Best movies like Smoke
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate. Still grieving over his wife's murder, Paul is moved by both Rashid's quest to reconnect with his father and Auggie's discovery that a woman who might be his daughter is about to give birth.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany, Japan, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: cult classic, independent film, sentimental, clever, touching, intellectual, feel good, mumblecore, anthology, art house
Best tv shows and movies like Smoke (1995):
Similar in 87%
The Photographer (2000)
Plot Summary:
A year after becoming the toast of New York City's art scene, photographer Max Martin has lost his ability to take a decent picture. On the night before his make-or-break gallery opening, surrounded by the trappings of success but devoid of inspiration, Max embarks on a bizarre trek through the city in search of ten mysterious photographs that could save his career. Shot in brilliant color and dramatic black and white, first-time director Jeremy Stein's industrial New York City is a wonderland, roamed by witches and magical creatures, where survival hinges on the completion of a simple quest. Accompanied by an unlikely crew of strangers he meets along the way, Max trips through a modern-day Oz and rediscovers the easily forgotten value of seeing magic reflected in everyday life.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 355
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, offbeat
Similar in 75%
Blue in the Face (1995)
Plot Summary:
Auggie runs a small tobacco shop in Brooklyn, New York. The whole neighborhood comes to visit him to buy cigarettes and have some small talk. During the movie Lou Reed tries to explain why he has to have a cut on his health insurance bill if he keeps smoking and Madonna acts as a Singing Telegram.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: independent film, witty, talky, mumblecore, art house, colorful, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic
Similar in 79%
Son of the Bride (2001)
Plot Summary:
At age 42, Rafael Belvedere is having a crisis. He lives in the shadow of his father, he feels guilty about rarely visiting his aging mother, his ex-wife says he doesn't spend enough time with their daughter and he has yet to make a commitment to his girlfriend. At his lowest point, a minor heart attack reunites him with Juan Carlos, a childhood friend, who helps Rafael to reconstruct his past.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Argentina, Spain
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, humorous, witty, romantic, sincere, clever, realistic, talky, semi serious
Similar in 80%
Grandma (2015)
Plot Summary:
Self-described misanthrope Elle Reid has her protective bubble burst when her 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage, shows up needing help. The two of them go on a day-long journey that causes Elle to come to terms with her past and Sage to confront her future.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: road movie, depressing, suspense, humorous, semi serious, sincere, realistic, feel good, social, witty
Similar in 79%
Winter Passing (2005)
Plot Summary:
Actress Reese Holden has been offered a small fortune by a book editor if she can secure for publication the love letters that her father, a reclusive novelist, wrote to her mother, who has since passed away. Returning to Michigan, Reese finds that an ex-grad student and a would-be musician have moved in with her father, who cares more about his new friends than he does about his own health and well-being.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, serious, realistic, heartbreaking, cult classic, psychological, clever, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Trust (1990)
Plot Summary:
After being thrown away from home, pregnant high school dropout Maria meets Matthew, a highly educated and extremely moody electronics repairman. The two begin an unusual romance built on their sense of mutual admiration and trust.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: independent film, dark comedy, surreal, cult classic, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, retro
Similar in 84%
The Banger Sisters (2002)
Plot Summary:
In the late '60s, the self-proclaimed belles of the rock 'n' roll ball, rocked the worlds of every music legend whose pants they could take off -- and they have the pictures to prove it. But it's been more than two decades since the Banger Sisters earned their nickname -- or even laid eyes on each other. Their reunion is the collision of two women's worlds; one who's living in the past, and one who's hiding from it. Together they learn to live in the moment.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, feel good, humorous, light, satirical, realistic, witty, semi serious, funny
Similar in 90%
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (2014)
Plot Summary:
After learning that a brain aneurysm will kill him in about 90 minutes, a perpetually unhappy man struggles to come to terms with his fate and make amends with everyone he has ever hurt.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: compassionate, sentimental, surreal, stylized, thought provoking, tragicomedy, dark comedy, humorous, teen, parody
Similar in 88%
Manny & Lo (1996)
Plot Summary:
A pregnant teen and her younger sister run away from foster homes and kidnap a woman whom they believe can help with the pregnancy.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: humorous, road movie, feel good, cult classic, independent film, clever, touching, realistic, semi serious, black comedy
Similar in 80%
Shadows in the Sun (2005)
Plot Summary:
An aspiring young writer (Jackson) tracks a literary titan (Keitel) suffering from writers block to his refuge in rural Italy and learns about life and love from the irascible genius and his daughters.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France, Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: feel good, touching, realistic, sincere, romantic, light, philosophical, sentimental, humorous, semi serious
Similar in 80%
Unpregnant (2020)
Plot Summary:
A 17-year old Missouri teen named Veronica discovers she has gotten pregnant, a development that threatens to end her dreams of matriculating at an Ivy League college, and the career that could follow.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: road movie, sweet, psychological, touching, humorous, captivating, feel good, sad, cult classic, teen
Similar in 76%
Mistress America (2015)
Plot Summary:
Tracy, a lonely college freshman in New York, is rescued from her solitude by her soon-to-be stepsister Brooke, an adventurous gal about town who entangles her in alluringly mad schemes. MISTRESS AMERICA is a comedy about dream-chasing, score-settling, makeshift families, and cat-stealing.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: independent film, humorous, depressing, heartbreaking, melancholic, witty, stylized, semi serious, realistic, mumblecore
Similar in 85%
Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
Plot Summary:
A film based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, in which a young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II, in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, road movie, tragicomedy, clever, scenic, sentimental, melancholic, humorous, feel good, sad
Similar in 79%
The Go-Getter (2007)
Plot Summary:
When his mother dies, a teenager takes a road-trip in a stolen car to find his long-lost brother. Along the way he discovers a profound connection with the car-owner and with himself as well.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: road movie, enigmatic, melancholic, ironic, semi serious, realistic, inspirational, cult classic, comedy drama, sentimental
Similar in 83%
Trees Lounge (1996)
Plot Summary:
Tommy has lost his job, his love and his life. He lives in a small apartment above the Trees Lounge, a bar which he frequents along with a few other regulars without lives. He gets a job driving an ice cream truck and ends up getting involved with the seventeen-year-old niece of his ex-girlfriend. This gets him into serious trouble with her father.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: independent film, grim, cult classic, talky, art house, dark comedy, intellectual, entertaining, black comedy, indie film
Similar in 82%
Mind the Gap (2004)
Plot Summary:
Five seemingly unrelated people decide to take huge risks in their personal lives in an effort to find happiness.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 997
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: humorous, talky, semi serious, captivating, sincere, sentimental, clever, touching, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 78%
House of D (2004)
Plot Summary:
In the present, artist Tom Warshaw recalls his traumatic coming of age. As a 13-year-old growing up in New York City in 1973, Tom hangs out with Pappass, a mentally disabled man. With Tom's mother battling depression after the death of her husband, the young boy is left to his own devices. When Tom develops a crush on schoolmate Melissa, Pappass feels abandoned and begins behaving erratically.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: sentimental, light, emotional, intense, spiritual, period piece, cult classic, feel good, humorous, realistic
Similar in 86%
Nobody's Fool (1994)
Plot Summary:
Sully is a rascally ne'er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker's compensation suit for a bad knee, he secretly works for his nemesis, Carl, and flirts with Carl's young wife Toby. Sully's long- forgotten son and family have moved back to town, so Sully faces unfamiliar family responsibilities. Meanwhile, Sully's landlady's banker son plots to push through a new development and evict Sully from his mother's life.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: feel good, touching, humorous, atmospheric, talky, witty, intense, semi serious, independent film, realistic
Similar in 86%
Night on Earth (1991)
Plot Summary:
An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, France, Germany, Japan, USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: intellectual, anthology, independent film, dark comedy, road movie, melancholic, surreal, entirely dialogue, art house, clever
Similar in 84%
The Paper (1994)
Plot Summary:
Henry Hackett is the editor of a New York City tabloid. He is a workaholic who loves his job, but the long hours and low pay are leading to discontent. Also, publisher Bernie White faces financial straits, and has hatchetman Alicia Clark, Henry's nemesis, impose unpopular cutbacks.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: talky, clever, sentimental, humorous, black comedy, sincere, realistic, semi serious, intellectual, feel good
Similar in 90%
Living in Oblivion (1995)
Plot Summary:
Nick is the director of a low-budget indie film. He tries to keep everything together as his production is plagued with an insecure actress, a megalomaniac star, a pretentious, beret-wearing director of photography and lousy catering. Divided in three acts, each representing a different scene to shoot, this film is an essential for amateur filmmakers.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: surreal, independent film, humorous, funny, atmospheric, talky, light, art house, semi serious, cult classic
Similar in 88%
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000)
Plot Summary:
The story of Peter McGowan, a chain-smoking, impotent, insomniac playwright who lives in Los Angeles. Once very successful, he is now in the tenth year of a decade-long string of production failures. He finds himself bonding with a new neighbor's lonely young daughter who has mild cerebral palsy; and during one of his middle-of-the-night strolls, he encounters his oddball doppelgänger.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: humorous, melancholic, light, sentimental, touching, realistic, semi serious, black comedy, dark comedy, hilarious
Similar in 80%
Happy Christmas (2014)
Plot Summary:
After a breakup with her boyfriend, a young woman moves in with her older brother, his wife, and their 2-year-old son.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: mumblecore, ironic, feel good, humorous, touching, semi serious, independent film, sexy, realistic, erotic
Similar in 87%
The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980's.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: depressing, sincere, talky, dark comedy, absurd, indie film, intellectual, realistic, witty, thought provoking
Similar in 87%
The Savages (2007)
Plot Summary:
A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: sentimental, realistic, independent film, emotional, compassionate, touching, depressing, melancholic, sincere, humorous
Similar in 77%
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
Plot Summary:
Coffee And Cigarettes is a collection of eleven films from cult director Jim Jarmusch. Each film hosts star studded cast of extremely unique individuals who all share the common activities of conversing while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 67000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: USA, Japan, Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: philosophical, intellectual, atmospheric, black and white, ironic, anthology, humorous, independent film, stylized, psychological
Similar in 79%
Slacker (1990)
Plot Summary:
Presents a day in the life in Austin, Texas among its social outcasts and misfits, predominantly the twenty-something set, using a series of linear vignettes. These characters, who in some manner just don't fit into the establishment norms, move seamlessly from one scene to the next, randomly coming and going into one another's lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, philosophical, surreal, satirical, absurd, art house, cerebral, cult classic, entirely dialogue, experimental
Similar in 86%
The Magic of Belle Isle (2012)
Plot Summary:
In an effort to tap into his original talent, a wheelchair-bound author moves to a rural town, where he befriends a single mother and her three kids, who help reignite his passion for writing.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, sentimental, realistic, semi serious, psychological, funny, inspirational, romantic, feel good
Similar in 89%
Wonder Boys (2000)
Plot Summary:
Grady (Michael Douglas) is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years -- not since he wrote his award winning "Great American Novel" 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 66000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Germany, UK, Japan
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: melancholic, humorous, realistic, talky, dark comedy, touching, intellectual, feel good, dark, clever
Similar in 87%
Paper Man (2009)
Plot Summary:
A coming-of-middle-age comedy that chronicles the unlikely friendship between failed author Richard Dunne and a Long Island teen who teaches him a thing or two about growing up, all under the disapproving eye of his long-suffering wife and his imaginary Superhero friend.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: touching, tricky, enigmatic, psychological, offbeat, humorous, melancholic, independent film, indie film, feel good