feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Breaking Away (1979)

If you loved Breaking Away, the closest films we have are The Breakfast Club (1985), Eighth Grade (2018) and Tony (2026). All three share Breaking Away's contemplative and witty feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, YouTube TV and Netflix Standard with Ads and others, checked against today's data.

Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his three friends: the comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends' and parents' annoyance.

πŸ… 95% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Peter Yatescontemplativewittyplayfulwistful

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

When is Breaking Away streaming? β†’

If Breaking Away hit the spot, these will too

The Breakfast Club poster
The Breakfast Club
1985 Β· dir. John Hughes
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

Growing up is the engine of both

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.

Feels alike?
Eighth Grade poster
Eighth Grade
2018 Β· dir. Bo Burnham
πŸ… 99%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· drama

Both built around growing up

The difference: A 2010s film, from a different era of filmmaking

Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school β€” the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year β€” before she begins high school.

Feels alike?
Tony poster
Tony
2026 Β· dir. Matt Johnson
β˜… 7.7drama Β· comedy

Contemplative and witty in the same breath

A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

Feels alike?
The King of Comedy poster
The King of Comedy
1982 Β· dir. Martin Scorsese
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.8drama Β· comedy

Drama built on play, twice over

The difference: None of the wistfulness that defines Breaking Away

Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.

Feels alike?
My Favorite Year poster
My Favorite Year
1982 Β· dir. Richard Benjamin
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· drama

Contemplative comedy, and it commits to that

Fledgling comic Benjy Stone can't believe his luck when his childhood hero, the swashbuckling matinee idol Alan Swann, gets booked to appear on the variety show he writes for. But when Swann arrives, he fails to live up to his silver screen image. Instead, he's a drunken womanizer who suffers from stage fright. Benjy is assigned to look after him before the show, and it's all he can do to keep his former idol from going completely off the rails.

Feels alike?
Mean Girls poster
Mean Girls
2004 Β· dir. Mark Waters
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.1drama Β· comedy

Drama with a pulse of wistfulness, in both cases

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Feels alike?
Slums of Beverly Hills poster
Slums of Beverly Hills
1998 Β· dir. Tamara Jenkins
πŸ… 82%β˜… 6.7comedy Β· drama

Both trade on wit more than on being comedy

In 1976, a teenage girl struggles to cope while living with her neurotic lower-middle-class family of nomads on the outskirts of Beverly Hills.

Feels alike?
Smoke poster
Smoke
1995 Β· dir. Wayne Wang
πŸ… 89%β˜… 7.4comedy Β· drama

Playful drama in both cases

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.

Feels alike?
Little Miss Sunshine poster
Little Miss Sunshine
2006 Β· dir. Valerie Faris
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· drama

Comedy built on stillness, twice over

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

Feels alike?
Nights of Cabiria poster
Nights of Cabiria
1957 Β· dir. Federico Fellini
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8.1drama Β· comedy

A streak of wit through both

Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.

Feels alike?
The Devil Wears Prada poster
The Devil Wears Prada
2006 Β· dir. David Frankel
πŸ… 75%β˜… 7drama Β· comedy

Play is the shared currency

A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.

Feels alike?
Big poster
Big
1988 Β· dir. Penny Marshall
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.3fantasy Β· drama Β· comedy

Both work the same wistfulness

The difference: Leans fantasy where Breaking Away does not

When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big, he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight, but he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups, including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Breaking Away's defining feeling.