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Almost Famous poster

Movies that feel likeAlmost Famous (2000)

In 1973, a precocious 15-year-old aspiring rock journalist lands a dream assignment from Rolling Stone to tour with a rising rock band, embarking on a coming-of-age journey as he discovers the exhilarating and heartbreaking realities behind rock stardom.

If you loved Almost Famous, the closest films we have are Stop Making Sense (1984), The Legend of 1900 (1998) and CODA (2021). All three share Almost Famous' contemplative and stylish feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988).

🍅 91% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Cameron Crowecontemplativestylishwistful
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Hulu

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If Almost Famous hit the spot, these will too

Stop Making Sense poster
Stop Making Sense
1984 · dir. Jonathan Demme
🍅 100%★ 8.7documentary · musicRent or buy

Both are working the same pair: concert, rock 'n' roll

The difference: Easier on the wistfulness than Almost Famous

A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.

The Legend of 1900 poster
The Legend of 1900
1998 · dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
🍅 58%★ 8drama · music

Contemplative where it counts, stylish underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Musician Max Tooney goes to sell his prized Conn trumpet to a music shop, where he plays the instrument one last time. The shopkeeper recognises the song as one on a record matrix he found and asks who the piece is by. Tooney tells the story of an infant found abandoned in the first class dining room of the four-stacker ocean-liner SS Virginian on 1 January 1900. Danny Boodman, a coal-man from the boiler room, names the boy Danny Boodman T. D. Lemon 1900, after himself, the fruit crate the boy was found in, and the year, and raises him as his own.

CODA poster
CODA
2021 · dir. Sian Heder
🍅 94%★ 8drama · music · romanceApple TV+

Both keep coming back to the same thing: growing up

The difference: Leans harder into romance than Almost Famous does

As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.

The Last Waltz poster
The Last Waltz
1978 · dir. Martin Scorsese
🍅 98%★ 8.1documentary · musicPrime Video

One thread runs through both: rock 'n' roll

The difference: Sits closer to documentary than Almost Famous does

Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and other rock legends.

La Vie en Rose poster
La Vie en Rose
2007 · dir. Olivier Dahan
🍅 50%★ 7.5music · drama

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

From the mean streets of the Belleville district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's most famous concert halls, Edith Piaf's life was a constant battle to sing and survive, to live and love. Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in 1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplee, who persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Piaf became one of France's immortal icons, her voice one of the indelible signatures of the 20th century.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston poster
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
2006 · dir. Jeff Feuerzeig
🍅 88%★ 7.9documentary · music

Music with a pulse of style, in both cases

This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.

Distant Voices, Still Lives poster
Distant Voices, Still Lives
1988 · dir. Terence Davies
🍅 80%★ 7.4drama · music

Drama built on stillness, twice over

Siblings Maisie and Tony, along with their mother, gather for their sister Eileen's wedding. It is a joyous occasion, but through flashbacks, it becomes clear that the family was not always happy. Their father was physically abusive to his wife and left the children emotionally traumatized. As a result, the children have grown into unhappy adults, looking for love they didn't receive when they were young.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan poster
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
2015 · dir. Kabir Khan
🍅 91%★ 8.1music · dramaNetflix

Stylish music in both cases

A young mute girl from Pakistan loses herself in India with no way to head back. A devoted man with a magnanimous spirit undertakes the task to get her back to her motherland and unite her with her family.

The Bélier Family poster
The Bélier Family
2014 · dir. Éric Lartigau
🍅 83%★ 7.3comedy · music · drama

The same preoccupation in both: growing up

The whole Bélier family is deaf, except for sixteen year old Paula who is the important translator in her parents' day to day life especially when it comes to matters concerning the family farm. When her music teacher discovers she has a fantastic singing voice and she gets an opportunity to enter a big Radio France contest the whole family's future is set up for big changes.

Dirty Dancing poster
Dirty Dancing
1987 · dir. Emile Ardolino
🍅 73%★ 7.1drama · music · romance

Wistful drama, and it commits to that

Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.

We Are the Best! poster
We Are the Best!
2013 · dir. Lukas Moodysson
🍅 97%★ 7.1drama · musicPrime Video

Both play music straight

Three girls in 1980s Stockholm decide to form a punk band—despite not having any instruments, and being told by everyone that punk is dead.

Searching for Sugar Man poster
Searching for Sugar Man
2012 · dir. Malik Bendjelloul
🍅 95%★ 8.2music · documentaryHulu

Common ground: a true story

Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.

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The best-reviewed films that share Almost Famous’ defining feeling.