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American Movie poster

Movies that feel likeAmerican Movie (1999)

American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.

If you loved American Movie, the closest films we have are The Castle (1997), Crumb (1995) and My Life as a Dog (1985). All three share American Movie's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Bathtubs Over Broadway (2018).

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If American Movie hit the spot, these will too

The Castle poster
The Castle
1997 · dir. Rob Sitch
🍅 87%★ 7.6drama · comedy

Both are built on the same subject: underdog

The difference: Takes it somewhere less obsessive than American Movie does

The quirky Kerrigan family lives together in a makeshift home they built themselves – with great pride and a bizarre attention to detail – a few yards from the edge of Melbourne, Australia's busy Tullamarine Airport. When a building inspector condemns the building and reveals that the government plans to use their land for an airport expansion, Darryl Kerrigan and his brood recruit hack attorney Dennis Denuto and prepare themselves for the fight of their lives.

Crumb poster
Crumb
1995 · dir. Terry Zwigoff
🍅 95%★ 8documentary

One thread runs through both: obsession

This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through interviews with his mother, two brothers, wife, ex-wife and ex-girlfriends, as well as selections from his vast quantity of graphic art, we are treated to a darkly comic ride through one man's subconscious mind.

My Life as a Dog poster
My Life as a Dog
1985 · dir. Lasse Hallström
🍅 100%★ 7.6drama · comedyMax

The same preoccupation in both: underdog

The difference: Sits closer to drama than American Movie does

A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.

Bathtubs Over Broadway poster
Bathtubs Over Broadway
2018 · dir. Dava Whisenant
🍅 100%★ 7.6documentary · comedy · music

Contemplative and witty in the same breath

The difference: Leans harder into music than American Movie does

When he started as a comedy writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, Steve Young had few interests and not many friends outside of his day job. But while gathering material for a segment on the show, Steve stumbled onto a few vintage record albums that would change his life forever.

Modern Romance poster
Modern Romance
1981 · dir. Albert Brooks
🍅 83%★ 7comedy · drama · romancePrime Video

Both keep coming back to the same thing: obsession

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

In America poster
In America
2003 · dir. Jim Sheridan
🍅 90%★ 7.7drama

Hopeful documentary in both cases

A family of Irish immigrants adjusts to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.

Swades poster
Swades
2004 · dir. Ashutosh Gowariker
🍅 90%★ 8.2dramaNetflix

Both lean on stillness more than on comedy

A successful Indian scientist returns home to his village to take his nanny back to America with him, and in the process rediscovers his roots.

Toc Toc poster
Toc Toc
2017 · dir. Vicente Villanueva
★ 6.8comedy

The same mix in both: play, then obsession

A group of patients meet at a prestigious psychologist's office. Apart from the day and time of the appointment, something else unites them all: all six suffer from OCD. But the plane bringing the doctor is unexpectedly delayed, which forces them to spend an endless wait until the doctor shows up. Will they be able to keep their manias, impulses, convulsions, obsessions and rituals at bay during the wait?

Astral City: A Spiritual Journey poster
Astral City: A Spiritual Journey
2010 · dir. Wagner de Assis
★ 6.5drama

Hopeful documentary, and it commits to that

The selfish Dr. André Luiz dies and awakes in the limbo called "Umbral". After a painful period in the gruesome swamp, he is rescued and brought in a white light to "Nosso Lar" (meaning "Our Home"). He finds a place of harmony, where people live in peace awaiting

A Heart in Winter poster
A Heart in Winter
1992 · dir. Claude Sautet
🍅 85%★ 7.5drama · romance

Comedy with a pulse of obsession, in both cases

Beautiful violin virtuoso Camille has two obsessions: the music of Ravel, and a friend of her husband's who crafts violins. But his heart seems to be as cold as her playing is passionate.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story poster
DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
2004 · dir. Rawson Marshall Thurber
🍅 72%★ 6.7comedyParamount+

Comedy built on wit, twice over

When megalomaniacal White Goodman, the owner of a trendy, high-end fitness center, makes a move to take over the struggling local gym run by happy-go-lucky Pete La Fleur, there's only one way for La Fleur to fight back: dodgeball. Aided by a dodgeball guru and Goodman's attorney, La Fleur and his rag-tag team of underdogs launch a knock-down, drag-out battle in which the winner takes all.

Departures poster
Departures
2008 · dir. Yojiro Takita
🍅 80%★ 8drama

Contemplative documentary, and it commits to that

Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.

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The best-reviewed films that share American Movie’s defining feeling.