Movies like The Language of Ball
The best movies like The Language of Ball are The Lonely Guy (1984), Bronson (2009) and The Invisible (2007). If The Language of Ball hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Language of Ball
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Basketball Diaries (1995)7.4/10 from 2,318 votes
- NewestWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)Released 2024
The Lonely Guy (1984)
A writer for a greeting card company learns the true meaning of loneliness when he comes home to find his girlfriend in bed with another man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBronson (2009)
A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Invisible (2007)
After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able help him is his attacker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAbove the Rim (1994)
Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Basketball Diaries (1995)
A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAmateur (2018)
14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Squid and the Whale (2005)
Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA-X-L (2018)
The life of a teenage boy is forever altered by a chance encounter with cutting edge military technology.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Butterfly (2017)
Paul is a down-on-his-luck screenwriter who picks up a drifter and offers him a place to stay. However, when the deranged stranger takes Paul hostage and forces him to write, their unhinged relationship brings buried secrets to light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLook Away (2018)
A timid and socially alienated 17-year-old high school student's life is turned upside down when she switches places with her sinister mirror image.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGlory Road (2006)
In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2023)
Two teenage Mexican-American loners in 1987 El Paso explore a new, unusual friendship and the difficult road to self-discovery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore I Wake (2016)
An orphaned child's dreams—and nightmares—manifest physically as he sleeps.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Art of Getting By (2011)
George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWinter Spring Summer or Fall (2024)
Remi and Barnes, two very different teenagers, meet by chance in the winter of their senior year, then spend four days together over the course of a year that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShadows in the Sun (2005)
An aspiring young writer tracks a literary titan suffering from writers block to his refuge in rural Italy and learns about life and love from the irascible genius and his daughters.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Unforgivable (2021)
A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Air Up There (1994)
Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSummer of Sam (1999)
Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American Northeast Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Language of Ball?
The closest matches to The Language of Ball are The Lonely Guy (1984), Bronson (2009) and The Invisible (2007). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Language of Ball?
Start with The Lonely Guy (1984), the closest match to The Language of Ball.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Language of Ball?
The Basketball Diaries (1995), rated 7.4/10 by 2,318 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Language of Ball?
Winter Spring Summer or Fall (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Language of Ball?
Yes: The Lonely Guy (1984), Bronson (2009) and The Invisible (2007).
How are movies similar to The Language of Ball chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Language of Ball, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.