Best movies like Palo Alto, CA
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
On their last night of Thanksgiving break, four old friends, now all college freshmen, realize their small town has more meaning than they ever imagined.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 911
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: humorous, teen sex comedy, captivating, light, emotional, realistic, semi serious
Best tv shows and movies like Palo Alto, CA (2007):
Similar in 79%
Colma: The Musical (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the town of Colma, just south of San Francisco, the dead outnumber the living one thousand to one. Here, one wouldn't expect teenagers to burst out in song, or dance around cemeteries and streets. But, that's exactly what happens. Best pals Rodel, Billy, and Maribel find themselves in a state of limbo; fresh out of high school, they are just beginning to explore a new world of part-time mall jobs and crashing college parties. As newfound revelations and romances challenge their relationships with one another and their parents, the trio must assess what to hold onto, and how to best follow their dreams. It's a love song to the city, and to the residents who dream of a better (and more musical) life.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 492
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, humorous, sentimental, realistic, semi serious, independent film, campy
Similar in 76%
Hollidaysburg (2014)
Plot Summary:
Home for Thanksgiving break after their first semester at college, five friends discover just how much things change (and don't) after high school.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, light, feel good, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 89%
Fairhaven (2012)
Plot Summary:
Long-time friends reconnect when one returns to their small Massachusetts town for a funeral.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 608
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: sincere, realistic, thought provoking, captivating, humorous, atmospheric, serious, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 81%
Sherman's Way (2008)
Plot Summary:
An eccentric Olympic has-been who prefers leisure to work, finds himself stuck with a rigid pre-law Yale student with no time for wasting time. Between skinny-dipping and stealing cars, this odd-couple learn from each other that balance is the key to getting the girl, getting the job and getting a life.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 562
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, offbeat
Similar in 86%
Say Uncle (2005)
Plot Summary:
A young artist (Peter Paige), desperate to replace the relationship he had with his recently relocated godson, is targeted by a neighborhood mom (Kathy Najimy) as a potential threat to the community.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 684
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, semi serious, offbeat, biting, clever, suspense
Similar in 82%
Car Babes (2006)
Plot Summary:
A coming of age story about the quirky lives of car salesman.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 322
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, humorous, semi serious, captivating
Similar in 83%
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990)
Plot Summary:
Movie star Roxy Carmichael is abandoning the bright lights of Hollywood, Calif. and returning to her small Ohio hometown -- at least long enough to dedicate a city building. And now the whole town of Clyde is bracing for Carmichael's return, most of all her now-married old flame Denton Webb and troubled teen Dinky Bossetti. An orphan with few friends, Dinky is convinced that Carmichael is her birth mother, and that the actress will reclaim her when she returns.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic, independent film, sexy, offbeat, feel good, teen comedy
Similar in 79%
The Young Kieslowski (2014)
Plot Summary:
Grand romantic gestures need not apply in this comedic tale of star-crossed young love. Instead, freshman Brian Kieslowski displays endless reserves of bumbling awkwardness as he goes home with a girl for the first time... and then learns that he got her pregnant... with twins... all while she's going through a rather inconvenient Christianity phase. Could it be that being the good guy and doing what's right are two very different things?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 899
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: humorous, emotional, light, captivating, romantic, offbeat, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 89%
We the Party (2012)
Plot Summary:
In Los Angeles, five high-school friends deal with romance, money, prom, college, sex, bullies, Facebook, fitting in, standing out, and finding themselves.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 849
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, feel good, light, scenic, sincere, realistic, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 80%
The Alumni Chapter (2011)
Plot Summary:
What happens when you graduate from college, only to find that jobs are practically nonexistent and your best friends aren't what they seem? Four old friends reunite after college graduation. The conversation quickly turns sour, and a series of flashbacks expose the bitter truth.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 40
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 71 min
Plot tags: humorous, contemplative, captivating, atmospheric, independent film, realistic, semi serious, dark comedy
Similar in 77%
Dysfunctional Friends (2012)
Plot Summary:
A group of college friends are reunited after the death of their very successful friend. The will dictates that each person will receive a large sum of money if they can all successfully stay in his mansion for a week. If one person leaves, everyone forfeits the money.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 924
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: humorous, talky, captivating, light, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 88%
Not Cool (2014)
Plot Summary:
NOT COOL follows former prom king and college freshman Scott (Shane Dawson) who has just returned home for Thanksgiving break only to be dumped by his eccentric, long-term girlfriend. With his world turned upside down, Scott strikes an unlikely friendship with former classmate Tori (Cherami Leigh), an ugly duckling who blossomed in her first semester of college. Together, the two embark on an outrageous adventure through their hometown. But when Scott and Tori find their friendship turning into something deeper, they realize that a few months away may have changed them more than they realized.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, romantic, scenic, teen, sex comedy
Similar in 88%
The Prankster (2010)
Plot Summary:
To the outer world CHRIS KARAS is a shy, handsome, "A" student, the son of a hard-working Greek contractor. But to his closest confidants he is none other than the celebrated Prince of Pranksters, a secret society dedicated to combating the inequities of high school through masterful acts of subterfuge.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 417
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, light, captivating, realistic
Similar in 77%
Fifty Pills (2006)
Plot Summary:
A combination of unfortunate circumstances force Darren into the situation where he has to sell off the eponymous stash of drugs in a limited time frame.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 79%
All Together Now (2013)
Plot Summary:
Youth, in all its messy, drunken glory, is the connective thread at an all night noise-rock concert in the woods, where a motley assortment of music lovers prove that it isn’t always darkest before the dawn.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 66
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, captivating, light, touching, realistic, independent film
Similar in 80%
Ping Pong Summer (2014)
Plot Summary:
In 1985 a summer vacation in Ocean City, Md., changes the life of a shy white teen who's obsessed with table tennis and hip-hop music.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, captivating, light, happy, touching, offbeat, semi serious, independent film, whimsical
Similar in 76%
Funeral Kings (2012)
Plot Summary:
It's always a good day for a funeral at St. Mark's Middle School. Andy and Charlie, two altar servers, don't just get to miss class anytime a parishioner kicks the bucket, they cut out early and play hooky as soon as the service is over. Eventually their irreverent personalities will put them in a situation that is too big for them to handle.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, captivating, psychological, semi serious, independent film
Similar in 76%
HairBrained (2013)
Plot Summary:
A 14 year old genius gets rejected by Harvard and ends up at a much lower ranked school where he makes friends with a mature student.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, light, captivating, freeze frame, teen, independent film, realistic, not serious, interesting
Similar in 86%
Breaking the Rules (1992)
Plot Summary:
Two friends take their dying buddy on one last road trip.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 722
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: feel good, sad, independent film, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 77%
True Adolescents (2009)
Plot Summary:
At 34, struggling Seattle musician Sam finds himself broke, jobless and losing touch with the person he wants to become. When his girlfriend kicks him out, he's forced to crash with his Aunt Sharon and is reluctantly enlisted to take her teen son, Oliver, and his friend Jake camping.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 776
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, mumblecore, indie film, talky, independent film
Similar in 78%
Crossing the Bridge (1992)
Plot Summary:
A film about three high school friends who find their happy-go-lucky existence tarnished forever the instant they get embroiled in a drug-running scheme that goes awry. When things start getting messy, they rue the day they agreed to the venture; instead of smuggling weed from Canada to Detroit, which they'd expected, the threesome's forced to traffic a huge stash of heroin.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 931
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 83%
As Cool as I Am (2013)
Plot Summary:
A smart teenage girl comes of age in a small town with her self-centered parents who had her when they were teenagers.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic, independent film, vintage
Similar in 77%
The Lather Effect (2006)
Plot Summary:
On the eve of selling her mother's house, a thirty-something housewife wakes up to a hangover surrounded by her best friends from high school.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 712
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: humorous, talky, semi serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Quitters (2015)
Plot Summary:
Quitters tells the story of the Raymans, a wealthy Jewish family that's falling apart. The son, Clark, is a bright and curious high schooler with a talent for manipulation. As his mother May enters treatment for a pill addiction, and he and his father Roger stop getting along, Clark thinks about running away from home. He just needs to decide where to go.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 271
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, captivating, independent film
Similar in 81%
Sex and the USA (2008)
Plot Summary:
Thirteen year old Audrey Shaw is new to Bellweather, California and certain shell never fit in when she meets Krista Rich, the pretty, popular girl she aspires to be "or be with" shes just not sure. In a conservative California town, 14-year-old Audrey is new to Bellweather, California and certain shell never fit in when she meets Krista Rich, the pretty, popular girl she aspires to be "or be with" shes just not sure. Blending traditional filmmaking with social networking-inspired video clips, director Jan Wellmann paints a portrait of puberty and the hyperconnected lives of modern teens.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 96
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, sexual, mockumentary, sexy
Similar in 78%
By Dawn's Early Light (2001)
Plot Summary:
When Mike Lewis leaves L.A. to stay with his grandfather in Colorado for the summer, he hates the old man's cowboy ways. When Mike demands to go home, the old man agrees and saddles up a couple of horses for a six week trip toward California, home, the Pacific and redemption.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 475
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, independent film
Similar in 88%
Calvin Marshall (2009)
Plot Summary:
A college student is determined to become a Major League Baseball star, but finds his true calling instead.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 739
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: touching, feel good, humorous, semi serious, sentimental, freeze frame, realistic, independent film
Similar in 87%
Everybody's Doing It (2002)
Plot Summary:
Angela and Travis consider having sex for the first time just as their high school starts up an abstinence education program. Making matters worse, a "good girl" collects abstinence pledges from students and blows the whistle on Angela and Travis.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 293
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, captivating
Similar in 79%
American Chai (2001)
Plot Summary:
The film deals with an Indian American student who wanted to pursue his love of music over the more 'typical' academic endeavors of Indian Americans (e.g., medicine, engineering, law, and business).
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 327
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: touching, humorous, witty, semi serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
Winter Break (2003)
Plot Summary:
Viscerally experience a "year off" in Aspen, Colorado with a group of recent college grads who have elected to defer graduate school and career opportunities to ski, snow-board, climb, party, fall in love and basically live life to its absolute fullest out in this spectacular mountain town.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, realistic, independent film