Best movies like Harlem Nights
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
"Sugar" Ray is the owner of an illegal casino, who contend with the pressures of vicious gangster and corrupt policemen who want to see him go out of business. In the world of organized crime and police corruption in the 1920s, any dastardly trick is fair!.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: hood, funny, black comedy, humorous, stylized, retro, action comedy, cult classic, action adventure, exciting
Best tv shows and movies like Harlem Nights (1989):
Similar in 85%
First Sunday (2008)
Plot Summary:
Durell and LeeJohn are best friends and bumbling petty criminals. When told they have one week to pay a $17,000 debt or Durell will lose his son, they come up with a desperate scheme to rob their neighborhood church. Instead, they end up spending the night in the presence of the Lord and are forced to deal with much more than they bargained for.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: humorous, not serious, hood, feel good, entertaining, black comedy, realistic, slapstick comedy, black cinema
Similar in 89%
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)
Plot Summary:
Jack Spade returns from the army in his old ghetto neighbourhood when his brother, June Bug, dies. Jack declares war on Mr. Big, powerful local crimelord. His army is led by John Slade, his childhood idol who used to fight bad guys in the 70s.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: parody, spoof, funny, hood, cult classic, black comedy, humorous, slapstick, action comedy, slapstick comedy
Similar in 80%
A Piece of the Action (1977)
Plot Summary:
How does retired cop Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) get two career criminals, Manny Durrell (Sidney Poitier) and Dave Anderson (Bill Cosby), to follow the straight and narrow? Con them into helping juvenile delinquents turn over a new leaf. But how? Burke has never been able to nail the duo, but he uses what he knows of their seedy past to blackmail them into volunteering.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: detective, black comedy, action comedy, independent film, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious, black cinema
Similar in 87%
Borsalino (1970)
Plot Summary:
In 1930 Marseilles two small-time crooks join forces when they meet brawling over a woman. Starting with fixed horse races and fights, they start to find themselves doing jobs for the local gangster bosses. When they decide to go into the business for themselves, their easy-going approach to crime starts to change.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, semi serious, exciting, humorous, realistic, stylized, noir, poliziottesco, french noir, vintage
Similar in 79%
Made (2001)
Plot Summary:
Two aspiring boxers lifelong friends get involved in a money-laundering scheme through a low-level organized crime group.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: funny, humorous, dark comedy, clever, realistic, talky, independent film, semi serious, witty, entertaining
Similar in 79%
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Plot Summary:
Detroit cop, Axel Foley heads for the land of sunshine and palm trees to find out who shot police Captain Andrew Bogomil. Thanks to a couple of old friends, Axel's investigation uncovers a series of robberies masterminded by a heartless weapons kingpin – and the chase is on.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 127000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: humorous, cult classic, suspense, entertaining, action comedy, exciting, realistic, suspenseful, witty, semi serious
Similar in 77%
Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
Plot Summary:
Back in sunny southern California and on the trail of two murderers, Axel Foley again teams up with LA cop Billy Rosewood. Soon, they discover that an amusement park is being used as a front for a massive counterfeiting ring – and it's run by the same gang that shot Billy's boss.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: action comedy, funny, suspense, detective, black comedy, light, epic, cult classic, light hearted, clever
Similar in 88%
Money Train (1995)
Plot Summary:
A vengeful New York transit cop decides to steal a trainload of subway fares; his foster brother, a fellow cop, tries to protect him.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: melancholic, suspense, intense, exciting, suspenseful, semi serious, humorous, realistic, action comedy, hood
Similar in 77%
Malibu's Most Wanted (2003)
Plot Summary:
A senator arranges for his son, a rich white kid who fancies himself black, to be kidnapped by a couple of black actors pretending to be murderers to try and shock him out of his plans to become a rapper.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: funny, humorous, melancholic, satirical, intense, hood, feel good, semi serious, realistic, spoof
Similar in 81%
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
Plot Summary:
When Ashtray (Shawn Wayans) moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging cousin Loc Dog (Marlon Wayans), who along with the requisite pistols and Uzi carries a thermo-nuclear warhead for self-defense. Will Ashtray be able to keep living the straight life?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: parody, absurd, hood, funny, humorous, spoof, slang, satirical, black comedy, cult classic
Similar in 87%
I Got the Hook Up (1998)
Plot Summary:
Two broke buddies feel lucky when they come upon a truckload of cellular phones and begin selling them out of the back of their van. Trouble arises though, when the phones develop faults. The two friends then not only have to deal with unsatisfied customers but also the FBI.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Crime
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: funny, humorous, light, hood, semi serious, black comedy, entertaining, realistic, stylized, buddy comedy
Similar in 77%
The Players Club (1998)
Plot Summary:
Young single mother Diana struggles to provide for her child and pay for her college education. She ends up working at a shoe store, but meets two strippers from a nearby gentlemen's club who convince her there's fast money to be made stripping. At the Players Club, however, Diana faces danger and heartbreak.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: hood, intense, realistic, humorous, witty, semi serious, black comedy, light, sexy, bad ending
Similar in 79%
Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991)
Plot Summary:
Two African-Americans and two Puerto-Ricans (though one pretends to be Italian) go out on the town on a Friday night. They will be forced to get to know each other, and even worst, learn to like each other as friends.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: hood, entertaining, black comedy, independent film, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, talky, semi serious
Similar in 76%
Gridlock'd (1997)
Plot Summary:
After a friend overdoses, Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program. Their efforts are hampered by seemingly endless red tape, as they are shuffled from one office to another while being chased by drug dealers and the police.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, hood, harsh, talky, stylized, realistic, disturbing, rough, humorous, black comedy
Similar in 90%
Super Fly (1972)
Plot Summary:
Super Fly is a cocaine dealer who begins to realize that his life will soon end with either prison or his death. He decides to build an escape from the life by making his biggest deal yet.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Music, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, hood, stylized, grim, cult classic, bleak, neo noir, independent film, crime drama, action adventure
Similar in 75%
Life (1999)
Plot Summary:
Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: funny, humorous, entertaining, semi serious, feel good, hilarious, hood, black comedy, retro, realistic
Similar in 81%
Mad Dog Time (1996)
Plot Summary:
With his boss in the madhouse, a mobster is temporary boss of the criminal empire just as vicious rivals threaten the control of the empire.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: black comedy, dark comedy, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, parody, rough, sexy
Similar in 84%
The Mack (1973)
Plot Summary:
Goldie returns from five years at the state pen and winds up king of the pimping game. Trouble comes in the form of two corrupt white cops and a crime lord who wants him to return to the small time.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, hood, funny, cult classic, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized
Similar in 78%
48 Hrs. (1982)
Plot Summary:
A hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: exciting, detective, funny, neo noir, humorous, intense, tense, suspenseful, rough, realistic
Similar in 79%
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Plot Summary:
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 110000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, talky, hood, stylized, independent film, intense, humorous, political, cult classic, visual
Similar in 90%
Boomerang (1992)
Plot Summary:
Marcus is a successful advertising executive who woos and beds women almost at will. After a company merger he finds that his new boss, the ravishing Jacqueline, is treating him in exactly the same way. Completely traumatised by this, his work goes badly downhill.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: funny, witty, talky, melancholic, black comedy, light, romantic comedy, feel good, semi serious, humorous
Similar in 85%
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Plot Summary:
Tough-talking Detroit cop Axel Foley heads to the rarified world of Beverly Hills in his beat-up Chevy Nova to investigate a friend's murder. But soon, he realizes he's stumbled onto something much more complicated. Bungling rookie detective Billy Rosewood joins the fish-out-of-water Axel and shows him the West Los Angeles ropes.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 197000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: buddy comedy, humorous, funny, exciting, action comedy, witty, entertaining, cult classic, detective, hilarious
Similar in 77%
New Jersey Drive (1995)
Plot Summary:
New Jersey Drive is a 1995 film about black youths in Newark, New Jersey, the unofficial "car theft capital of the world". Their favorite pastime is that of everybody in their neighborhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shooting suspects.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: realistic, hood, brutal, melancholic, rough, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, cult classic, independent film
Similar in 75%
New Jack City (1991)
Plot Summary:
A gangster, Nino, is in the Cash Money Brothers, making a million dollars every week selling crack. A cop, Scotty, discovers that the only way to infiltrate the gang is to become a dealer himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: hood, stylized, suspense, harsh, intense, serious, tense, captivating, neo noir, cult classic
Similar in 80%
Belly (1998)
Plot Summary:
Tommy Brown and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: hood, independent film, stylized, crime drama, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy, fairy tale, neorealism
Similar in 88%
Friday (1995)
Plot Summary:
Craig and Smokey are two guys in Los Angeles hanging out on their porch on a Friday afternoon, smoking and drinking, looking for something to do.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 122000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: funny, feel good, hood, cult classic, light, semi serious, hilarious, independent film, black comedy, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Cotton Club (1984)
Plot Summary:
The story of the people that frequented Harlem's famous nightclubs, 'The Cotton Club', and those that ran it.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: intense, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, entertaining, period piece, visually stunning, stylized, neo noir, cult classic
Similar in 81%
Hoodlum (1997)
Plot Summary:
In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running "the numbers". When, Madam Queen, the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem, is arrested. Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson takes over the business and must resist against the invasion from merciless mobster Dutch Shultz.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: hood, stylized, neo noir, black and white, crime drama, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, clever
Similar in 90%
Mobsters (1991)
Plot Summary:
The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: suspense, talky, intense, realistic, suspenseful, rough, serious, stylized, hood, exciting
Similar in 86%
A Bronx Tale (1993)
Plot Summary:
Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his neighborhood - for a beautiful black girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 156000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: sentimental, suspense, intense, hood, touching, realistic, inspirational, crime drama, scary, sincere