Best movies like The Purple Rose of Cairo

Similar in 79%

Shadows and Fog (1991)

Plot Summary:

With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.

Similar in 85%

The Answer Man (2009)

Plot Summary:

Twenty years ago, Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels) wrote a book about spirituality that became wildly popular. These days, he's a curmudgeonly recluse who only enjoys the company of his chiropractor, Elizabeth (Lauren Graham). As Elizabeth's warmth starts to melt Arlen's cold heart, he comes to realize what love really means.

Similar in 82%

Radio Days (1987)

Plot Summary:

The Narrator (Woody Allen) tells us how the radio influenced his childhood in the days before TV. In the New York City of the late 1930s to the New Year's Eve 1944, this coming-of-age tale mixes the narrator's experiences with contemporary anecdotes and urban legends of the radio stars.

Similar in 80%

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Plot Summary:

Joe Pendleton is a quarterback preparing to lead his team to the superbowl when he is almost killed in an accident. An overanxious angel plucks him to heaven only to discover that he wasn't ready to die, and that his body has been cremated. A new body must be found, and that of a recently murdered millionaire is chosen. His wife and accountant, the murderers, are confused by this development, as he buys the L.A. Rams in order to once again quarterback them into the Superbowl.

Similar in 81%

Zelig (1983)

Plot Summary:

Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.

Similar in 82%

Modern Romance (1981)

Plot Summary:

A film editor breaks up with his girlfriend, unsure if he is in love.

Similar in 84%

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Plot Summary:

Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.

Similar in 82%

Happy Accidents (2000)

Plot Summary:

A comedy that pays tribute to the science fiction genre -- specifically, the sub-genre of time travel. But here the alternate reality is contemporary New York City where past and future experiences of trust, commitment and denial are cleverly put to the test. Just as Ruby is beginning to relish her first-ever healthy relationship, Sam begins muttering about being a time traveler from the year 2470.

Similar in 88%

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)

Plot Summary:

Centred around a weekend party at the home of inventor Andrew Hobbs and his wife Adrian, attended by randy doctor Maxwell Jordan, his nurse Dulcy, renowned philosopher Dr.Leopold Sturgis and his fiancée, this is a light comedy concerning their various emotional, intellectual and sexual entanglements, loosely based on Ingmar Bergman's 'Smiles of a Summer Night'.

Similar in 88%

Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

Plot Summary:

A hapless talent manager named Danny Rose, by helping a client, gets dragged into a love triangle involving the mob. His story is told in flashback, an anecdote shared amongst a group of comedians over lunch at New York's Carnegie Deli. Rose's one-man talent agency represents countless incompetent entertainers, including a one-legged tap dancer, and one slightly talented one: washed-up lounge singer Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte), whose career is on the rebound.

Similar in 80%

Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Plot Summary:

A mild mannered film critic is dumped by his wife and his ego is crushed. His hero persona is the tough guy played by Humphrey Bogart in many of his movies and the apparition of Bogart begins showing up to give him advice. With the encouragement of his two married friends, he actually tries dating again, with less than satisfactory results, until he relaxes.

Similar in 89%

Alice (1990)

Plot Summary:

Alice Tate, mother of two, with a marriage of 16 years, finds herself falling for the handsome sax player, Joe. Stricken with a backache, she consults Dr. Yang, an oriental herbalist who realizes that her problems are not related to her back, but in her mind and heart. Dr. Yang's magical herbs give Alice wondrous powers, taking her out of well-established rut.

Similar in 81%

Hollywood Ending (2002)

Plot Summary:

Woody Allen stars as Val Waxman, a two-time Oscar winner turned washed-up, neurotic director in desperate need of a comeback. When it comes, Waxman finds himself backed into a corner: Work for his ex-wife Ellie or forfeit his last shot. Is Val blinded by love when he opts for the reconnect? Is love blind when it comes to Ellie's staunch support? Literally and figuratively, the proof is the picture.

Similar in 86%

Anything Else (2003)

Plot Summary:

Jerry Falk, an aspiring writer in New York, falls in love at first sight with a free-spirited young woman named Amanda He has heard the phrase that life is like "anything else," but soon he finds that life with the unpredictable Amanda isn't like anything else at all.

Similar in 85%

To Rome with Love (2012)

Plot Summary:

Four tales unfold in the Eternal City: While vacationing in Rome, architect John encounters a young man whose romantic woes remind him of a painful incident from his own youth; retired opera director Jerry discovers a mortician with an amazing voice, and he seizes the opportunity to rejuvenate his own flagging career; a young couple have separate romantic interludes; a spotlight shines on an ordinary man.

Similar in 83%

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

Plot Summary:

When Lenny and his wife, Amanda, adopt a baby, Lenny realizes that his son is a genius and becomes obsessed with finding the boy's biological mother in hopes that she will be brilliant too. But when he learns that Max's mother is Linda Ash, a kindhearted prostitute and porn star, Lenny is determined to reform her immoral lifestyle. A Greek chorus chimes in to relate the plot to Greek mythology in this quirky comedy.

Similar in 89%

Manhattan (1979)

Plot Summary:

The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.

Similar in 86%

Annie Hall (1977)

Plot Summary:

In the city of New York, comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.

Similar in 77%

Husbands and Wives (1992)

Plot Summary:

When Jack and Sally announce that they're splitting up, this comes as a shock to their best friends Gabe and Judy. Maybe mostly because they also are drifting apart and are now being made aware of it. So while Jack and Sally try to go on and meet new people, the marriage of Gabe and Judy gets more and more strained, and they begin to find themselves being attracted to other people.

Similar in 83%

Made in Heaven (1987)

Plot Summary:

A romantic, occasionally funny, drama about two souls who consummate their marriage literally in "Heaven". Mike Shea, in his first life dies as a young man performing a heroic rescue. Shortly after arriving in "Heaven" he meets a new soul, Annie Packert, who has never lived on Earth before. The drama centers around their separation soon after being wedded and the burning question is whether they will reunite on Earth before time runs out or whether they are fated to eternal soul-searching.

Similar in 78%

Chances Are (1989)

Plot Summary:

Louie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and twenty years later, fate brings Alex and Louie's daughter, Miranda, together. It's not until Alex is invited to Louie's home that he begins to remember his former life, wife and best friend. Of course, there's also the problem that he's attracted to Louie's/his own daughter.

Similar in 77%

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Plot Summary:

A romantic comedy about a family traveling to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better.

Similar in 79%

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Plot Summary:

Calvin is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby, in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.

Similar in 75%

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Plot Summary:

Everybody knows that your life is a story. But what if a story was your life? Harold Crick is your average IRS agent: monotonous, boring, and repetitive. But one day this all changes when Harold begins to hear an author inside his head narrating his life. But when the narration reveals he is going to die, Harold must find the author and convince them to change the ending.

Similar in 79%

Pleasantville (1998)

Plot Summary:

Geeky teenager David and his popular twin sister, Jennifer, get sucked into the black-and-white world of a 1950s TV sitcom called "Pleasantville," and find a world where everything is peachy keen all the time. But when Jennifer's modern attitude disrupts Pleasantville's peaceful but boring routine, she literally brings color into its life.

Similar in 83%

Groundhog Day (1993)

Plot Summary:

A narcissistic TV weatherman, along with his attractive-but-distant producer and mawkish cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.

Similar in 89%

Kate & Leopold (2001)

Plot Summary:

When her scientist ex-boyfriend discovers a portal to travel through time -- and brings back a 19th-century nobleman named Leopold to prove it -- a skeptical Kate reluctantly takes responsibility for showing Leopold the 21st century. The more time Kate spends with Leopold, the harder she falls for him. But if he doesn't return to his own time, his absence will forever alter history.

Similar in 88%

Penelope (2006)

Plot Summary:

Forlorn heiress Penelope Wilhern is cursed, and the only way out is to fall in love with someone of suitable stock. But how can she find her soul mate when she's sequestered inside her family's estate with only her parents to keep her company. This untraditional fairy tale about a girl who bucks convention to create her own happy ending.

Similar in 76%

Whatever Works (2009)

Plot Summary:

Whatever Works explores the relationship between a crotchety misanthrope, Boris and a naïve, impressionable young runaway from the south, Melody. When Melody's uptight parents arrive in New York to rescue her, they are quickly drawn into wildly unexpected romantic entanglements. Everyone discovers that finding love is just a combination of lucky chance and appreciating the value of "whatever works.".

Similar in 87%

Amelie (2001)

Plot Summary:

At a tiny Parisian café, the adorable yet painfully shy Amélie (Audrey Tautou) accidentally discovers a gift for helping others. Soon Amelie is spending her days as a matchmaker, guardian angel, and all-around do-gooder. But when she bumps into a handsome stranger, will she find the courage to become the star of her very own love story?.