Best movies like American Wake
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A musician and a fireman work against certain expectations in order to pursue their respective dreams.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 43
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: psychological, touching, serious, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like American Wake (2004):
Similar in 76%
Home Before Dark (1997)
Plot Summary:
It's 1963 in rural Massachusetts, and Nora James has the usual worries of an eleven year-old girl:lipstick, first crushes, staying out of trouble at school...not easy when your teacher is the elderly Sister Concilia. And even harder when your parents are struggling to heal from an almost unbearable loss. Then tragedy strikes another Massachusetts family, the Kennedys, and shatters the fragile bonds holding the James family together, Nora, sent to live with her brittle Aunt Rose, soon learns who she is, what she wants, and what she must do to achieve it. She makes a decision that is both cruel and courageous. Nora's choice unlocks the way to what amounts to the rescue of her family. (Maureen Foley, writer/director of the film).
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 129
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
Christmas Comes Home to Canaan (2011)
Plot Summary:
When Bobber undergoes experimental surgery to help him walk again, Daniel Burton falls in love with his beautiful rehabilitation doctor and invites her to spend Christmas at the farm.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 495
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, psychological, sentimental, visually appealing
Similar in 89%
Multiple Sarcasms (2010)
Plot Summary:
Gabriel is a man who on the surface has it all-successful professional life as an architect, a beautiful wife, Annie, and a devoted young daughter, Elizabeth. But slowly it dawns on him that he is not really happy. Gabriel decides that he wants to write a play about the sorry state of his life. He quits his job, gets a pushy literary agent friend to represent him and starts writing. Although his marriage ends in a divorce, the play is success and although his life is different than it was, he is happier.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 716
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, atmospheric, contemplative, touching, offbeat, serious, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Civil Love (2012)
Plot Summary:
Rachel is a widow during the Civil War who holds the South responsible for her husband's death. When a wounded enemy soldier takes refuge in her barn, Rachel reluctantly helps him. As she gets to know him more, she realizes she must protect him from the dangerous men pursuing him, and discovers a courage she didn't know she had - the courage to love again.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 187
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 77%
See Girl Run (2012)
Plot Summary:
What happens when a 30-something woman allows life's "what ifs" to overwhelm her appreciation for what life actually is. Disregarding her current obligations, she digs into her romantic past in hopes of invigorating her present.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, sincere, clever, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 81%
The Pier (2011)
Plot Summary:
After 20 years of no contact with his father, Jack McCarthy (played by Hurley) travels from New York to his father Larry's death bed in Cork. Upon arrival he is furious to find his father alive and well and even more so when he then discovers he can't leave. Soon, father and son are forced to deal with a painful history. At the core of their conflict is Larry's denial about the death of his wife, Jack's mother. The story explores the difficult and painful, but often very hilarious ways they try to communicate. Forging a begrudging peace, the reality of life sets in when Larry discloses to Jack another truth that leads to a final reconciliation.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 275
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, contemplative, captivating, psychological, sincere, serious
Similar in 77%
Cowboy Up (2001)
Plot Summary:
"Cowboy Up" is a celebration of the risk-taking, daredevil personalities of modern rodeo. In the world of professional bull riding, newcomer Ely Braxton (Marcus Thomas) is the craziest guy around; his brother Hank (Kiefer Sutherland) is a rodeo clown, and the two use each other to play up their acts. But love may be one thing that tears the brothers apart. When Ely falls for the rodeo's sweetheart (Daryl Hannah), Hank is filled with jealousy and hatred. The brothers try to come to grips with their differences, but the competition gets as fierce as the bulls in the ring.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 941
Genere: Drama, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, touching, sex comedy
Similar in 82%
Irene in Time (2009)
Plot Summary:
A film about the complex relationships between fathers and daughters, and the potential lifelong consequences of those relationships.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, clever, touching, humorous, serious, realistic, talky, independent film
Similar in 83%
Pope Dreams (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the vein of Good Will Hunting and Garden State, POPE DREAMS is a coming of age tale about a young man at a crossroads in life. Filled with heart, music, life, and loss. And a set of drums. Oh, and the Pope. POPE DREAMS is about a directionless nineteen-year old boy, Andy Venable, who works for his hard-case dad in a store warehouse during the day and plays drums in a loud heavy-metal band at night. His only clear goal at the moment is to get his sick mother, a devout Catholic, to meet the Pope before she dies. While he's busy with that, he falls for a girl who's totally out of his league and gets discovered by two Broadway producers for a musical talent that just might be his true calling. Andy's a dreamer. But dreaming is easy. It's reality that's hard.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 285
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, psychological, sentimental, independent film, serious
Similar in 80%
Don't Let Me Drown (2009)
Plot Summary:
In a post-September 11th world overflowing with fear and hate, two Latino teens discover that sometimes the only thing that can keep them from drowning is love.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 428
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: realistic, psychological, sentimental, captivating, touching, serious, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 82%
This Is My Father (1998)
Plot Summary:
When schoolteacher Kieran Johnson (James Caan) discovers that his father was not a French sailor (as he had been led to believe) but rather an Irish farmer, Kieran looks to his mother (Moya Farrelly) for answers. When she refuses to provide any, Kieran travels to Ireland. In flashbacks, we watch a romance develop between Kieran's mother, a college girl, and his father (Aidan Quinn), an inarticulat.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Ireland, Canada
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, sincere, serious, independent film, psychological, light, romantic, sexy
Similar in 86%
Love Is Blind (2013)
Plot Summary:
30-year old Kertu has lived under her father's power her whole life. Because of her gentle nature, she is thought by locals to be a little simple-minded. The young woman makes her first timid attempt to change something in her life - she send a postcard to Villu, a handsome but degenerate village drunk.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 958
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Estonia
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, touching, serious, captivating
Similar in 86%
Sunday (1997)
Plot Summary:
This film concerns two mysterious characters who meet on a Sunday in Queens. Madeleine the most unsettling creature of that name since "Vertigo" is a middle-aged, moderately successful actress. Oliver/Matthew is either a homeless man or a famous film director or both. Madeleine hails him on the street as the latter, launching a bizarre chain of events that includes a conversation in a diner, a very unromantic sexual encounter, the arrival of Madeleine's odd husband and unsuspecting daughter, and a child's birthday party. The film also compassionately tracks the daily rounds of Oliver/Matthew's fellow denizens of the homeless shelter, some of whom will be recognizable to New York audiences.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 696
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: independent film, psychological, thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Living 'til the End (2005)
Plot Summary:
Told by a psychic of his imminent death on his next birthday, Jack lives out the year, as a hopeless agoraphobic, until he meets a young woman who slowly coaxes him out of his self imposed bondage.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 268
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: touching, psychological, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 90%
David and Lisa (1998)
Plot Summary:
It was adapted as a stage play in 1967, and was remade as a television movie in 1998 starring Lukas Haas, Sidney Poitier and Brittany Murphy.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 691
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Maze (2000)
Plot Summary:
Artist Lyle Maze is reconciled to a life without romance thanks to his dual afflictions: Tourette's Syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder. But his life takes an unexpected turn when his friend Mike departs on a humanitarian mission, leaving behind his pregnant girlfriend Callie. She leans on Lyle for help, and before long he's Lamaze coach, pinch-hitting father-to-be and in love with Callie.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 898
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, erotic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
Tempted (2003)
Plot Summary:
The strain of juggling her responsibilities as wife, mother, and successful paralegal have worn Emma Burke (Virginia Madsen) out. Thus it is that Emma welcomes the opportunity to briefly take leave of her Boston home and head for sunny Hawaii. It is not, however, a pleasure trip: Having promised to honor the dying wishes of her Hawaiian-born surrogate mother, Emma had agreed to transport the woman's ashes to the Islands for a traditional burial ceremony. Leaving her husband, Mike (Andrew McFarlane), behind to care for their two children, Emma arrives in Hawaii for the first time since childhood, where she is reunited with her childhood friend Kala (Jason Momoa), the handsome son of her late surrogate parent. Against her better judgment, Emma falls in love with Kala, and he with her. Complications arise when Mike and the kids show up in the Islands, a the obligatory evil land developer rears his ugly head, and Emma learns the shocking truth about her biological mother.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 503
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, realistic, romantic drama, sexual, sexy
Similar in 86%
Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the young, very sexy barmaid--and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 85%
Alexander the Last (2009)
Plot Summary:
An ensemble drama about a married actress, her sister and their myriad sexual and creative temptations.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 902
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: mumblecore, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, heartfelt, contemplative, independent film, sexual, sexy
Similar in 79%
Mercy (2009)
Plot Summary:
A young novelist tries to write about love, but realizes he will first need some real-life experience before taking on the subject.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, sincere, psychological, captivating, romantic, touching, serious, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Come What May (2009)
Plot Summary:
Caleb and Rachel team up to lead the Patrick Henry College team in the intense world of collegiate moot court competition. Caleb looks to date Rachel, but she's waiting for courtship. Meanwhile, Caleb becomes caught in a moral tug-of-war between his parents - a newly Christian father and a feminist attorney mother. Caleb's mom goes before the U.S. Supreme Court defending abortion, even as Caleb simultaneously takes on the opposing legal argument at the national moot court championship.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 196
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, captivating, psychological, indie film, touching, serious, contemplative, christian film
Similar in 87%
No Looking Back (1998)
Plot Summary:
Charlie returns to his old town where he meets his ex-girlfriend again and tries to get her back.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: emotional, disturbing, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy, scary, light
Similar in 89%
Flying Lessons (2010)
Plot Summary:
With her life at a crossroads, 25 year old Sophie Conway returns home to the small town she always wanted to forget. Once home, she is faced with the friends and lovers she left behind, a tangled relationship with her Mother, and Harry Pleasant, an Alzheimer's Disease patient who, in an opposing way, shares Sophie's struggle to remember.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 441
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, realistic, serious, inspirational
Similar in 76%
A Touch of Fate (2003)
Plot Summary:
One night in a small town in North Carolina, fate brings together three lives: an entertainment lawyer returning home to his dying mother after years in escape of his past, a woman trying to reclaim her supposed love, and a boy with a penchant for the sixth sense who struggles with the death of his father and overbearing love of his single mother. When the past and future suddenly bind these people together on a journey of need, forgiveness and discovery, they realize they've gained something when they least expected it.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 216
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 81%
The Green Chariot (2005)
Plot Summary:
Emigration to Israel challenges Sasha's Jewish identity. Will love help him to go over this crisis?.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 27
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Israel
Duration: 47 min
Plot tags: touching, sentimental, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Blue Diner (2001)
Plot Summary:
A film about food, memory, language and caskets, BLUE DINER tells the story of a Puerto Rican mother and her daughter who struggle to explain how the daughter mysteriously loses her ability to speak Spanish, her first language.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 126
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 78%
Cafe Setareh (2006)
Plot Summary:
Filmmaker Saman Moghadam details the struggles of three women living in an antiquated district of Tehran in this emotionally resonant drama. Fabria's husband has been morally corrupted, and now it's up to her to take charge of the small café that proves the only source of income to the couple. Saloomeh is a beautiful young woman who dreams of marrying Ebi, but how will the couple survive on the salary of a simple mechanic? Lastly, middle aged Moluk has fallen for a much younger man, and her heart breaks when she discovers that her love is unrequited.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 899
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Iran
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 80%
The Playboys (1992)
Plot Summary:
A young woman, Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) scandalizes her provincial Irish village in the 1950s by having a baby out of a wedlock, and refusing to name the father. She has a rare beauty and every man in town desires her, especially Sergeant Hegarty (Albert Finney). The arrival of a dramatic troupe stirs things up even more, especially when she falls in love with one f the "Playboys", Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn).
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, UK, Ireland
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, sentimental, sincere, captivating, independent film
Similar in 90%
Face (2002)
Plot Summary:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 89%
Picture Bride (1994)
Plot Summary:
Riyo, an orphaned 17-year old, sails from Yokohama to Hawaii in 1918 to marry Matsuji, a man she has never met. Hoping to escape a troubled past and start anew, Riyo is bitterly disappointed upon her arrival: her husband is twice her age. The miserable girl finds solace with her new friend Kana, a young mother who helps Riyo accept her new life.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, melancholic, serious, independent film, realistic, contemplative, sentimental, inspirational, romantic