one of the leads in 'The Hit Man'. Enter Robin Grange, a charismatic young Hollywood actor making his London theatre debut. Robin is attractive, charming and dangerous, and soon inveigles his way into everyone's life. He ingratiates himself with the cast and, quickly grasping Felix's dilemma, sets about weaving his web of mischief. He suggests that if he were to seduce Elena, she would be distracted from Felix's affair, regain her self respect, and perhaps even willingly part from the unfaithful husband to whom she clings.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sweet, semi serious, realistic, clever, talky, emotional, melancholic, humorous, witty, crying
Similar in 75%
Butley (1974)
Plot Summary:
Alan Bates recreates his award-winning stage role in director Harold Pinter's 1974 film verson of Simon Gray's play, about a university professor whose private life is in freefall. The cast also includes Jessica Tandy, Richard O'Callaghan, Susan Engel and Georgina Hale.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 870
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: independent film, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, semi serious, crying, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
The Hottest State (2006)
Plot Summary:
A young actor from Texas tries to make it in New York while struggling in his relationship with a beautiful singer/songwriter.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, touching, semi serious, contemplative, gloomy, adaptation directed by original author
Similar in 83%
The Simian Line (2000)
Plot Summary:
The Simian Line is an American improvisational film, released in 2001. When Katharine (Lynn Redgrave) throws a party on Halloween, a psychic called Arnita (Tyne Daly) predicts that one of the three couples present at the party will break up by the end of the year. The guests don't take her seriously. Arnita doesn't tell them that she can see a fourth couple at the party, the long dead Mae (Samantha Mathis) and Edward (William Hurt). As days go by, Katharine grows increasingly jealous of her lover Rick (Harry Connick, Jr.), and his flirting with her neighbor Sandra (Cindy Crawford). Sandra is married to Paul (Jamey Sheridan). Marta (Monica Keena) and Billy (Dylan Bruno) are rock musicians who live in the same building as Katharine.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 420
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, captivating, sex comedy, independent film, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 90%
The City of Your Final Destination (2009)
Plot Summary:
28-year-old Kansas University doctoral student Omar Razaghi wins a grant to write a biography of Latin American writer Jules Gund. Omar must get through to three people who were close to Gund--his brother, widow, and younger mistress--so he can get authorization to write the biography. Written by Marisa_Gabriella, edited by Krystal Frauendienst.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, serious, rough, tense, thought provoking, contemplative, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 87%
The Europeans (1979)
Plot Summary:
Based on Henry James' novel with the same title. It's the fall of 1850, a few miles outside Boston. The household of the dour Mr. Wentworth receives two unannounced visitors from Europe, Eugenia and Felix, the daughter and son of his half sister. Gertrude, one of Wentworth's two daughters, is instantly infatuated with her cousins, thinking them sophisticated and worldly. She turns her back on the local Unitarian minister, Mr. Brand, who has been calling on her, to delight in the pleasure and amusement Felix offers. Another wealthy neighbor, Mr. Acton, is attracted to Eugenia, who is going through a divorce with a European aristocrat. Are the Americans being used by the penniless Europeans? Or is there real affection?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: romantic drama, historical drama, realistic, stylized, semi serious, biting, independent film, costume drama, suspense, period drama
Similar in 83%
My Life's in Turnaround (1993)
Plot Summary:
Two Manhattan slackers want to make a movie about their lives. One drives a cab, the other tends bar; neither has a clue how to make a movie. Things look up when real-life actors Phoebe Cates and Martha Plimpton agree to star in the project.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: independent film, offbeat, feel good, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious
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Similar in 86%
These Foolish Things (2006)
Plot Summary:
As war looms on the horizon, a hopeful ingenue (Zoe Tapper) finds herself caught between the warring affections of a playwright (David Leon) and a director (Andrew Lincoln) in 1930s London. Director Julia Taylor-Stanley's heartwarming ensemble piece features zesty performances by Anjelica Huston as an eccentric investor, Mark Umbers as a vain matinee idol, and Terence Stamp as a tart butler. And don't miss the immortal Lauren Bacall in a small role.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 568
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, captivating, emotional, serious, realistic, crying
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Similar in 85%
Being Julia (2004)
Plot Summary:
Julia Lambert is a true diva: beautiful, talented, weathly and famous. She has it all - including a devoted husband who has mastermined her brilliant career - but after years of shining in the spotlight she begins to suffer from a severe case of boredom and longs for something new and exciting to put the twinkle back in her eye. Julia finds exactly what she's looking for in a handsome young American fan, but it isn't long before the novelty fling adds a few more sparks than she was hoping for. Fortuately for her, this surprise twist in the plot will thrust her back into the greatest role of her life.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Canada, USA, Hungary, UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: period piece, emotional, entertaining, stylized, sincere, witty, touching, romantic, historical drama, feel good
Similar in 83%
One Last Dance (2003)
Plot Summary:
In the wake of tragedy, a renowed New York dance company is on the brink of collapse. After leaving the dance world for good, Travis, Chrissa, and Max are pulled in to resurrect the dance that shattered their careers. They have one last chance to save the company, re-connect with the passion and magic, and prove that miracles really can happen.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, romantic, sexy, independent film
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Similar in 78%
Sueño (2005)
Plot Summary:
A Mexican immigrant new to Los Angeles enters into a love triangle with two very different women.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 615
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, humorous, semi serious, crying, freeze frame
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Similar in 75%
Roseland (1977)
Plot Summary:
"Roseland" is made up of three stories, sometimes connecting, all set in the famed New York dance palace, and all having the same theme: finding the right dance partner.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 533
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, thought provoking, captivating, anthology, romantic drama, independent film, touching
Similar in 81%
XX/XY (2002)
Plot Summary:
When two college students, Sam and Thea, meet Coles at a party, their mutual attraction is immediate, leading to a passionate and awkward night together, and the onset of an intensely charged bond. As they continue to push the sexual boundaries of their friendship, however, they are tested by Sam and Coles' incipient romance and Thea's increasing recklessness, until the relationship dissolves amid a cloud of fear, resentment and mistrust. Eight years later they reunite. An animator for a high-profile ad agency, Coles now lives with Claire, his girlfriend of five years. Thea is happily married to Miles, with whom she owns a flourishing restaurant. And Sam has just returned to Manhattan after working in London where she recently broke off her engagement. Yet upon reconnecting, the three are drawn back into the complicated dynamic that defined their relationship from the start and are forced to confront the true meaning of commitment and love.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: melancholic, intense, psychological, touching, humorous, erotic, art house, independent film, talky, sensual
Similar in 78%
Playing by Heart (1998)
Plot Summary:
Eleven articulate people work through affairs of the heart in L.A. Paul produces Hannah's TV cooking show. Mark is dying of AIDS. Men have scalded Meredith so she rebuffs Trent's charm, but he persists. The trendy, prolix Joan tries to pull the solitary Keenan into her orbit. An adulterous couple meet at hotels for evening sex. Hugh tells tall tales, usually tragic, to women in bars.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: sincere, light, romantic, sweet, independent film, sentimental, touching, realistic, talky, anthology
Similar in 84%
An Awfully Big Adventure (1995)
Plot Summary:
Liverpool. 1947. A star-struck young girl learns about the grown-up world of the theater.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: bleak, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, biting, crying, independent film
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Similar in 80%
Fish Without a Bicycle (2003)
Plot Summary:
Comedy - Julianna (Jenna Mattison) is a struggling actress in a dead end relationship with Danny (Brad Rowe), a fireman who no longer lights her fire. When she decides to leave him and go "find herself" she ends up falling in love with an egotistical director, Michael (Bryan Callen), who can barely fit her in between Pilates classes.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 256
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, light, emotional, clever, realistic, witty, talky, semi serious, sexual
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Similar in 77%
The Man from Elysian Fields (2001)
Plot Summary:
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: witty, melancholic, clever, touching, sexy, entertaining, independent film, art house, humorous, realistic
Similar in 81%
Heat and Dust (1983)
Plot Summary:
The parallel story of Anne and her grand-aunt Olivia in their experiences in India.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: realistic, costume drama, romantic drama, historical drama, serious, contemplative, crying, independent film, baroque, period drama
Similar in 84%
Musical Chairs (2011)
Plot Summary:
When his dancer partner, Mia, lands in the hospital after an accident, Armando persuades her to train for an upcoming wheelchair ballroom dancing contest.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 338
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, realistic, captivating, sincere, romantic, romantic drama, serious, hispanic
Similar in 83%
Heights (2005)
Plot Summary:
'Heights' follows five characters over 24 hours on a fall day in New York City. Isabel, a photographer, is having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage to Jonathan, a lawyer. On the same day, Isabel's mother Diana learns that her husband has a new lover and begins to re-think her life choices and her open marriage. Diana and Isabel's paths cross with Alec, a young actor, and with Peter, a journalist. As the interrelated stories proceed, the connections between the lives of the five characters begin to reveal themselves and their stories unravel. Isabel, Jonathan, Diana, Alec, and Peter must choose what kind of lives they will lead before the sun comes up on the next day.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, stylized, serious, clever, witty, talky, emotional, non-linear, controversial, gloomy
Similar in 77%
The Goodbye Girl (1977)
Plot Summary:
Paula McFadden knows: In romance, actors all follow the same stage instruction: Exit. Without warning, her actor boyfriend split today for a movie role and sublet their Manhattan apartment. The new tenant's name: Elliot Garfield. Profession: actor. Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason deliver comedy, zingy repartee and bitter-to-best romance in The Goodbye Girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: romantic comedy, funny, sweet, sentimental, touching, witty, comedy drama, feel good, humorous, realistic
Similar in 79%
Little Lili (2003)
Plot Summary:
This film, loosely inspired by Anton Chekov's The Seagull, weaves a story about sex, family and the business of making films. When the young and overly sensitive filmmaker Julien screens his new DV art-film starring his girlfriend Lili (Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) --a sexy young local girl--to his famous actress mother Mado, and her lover Brice, an accomplished film director, an unraveling of the delicate peace in their house begins. The graceful beauty Lili, who dreams of becoming a famous actress like Mado, is immediately fascinated by Brice, who gladly falls prey to her charms.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, clever, touching, erotic, contemplative, sexual, crying, sexy
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Similar in 80%
Intentions (2003)
Plot Summary:
Renee leads a fulfilling life as a professor of theater, mother of two girls, and wife to a kind and successful husband. Her life of contentment is changed forever when she discovers an undeniable attraction between herself and a female graduate student. Now every element of her life is called into question -- a question only she can answer about what she wants and needs.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 224
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, realistic, independent film
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Similar in 75%
Julie Johnson (2001)
Plot Summary:
A New Jersey housewife is dissatisfied with her everyday life because she is smarter than she or anyone else knows. While taking a computer class, Julie discovers her abilities and finds the courage to make dramatic life changes. This is a story of realizing one's potential and being willing to turn one's life upside down to take a chance on finding happiness. Claire, Julie's best friend, goes along with Julie's secret quest and eventually moves in with her. Both women are on a search to realize their dreams and come to terms with their love for each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 712
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, clever, touching, realistic, emotional, talky, semi serious, queer cinema
Similar in 75%
Northanger Abbey (2007)
Plot Summary:
A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA, Ireland
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: romantic, costume drama, feel good, realistic, period piece, gothic, psychological, humorous, historical drama, heartbreaking
Similar in 75%
Mansfield Park (2007)
Plot Summary:
In Mansfield Park, poverty-stricken Fanny Price is sent away to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt at Mansfield Park. As she struggles to adapt to her new lifestyle she begins to attract the attentions of suitors, learning about the sexual politics of high society along the way.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: period piece, costume drama, realistic, witty, stylized, romantic, historical drama, touching, gloomy, semi serious
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Similar in 85%
Burning Annie (2004)
Plot Summary:
The story of a college student with an "Annie Hall" addiction trying to make his new relationship work.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 286
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, humorous, witty, semi serious, clever, offbeat, realistic, talky, independent film