Best movies like Earthwork
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In 1994, real-life crop artist Stan Herd traveled from Kansas to Manhattan's Upper West Side to create a massive environmental artwork on land owned by Donald Trump. The multi-acre artwork was made from soil, rock, plants and vegetation near an underground railway tunnel. Stan recruited a number of homeless individuals living in the tunnel to become his crew. Over the months it took to complete the earthwork, Stan dealt with a myriad of difficulties in bringing his unique, rural art form to an urban canvas and the many costs his art exacted upon his life. In the process, he unexpectedly encountered the true meaning of his art and it's ultimate, lasting rewards.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 882
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sentimental, sincere, realistic, serious, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Earthwork (2009):
Similar in 87%
Morgen (2010)
Plot Summary:
NELU, a man in his forties, works as a security guard in the local supermarket in Salonta, a small town on the Romanian-Hungarian border. This is the place where many illegal emigrants try to cross, by any means posible, to Hungary and then further to Western Europe. One morning, NELU will “fish” something different out of the river: a Turkish man trying to cross the border. Not able to communicate verballly, the two men will somehow understand each other. NELU takes the stranger to the farmhouse, gives him some dry clothes, food and shelter. He doesn’t really know how to help this stranger. The Turkish man gives NELU all the money he has on him so he will help him cross the border. Eventually, NELU takes the money and promises he will help him cross the border tomorrow, MORGEN….
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Romania, France, Hungary
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, realistic, social
Similar in 86%
Harlem Aria (1999)
Plot Summary:
An aspiring opera singer from Harlem teams up with a charismatic busker and a kindhearted hustler to share his voice with the world, and teaches his two newfound friends the importance of taking your destiny into your own hands. Anton (Gabriel Casseus) lives in Harlem with his aunt. He dreams of moving to Italy and becoming a famous opera singer, and though he's been blessed with a magnificent singing voice, his passion has made him an outsider in his neighborhood. Running away from home, Anton meets passionate street pianist Matthew (Christian Carmago) and together the two begin drawing large, appreciate crowds on the street. Working the crowd as they do their thing is Wes (Damon Wayans), whose natural charm always gets the cash flowing. And while life on the streets is never easy, Anton, Matthew, and Wes soon discover that by following their dreams, they may find a means of transforming their lives forever.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 319
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, black cinema
Similar in 83%
When Harvey Met Bob (2010)
Plot Summary:
Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith set up one of the world's greatest ever concerts, Live Aid in 1984 to help ease the Ethiopian Famine.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, uplifting, serious, psychological, captivating, sentimental
Similar in 81%
Magnificent 7 (2005)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by the life of Jacqui Jackson. Helena Bonham Carter stars as Maggi, a mother with seven children - three 'normal' daughters and four sons who are each, in one form or another, autistic.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 331
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, realistic, semi serious, humorous
Similar in 82%
There Must Be a Pony (1986)
Plot Summary:
Marguerite Sydney is a celebrated Hollywood star attempting a comeback after a stay in a mental hospital, as well as trying to re-establish a relationship with her teenage son, and risking a romance with a mysterious stranger.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 206
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 89%
Fame L.A. (1997)
Plot Summary:
Fame L.A. is an American drama series that aired in syndication from 1997-1998. It told the story of a drama/dance school in Los Angeles where students honed their talents while overcoming various personal problems. It starred Christian Kane, Roselyn Sánchez, and William R. Moses. Its producers included Patricia Green. Among its directors were Sharron Miller and Nancy Malone. A total of 22 sixty-minute episodes were produced. 'RTÉ' Ireland's National public service broadcaster, is currently airing their own version of the show, titled, Fame: The Musical.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 246
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, feel good, serious, realistic
Similar in 86%
Courage (1986)
Plot Summary:
A mother in Queens, New York, is so angered when she discovers that her son is a drug addict that she becomes an undercover agent for the DEA to clean up the drug trade in her neighborhood. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 173
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 88%
Slam (1998)
Plot Summary:
Slam tells the story of Ray Joshua, an original, gifted young MC trapped in a war-zone housing project known as Dodge City. Unable to find a job, Ray copes with the despair and poverty of his neighborhood by using his wits and verbal talent. Written by Offline Publicist Young Ray Joshua lives in the Washington, DC, district known as Dodge City, which is dominated by gang wars. One day he is arrested when his drug dealer is gunned down while talking to him. He is put to prison where two rival gangs, Thug Life and the Union, want to recruit him as a member.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, hood, psychological, talky, uplifting, tense, sincere, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
America (2009)
Plot Summary:
In "America," Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, encounters her newest patient, a bi-racial boy named America. Through their sessions, Dr. Brennan helps America come to terms with his roller-coaster life, which began when he was taken by authorities from his crack-addicted mother, and placed into foster care as an infant. The short time of stability in his life occurred when America lived with Mrs. Harper, the elderly nanny to one of his foster families. Later reunited with his mother, she soon abandons America and he is again placed into foster care. Lagging behind in school and full of anger, America retreats further away from society after years of sexual abuse. After attempting suicide, America is placed in a treatment center where Dr. Brennan helps him open up about his painful past and discover the support and courage he needs to get his life back on track.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 698
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, uplifting, serious, realistic
Similar in 75%
Shirley Adams (2009)
Plot Summary:
Shirley Adams spends her days caring for her disabled son, Donovan - he was shot in the back of the neck on his way home from school one afternoon over a year ago. Since then the Adams family has lost all their worldly possessions to medical bills. Shirley has no money, no job and no husband - he left. The shooter is one of Donovan's childhood friends. Her reaction to the betrayal is so overwhelming that she chooses not to tell Donovan in fear of further damaging his already unstable emotional state. Determined to make a change in their lives, Shirley actively decides to embrace their new circumstances, hoping that Donovan will follow her example.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 124
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa, USA, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 84%
The Way I Spent the End of the World (2006)
Plot Summary:
Bucharest 1989 - the last year of Ceausecu's dictatorship. Eva lives with her parents and her 7 year old brother, Lalalilu. One day at school, Eva and her boyfriend accidentally break a bust of Ceausescu. They are forced to confess their crime before a disciplinary committee and Eva is expelled from school and transferred to a reformatory establishment. There she meets Andrei, and decides to escape Romania with him. Lalalilu becomes convinced that Ceausescu is the main reason for Eva's decision to leave. So with his friends from school he devises a plan to kill the dictator.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: Romania, France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, captivating, serious, realistic, atmospheric
Similar in 79%
Profoundly Normal (2003)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story. Donna Lee Shelby (Kirstie Alley), a mentally retarded girl who lives in Forest Haven, an institution for the developmentally disabled, meets Ricardo Thornton (Delroy Lindo), a fellow resident. When Forest Haven is closed by a court order, Donna and Ricardo venture into the real world on their own. Their friendship and dependency on each other blossoms into love. They marry and have a child together, who does not suffer from mental retardation.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 360
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Fat Boy Chronicles (2010)
Plot Summary:
The Fat Boy Chronicles is a motion picture about Jimmy Winterpock, an obese high-school student who deals with bullying and trying to lose weight. The film is inspired by a true story and was released in 2010 as a major motion picture.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 889
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, emotional, inspirational, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 83%
Second Chances (1998)
Plot Summary:
A little girl's physical and emotional reawakening after an accident claims her father and her spirit.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 437
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, uplifting, touching, serious, realistic, contemplative, reflective
Similar in 78%
The Imperialists Are Still Alive! (2010)
Plot Summary:
A young artist in Manhattan falls in love with a Mexican.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 316
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 82%
China: The Panda Adventure (2001)
Plot Summary:
Experience the world of the magnificent and rare Giant Panda as you travel back in time on an exciting expedition through the breathtaking splendor of 1936 China. Inspired by the true-life story of widowed New York socialite Ruth Harkness, a fiercely independent woman who dared to take up her late husband's expedition, journeying deep into the forests of China to study the Giant Panda.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 225
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 48 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, serious, realistic, exciting
Similar in 81%
Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story (1986)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 128
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
Faith Like Potatoes (2006)
Plot Summary:
Frank Rautenbach leads a strong cast as Angus Buchan, a Zambian farmer of Scottish heritage, who leaves his farm in the midst of political unrest and racially charged land reclaims and travels south with his family to start a better life in KwaZulu Natal,South Africa.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: South Africa
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: christian film, uplifting, sincere, serious, touching, emotional, realistic, biblical, spiritual, captivating
Similar in 87%
Cries from the Heart (1994)
Plot Summary:
A drama directed by Michael Switzer.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 312
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 75%
More Than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story (2003)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of a beloved teacher for the blind who discovers she herself is losing her eyesight.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 175
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, emotional, serious, realistic
Similar in 79%
The Locket (2002)
Plot Summary:
A bereaved man takes a job at a health care center, where he befriends an elderly and embittered woman - and as time passes, he becomes obsessed with reuniting her with her long-lost true love.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 671
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
Similar in 76%
Taking Back Our Town (2001)
Plot Summary:
A true story about a concerned housewife, Pat Melancon, who tries to block Shintech, a massive Japanese petrochemical conglomerate, from building a plant in her toxic township already known as "cancer alley". Pat and a few newly recruited, fledgling activitsts face the full force of Shintech's wealth and influence peddling, which has bought the cooperation of the government from the local level all the way up to the Governor's office.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 123
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
...First Do No Harm (1997)
Plot Summary:
When Lori Reimuller learns that her young son Robbie has epilepsy, she first trusts the judgment of the hospital staff in how best to bring it under control. As Robbie's health slides radically downhill, however, she becomes frustrated and desperate, and so does her own research into the existing literature on treatments. When she decides to try an alternative treatment called the Ketogenic Diet, devised long ago by a doctor from Johns Hopkins, she is met with narrow-minded resistance from Robbie's doctor, who is prepared to take legal action to prevent Lori from removing him from the hospital.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: edutainment, sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, controversial
Similar in 76%
Dawn Anna (2005)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a single mom who overcomes many of life's obstacles.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, realistic, touching, serious, emotional
Similar in 75%
The C Word (2015)
Plot Summary:
The C Word is an adaptation of Lisa Lynch's inspiring and candid book, based on her blog, about her battle with cancer.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 534
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, witty
Similar in 85%
Pedro (2008)
Plot Summary:
An intimate biopic of Pedro Zamora, an HIV-positive Cuban-American, who was cast for the MTV reality show, The Real World: San Francisco, in 1994. Due to his experience on the Real World, Pedro became a celebrity and a sympathetic face of the AIDS epidemic for millions of Americans who had never met anyone with HIV/AIDS.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 535
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, serious, realistic, sincere, contemplative, non-linear, queer cinema
Similar in 87%
The Reading Room (2005)
Plot Summary:
Making good on a promise he made to his dying wife, a widower (Jones) opens a reading room, a place where people can learn to read. Despite his goodwill, problems in the neighborhood threaten his establishment.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 687
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, emotional, realistic, hispanic
Similar in 81%
Knights of the South Bronx (2005)
Plot Summary:
A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, realistic, spiritual
Similar in 86%
Bilal's Stand (2010)
Plot Summary:
Bilal, a Muslim high school senior works at his family's long-owned taxi stand. "The Stand," as they call it, has been the source of all activity and money for the family for the last sixty years. It seems like Bílal is about to carry the torch. He secretly submits a college application and takes up the art of ice carving in order to win a scholarship. However, he is forced to decide whether he will continue working at the Stand - the only life he's ever known - or take a chance at social mobility.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, realistic, independent film, uplifting, serious, captivating, spiritual, educational
Similar in 88%
Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues (1984)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1898, Cambridge, Massachusetts, depicts Annie Sullivan Macy supporting her student Helen Keller at Radcliffe College.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 154
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic