Best movies like Stand and Deliver
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sentimental, uplifting, touching, realistic, hispanic, motivational, intellectual, spiritual, political
Best tv shows and movies like Stand and Deliver (1988):
Similar in 90%
American Me (1992)
Plot Summary:
Edward J. Olmos made his directorial bow with the powerhouse crime saga American Me. Olmos stars as street-gang leader Santana, who during his 18 years in Folsom Prison rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood, intending to lead a peaceful, crime-free life. But his old gang buddies force him back into his old habits. The.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: disturbing, realistic, talky, emotional, intense, rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense
Similar in 82%
Music of the Heart (1999)
Plot Summary:
Story of a schoolteacher's struggle to teach violin to inner-city Harlem kids.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, uplifting, emotional, inspirational, serious, realistic, feel good, spiritual, cult classic
Similar in 87%
Beyond the Blackboard (2011)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by a true story, “Beyond the Blackboard” is about a 24-year-old first-time teacher who makes a difference in the lives of the homeless children she teaches in a shelter’s makeshift classroom. Set in 1987 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this movie tells the story a brand-new teacher and Mom who is given a tougher than expected teaching job and winds up teaching homeless children in a school that is housed in a room and called, literally, The School with No Name. She has some personal prejudicial hurdles to cross before she is able to be a true teacher for these children and of course there are hurdles like the lack of books and supplies.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, inspirational, realistic, learning
Similar in 90%
Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story (2005)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, former parole officer Marilyn Gambrell and a colleague set up a pioneer trial-based program in one of America's toughest high schools to help the children of incarcerated parents regain control of their own lives and not expect the same thing to happen as it did to their parents. To the surprise of everyone, the program works, but the administration warns the duo that it will not last unless every senior student is able to pass his or her final exams and graduate with the class. As the end of the school year approaches, Gertz faces a crisis to save everything she believes in or lose it all.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 402
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
Coach Carter (2005)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 168000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: motivational, inspirational, touching, hood, feel good, captivating, teen, intense, philosophical, sexy
Similar in 81%
Up the Down Staircase (1967)
Plot Summary:
Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher at New York's inner-city Calvin Coolidge High: her lit classes are overcrowded, a window is broken, there's no chalk, books arrive late. The administration is concerned mainly with forms and rules (there's an up and and a down staircase); bells ring at the wrong time. Nevertheless, she tries. How she handles the chaos and her despair in her first semester makes up the film: a promising student drops out, another sleeps through class, a girl with a crush on a male teacher gets suicidal, and a bright but troublesome student misunderstands Sylvia's reaching out. A discussion of Dickens, parents' night, and a mock trial highlight the term. Can she make it?.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: esoteric, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Dangerous Minds (1995)
Plot Summary:
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sentimental, hood, sincere, rough, sexy, political, social, hispanic
Similar in 76%
Take the Lead (2006)
Plot Summary:
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sexy, entertaining, captivating, feel good, teen, spiritual, epic, educational, sincere
Similar in 88%
To Sir, with Love II (1996)
Plot Summary:
Mark Thackeray (Poitier) is a West Indian, who in the 1967 film had taken teaching in a London East End school. He spent twenty years teaching and ten in administrative roles. He has taught the children of his former pupils, but is now retiring.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: political, sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 89%
To Sir, with Love (1967)
Plot Summary:
Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, educational, sentimental, realistic, social, retro, political, hood, black and white
Similar in 80%
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 88%
Lean on Me (1989)
Plot Summary:
When principal Joe Clark takes over decaying Eastside High School, he's faced with students wearing gang colors and graffiti-covered walls. Determined to do anything he must to turn the school around, he expels suspected drug dealers, padlocks doors and demands effort and results from students, staff and parents. Autocratic to a fault, this real-life educator put it all on the lin.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: inspirational, feel good, hood, realistic, motivational, political, non fiction, sincere, atmospheric, rough
Similar in 89%
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, realistic, inspirational, sad, teen, crying
Similar in 86%
McFarland, USA (2015)
Plot Summary:
A track coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, uplifting, feel good, exciting, sentimental, serious, light, emotional, sweet
Similar in 75%
Remember the Titans (2000)
Plot Summary:
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 228000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sentimental, touching, uplifting, feel good, emotional, motivational, factual, sincere, sad
Similar in 84%
The Express (2008)
Plot Summary:
Based on the incredible true story, The Express follows the inspirational life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: inspirational, uplifting, emotional, factual, serious, realistic, sincere, exciting, motivational, historical drama
Similar in 86%
Glory Road (2006)
Plot Summary:
In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: inspirational, sincere, emotional, intense, sentimental, serious, uplifting, touching, feel good, period piece
Similar in 87%
October Sky (1999)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes, and eventually became a NASA scientist.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 97000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, realistic, feel good, sentimental, emotional, uplifting, period piece, exciting, motivational
Similar in 87%
The Great Debaters (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African American college students into an historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: inspirational, realistic, touching, political, emotional, entertaining, motivational, sentimental, sincere, feel good
Similar in 87%
Something the Lord Made (2004)
Plot Summary:
A dramatization of the relationship between heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: emotional, sincere, uplifting, inspirational, serious, realistic, motivational, thought provoking, feel good, spiritual
Similar in 76%
The Blind Side (2009)
Plot Summary:
Oversized African-American, Michael Oher, the teen from across the tracks and a broken home, has nowhere to sleep at age 16. Taken in by an affluent Memphis couple, Michael embarks on a remarkable rise to play for the NFL.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 355000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, emotional, sentimental, motivational, uplifting, realistic, feel good, captivating, christian film
Similar in 90%
The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)
Plot Summary:
Growing up poor in Madras, India, Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar earns admittance to Cambridge University during WWI, where he becomes a pioneer in mathematical theories with the guidance of his professor, G.H. Hardy.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, India
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: philosophical, intellectual, inspirational, motivational, clever, touching, educational, unusual plot structure, thought provoking, sexy
Similar in 77%
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 549000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: inspirational, emotional, sentimental, uplifting, motivational, dramatic, heartbreaking, tear jerker, touching, sincere
Similar in 83%
The Ron Clark Story (2006)
Plot Summary:
Matthew Perry is real-life inspiration Ron Clark, a passionate and innovative teacher who leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to this students, Clark must use unconventional methods, including his ground-breaking classroom rules, to drive them toward their potential.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, emotional, realistic, inspirational, touching, teen, indie film, learning
Similar in 81%
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.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, realistic, sentimental, emotional, sweet, talky, sincere, thought provoking, spiritual
Similar in 88%
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.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 96000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: depressing, psychological, bleak, thought provoking, touching, sad, independent film, serious, inspirational, emotional
Similar in 89%
Freedom Writers (2007)
Plot Summary:
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: inspirational, feel good, touching, sentimental, rough, motivational, hood, emotional, educational, spiritual
Similar in 75%
The Emperor's Club (2002)
Plot Summary:
William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, inspirational, emotional, contemplative, sincere, serious, educational, philosophical, feel good
Similar in 75%
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Plot Summary:
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 530000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: philosophical, inspirational, sentimental, emotional, uplifting, intellectual, touching, motivational, sad, tear jerker
Similar in 86%
Rudy (1993)
Plot Summary:
Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: inspirational, uplifting, feel good, emotional, tear jerker, sentimental, touching, epic, christian film, non fiction