Best movies like I Am Sam

Similar in 81%

The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)

Plot Summary:

Michelle Pfeiffer is ferocious in the role of a desperate mother whose 3-year-old son disappears during her high school reunion. Nine years later, by chance, he turns up in the town in which the family has just relocated. Based on Jacquelyn Mitchard's best-selling novel (an Oprah book club selection), the movie effectively presents the troubling dynamics that exist between family members who've suffered such an unsettling loss.

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Losing Isaiah (1995)

Plot Summary:

Khaila Richards, a crack-addicted single mother, accidentally leaves her baby in a dumpster while high and returns the next day in a panic to find he is missing. In reality, the baby has been adopted by a warm-hearted social worker, Margaret Lewin, and her husband, Charles. Years later, Khaila has gone through rehab and holds a steady job. After learning that her child is still alive, she challenges Margaret for the custody.

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My Sister's Keeper (2009)

Plot Summary:

Sara and Brian live an idyllic life with their young son and daughter. But their family is rocked by sudden, heartbreaking news that forces them to make a difficult and unorthodox choice in order to save their baby girl's life. The parents' desperate decision raises both ethical and moral questions and rips away at the foundation of their relationship. Their actions ultimately set off a court case that threatens to tear the family apart, while revealing surprising truths that challenge everyone's perceptions of love and loyalty and give new meaning to the definition of healing.

Similar in 76%

Won't Back Down (2012)

Plot Summary:

Two determined mothers­, one a teacher, look to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.

Similar in 89%

Now Is Good (2012)

Plot Summary:

A girl dying of leukemia compiles a list of things she'd like to do before passing away. Topping the list is her desire to lose her virginity.

Similar in 81%

Instructions Not Included (2013)

Plot Summary:

Valentin is Acapulco's resident playboy, until a former fling leaves a baby on his doorstep and him heading with her out of Mexico.

Similar in 82%

A Civil Action (1998)

Plot Summary:

Jan Schlickmann is a cynical lawyer who goes out to "get rid of" a case, only to find out it is potentially worth millions. The case becomes his obsession, to the extent that he is willing to give up everything - including his career and his clients' goals, in order to continue the case against all odds.

Similar in 80%

The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

Plot Summary:

Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past.

Similar in 76%

Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (2005)

Plot Summary:

Ben Crane believes that a severely injured racehorse deserves another chance. He and his daughter Cale adopt the horse (in fact is a mare)and save it of being sacrificed by the owner.

Similar in 76%

Marvin's Room (1996)

Plot Summary:

A leukemia patient attempts to end a 20-year feud with her sister to get her bone marrow.

Similar in 87%

Reign Over Me (2007)

Plot Summary:

A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.

Similar in 79%

Still Alice (2014)

Plot Summary:

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.

Similar in 84%

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Plot Summary:

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.

Similar in 76%

Gifted (2017)

Plot Summary:

Frank, a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.

Similar in 75%

Any Day Now (2012)

Plot Summary:

In the late 1970s, when a mentally handicapped teenager is abandoned, a gay couple takes him in and becomes the family he's never had. But once the unconventional living arrangement is discovered by authorities, the men must fight the legal system to adopt the child.

Similar in 79%

Philadelphia (1993)

Plot Summary:

No one would take his case until one man was willing to take on the system. Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.

Similar in 75%

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Plot Summary:

Gilbert has to care for his brother Arnie and his obese mother, which gets in the way when love walks into his life.

Similar in 83%

Rain Man (1988)

Plot Summary:

Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.

Similar in 86%

Awakenings (1990)

Plot Summary:

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.

Similar in 89%

Seven Pounds (2008)

Plot Summary:

An IRS agent with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.

Similar in 81%

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Plot Summary:

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.

Similar in 82%

Flash of Genius (2008)

Plot Summary:

In this David vs. Goliath drama based on a true story, college professor Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) goes up against the giants of the auto industry when they fail to give him credit for inventing intermittent windshield wipers. Kearns doggedly pursues recognition for his invention, as well as the much-deserved financial rewards for the sake of his wife (Lauren Graham) and six kids.

Similar in 87%

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Plot Summary:

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.

Similar in 78%

White Oleander (2002)

Plot Summary:

A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.

Similar in 80%

Front of the Class (2008)

Plot Summary:

"Front of the Class" is based on the true story of Brad Cohen -- played in the movie by Jimmy Wolk -- who, "after being challenged by Tourette's syndrome from a very young age, defies all odds to become a gifted teacher.

Similar in 81%

Detachment (2011)

Plot Summary:

A chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of substitute teacher, Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long enough to form any semblance of sentient attachment.

Similar in 83%

Forrest Gump (1994)

Plot Summary:

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes him. 'Forrest Gump' is the story of a man who rose above his challenges, and who proved that determination, courage, and love are more important than ability.

Similar in 85%

Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Plot Summary:

The story of Katherine Ann Watson, a feminist teacher who studied at UCLA graduate school and in 1953 left her boyfriend behind in Los Angeles, California to teach at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts, United States.