Movies like Knuckleball! (2012)
The best movies like Knuckleball! (2012) are No No: A Dockumentary (2014), The League (2023) and Tough Guy (2018). If Knuckleball! hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHoop Dreams (1994)7.6/10 from 348 votes
- NewestBye Bye Barry (2023)Released 2023
No No: A Dockumentary (2014)
Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD, then worked for decades counseling drug abusers. Dock's soulful style defined 1970s baseball as he kept hitters honest and embarrassed the establishment. An ensemble cast of teammates, friends, and family investigate his life on the field, in the media, and out of the spotlight.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The League (2023)
The triumphs and challenges of Negro League baseball in the early 20th century. Through rare footage and interviews with iconic players like Satchel Paige and Buck O'Neil, as well as Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, the film highlights the league's pivotal role in Black communities and the impact of integration.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Tough Guy (2018)
Archival footage and personal testimonials present an intimate portrait of the life and career and death of NHL tough guy Bob Probert.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Last Gladiators (2012)
In ice hockey, no one is tougher than the "goon". Those players have one mission: to protect the star players at any price. Exploring the violent world of hockey fights, Academy Award winner Alex Gibney ("Taxi to the Dark Side") looks at the world of the NHL enforcers and specifically the career of Chris "Knuckles" Nilan who helped the Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Russian Five (2018)
The story of the five Russian hockey stars who helped the Detroit Red Wings win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships and created one of the most memorable chapters in Motor City sports history.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Red Penguins (2019)
Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the famed Red Army hockey team formed a joint venture that redefined what was possible in the new Russia. Eccentric marketing whiz, Steve Warshaw, is sent to Moscow and tasked to transform the team into the greatest show in Russia, attracting some of the biggest names in Hollywood and advertising along the way. He takes the viewer on a bizarre journey highlighting a pivotal moment in U.S.-Russian relations during a lawless era when oligarchs made their fortunes and multiple murders went unsolved.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Murderball (2005)
Quadriplegics, who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs, overcome unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBroke (2012)
According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 60 percent of former NBA players are broke within five years of retirement. By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress. Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, many pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar and Andre Rison, as well as Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, this fascinating documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature can carry them to victory on the field and ruin off it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Counterpunch (2017)
As boxing's popularity wanes, three fighters at different stages of their career make sacrifices to pursue their dreams of becoming champions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGunnin' for That #1 Spot (2008)
The film follows 8 of the top high school basketball players in the US at the time of filming, in 2006. The plot centers around the first annual Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic game at the legendary Rucker Park in Harlem.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Death of a Gentleman (2015)
Two cricket journalists set off on a journey to the heart of the game they love, only to stumble upon one of the biggest sporting scandals ever. This is a film about passion, greed, power, and standing up for what you care about.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Deion's Double Play (2019)
An overview of Deion "Prime Time" Sanders' attempt to play in both an NFL and MLB game in the same day.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Seve (2014)
Despite being blocked at almost every turn in pursuit of the sport he loved, Seve Ballesteros fought against adversity to become the most spectacular and charismatic golfer to ever play the game.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Sugar (2008)
Like many young men in the Dominican Republic, 19-year-old Miguel "Sugar" Santos dreams of winning a slot on an American baseball team. Indeed, his talents as a pitcher eventually land him a slot on a single-A team in Iowa, but culture shock, racism and other curveballs threaten to turn Sugar's dream sour.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndrafted (2016)
A team of misfit intramural baseball players become important to a player who was overlooked in the MLB draft, as he tries to come to grips with his dashed dream.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
The Phenom (2016)
A rookie pitcher undergoes psychotherapy to overcome the yips.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
SnoozefestMovies like thisMajor League (1989)
When Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband, she's determined to move the team to a warmer climate—but only a losing season will make that possible, which should be easy given the misfits she's hired. Rachel is sure her dream will come true, but she underestimates their will to succeed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIce Guardians (2016)
On-ice enforcers struggle to rise through the professional ranks of the world's most prestigious hockey league, only to be confronted with a new found fight for the existence of the role itself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKings Ransom (2009)
On August 9, 1988, the NHL was forever changed with the single stroke of a pen. The Edmonton Oilers, fresh off their fourth Stanley Cup victory in five years, signed a deal that sent Wayne Gretzky, a Canadian national treasure and the greatest hockey player ever to play the game, to the Los Angeles Kings in a multi-player, multi-million dollar deal. As bewildered Oiler fans struggled to make sense of the unthinkable, fans in Los Angeles were rushing to purchase season tickets at a rate so fast it overwhelmed the Kings box office. Overnight, a franchise largely overlooked in its 21-year existence was suddenly playing to sellout crowds and standing ovations, and a league often relegated to “little brother” status exploded from 21 teams to 30 in less than a decade.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Catching Hell (2011)
After the Chicago Cubs blow an opportunity to reach the World Series in 2003, Cubs fans blame the team's misfortune on fellow fan Steve Bartman, who interfered with a foul ball and prevented Moises Alou from making a catch.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Facing Nolan (2022)
In the world of Major League Baseball no one has created a mythology like Nolan Ryan. Told from the point of view of the hitters who faced him and the teammates who revered him, Facing Nolan is the definitive documentary of a Texas legend.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Many Lives of Nick Buoniconti (2019)
The story of Pro Football Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti, whose resume encompasses turns as a linebacker, lawyer, sports agent, broadcaster, executive and philanthropist.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Undefeated (2011)
Set against the backdrop of a high school football season, Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin’s documentary UNDEFEATED is an intimate chronicle of three underprivileged student-athletes from inner-city Memphis and the volunteer coach trying to help them beat the odds on and off the field. For players and coaches alike, the season will be not only about winning games — it will be about how they grapple with the unforeseeable events that are part of football and part of life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBye Bye Barry (2023)
When NFL superstar Barry Sanders vanished at the height of his career, he left the NFL world in shock. He was still in his prime, chasing the all-time NFL rushing record when he boarded a flight to England and never stepped foot on the field again. Now, 24 years later, Barry retraces his steps through the streets of London to finally confront the mystery.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in PyongYang (2015)
Dennis Rodman is on a mission. After forging an unlikely friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he wants to improve relations between North Korea and the US by staging a historic basketball game between the two countries. But the North Korean team isn't the only opposition he'll face... Condemned by the NBA and The Whitehouse, and hounded every step of the way by the press, can Dennis keep it together and make the game happen? Or will it go up in a mushroom cloud of smoke? For the first time, discover the true story of what happened when Dennis Rodman took a team of former-NBA players to North Korea and staged the most controversial game of basketball the world has never seen.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Head Games (2012)
Former football player and wrestler Chris Nowinski's quest to publicize recent findings about the often dire consequences of head concussions sustained by athletes in contact sports — injuries that have previously been considered momentary setbacks and ignored in the name of toughness and dedication to the team.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)
Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoop Dreams (1994)
Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFastball (2016)
Since 1912, baseball has been a game obsessed with statistics and speed. Thrown at upwards of 100 miles per hour, a fastball moves too quickly for human cognition and accelerates into the realm of intuition. Fastball is a look at how the game at its highest levels of achievement transcends logic and even skill, becoming the primal struggle for man to control the uncontrollable.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Am Ali (2014)
Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Knuckleball!?
The closest matches to Knuckleball! are No No: A Dockumentary (2014), The League (2023) and Tough Guy (2018). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Knuckleball!?
People who watched Knuckleball! most often go on to No No: A Dockumentary (2014), The League (2023) and Tough Guy (2018).
What is the highest-rated movie like Knuckleball!?
Hoop Dreams (1994), rated 7.6/10 by 348 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Knuckleball!?
Bye Bye Barry (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Knuckleball!?
Yes: No No: A Dockumentary (2014), The League (2023) and Tough Guy (2018).
How are movies similar to Knuckleball! chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Knuckleball!, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.