Movies like James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997)
The best movies like James Dean: Race with Destiny (1997) are Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014) and Iron Jawed Angels (2004). If James Dean: Race with Destiny hooked you with its tv movie and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Theory of Everything (2014)7.8/10 from 11,369 votes
- NewestDalíland (2022)Released 2022
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014)
The story of R&B singer and actress Aaliyah; namely, the highs and lows of her career, her romantic pursuits, and the events leading up to her death in 2001 at the age of 22.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIron Jawed Angels (2004)
Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)
The story of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping and captivity, as told from her perspective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisConfirmation (2016)
Judge Clarence Thomas' nomination to the United States' Supreme Court is called into question when former colleague, Anita Hill, testifies that he had sexually harassed her.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRay Donovan: The Movie (2022)
A showdown decades in the making brings the Donovan family legacy full circle. As the events that made Ray who he is today finally come to light, the Donovans find themselves drawn back to Boston to face the past. Each of them struggles to overcome their violent upbringing, but destiny dies hard, and only their fierce love for each other keeps them in the fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOslo (2021)
The true story of negotiations between implacable enemies — the secret back-channel talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics of a small but committed group of Israelis, Palestinians and one Norwegian couple that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gabby Douglas Story (2014)
The true story of Gabby Douglas who becomes the first African American to be named Individual All-Around Champion in artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Games.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGotti (1996)
John Gotti, the head of a small New York mafia crew breaks a few of the old family rules. He rises to become the head of the Gambino family and the most well-known mafia boss in America. Life is good, but suspicion creeps in, and greed, rule-breaking and his high public profile all threaten to topple him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounddog (2008)
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Short History of the Long Road (2019)
Nola grew up living in a van with her father, Clint—two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past, and her new destination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife (2015)
In 1955, young photographer Dennis Stock develops a close bond with actor James Dean while shooting pictures of the rising Hollywood star.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Safety of Objects (2002)
In a suburban landscape, the lives of several families interlace with loss, despair and personal crisis. Esther Gold has lost focus on all but caring for her comatose son, Paul, and neglects her daughter and husband. Lawyer Jim Train is devoted to his career, not his family. Helen Christianson wants to find a new spark in life, while Annette Jennings tries to rebuild hers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Eyez on Me (2017)
All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Tupac rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAdam (2020)
A hard-living salesman becomes a quadriplegic after an accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDalíland (2022)
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLucky Them (2013)
More interested in partying and flirting with young musicians than work, veteran rock journalist Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her magazine’s editor: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost rock god, Matt Smith, who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. Teaming up with an eccentric amateur documentary filmmaker, Ellie hits the road in search of answers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEffie Gray (2014)
A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRails & Ties (2007)
A deadly collision between a train and car lead to an unlikely bond between the train engineer and a young boy who escapes the carnage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMae West (1982)
Biography of the curvaceous and sharp-witted actress who scandalized Broadway and Hollywood in the 1920s-30s with her frank approach to sex.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Amelia Earhart (1976)
Biography follows the life of famed woman pilot Amelia Earhart, including her marriage to a famous publisher and her disappearance during a flight in 1937.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Walk the Line (2005)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDesert Dancer (2014)
Inspirational true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life for his dream to become a dancer despite a nationwide dancing ban.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSexo en el plató (2007)
How are the sex scenes filmed? What tricks are used to fake the desire? How do the interpreters prepare and feel? Spanish actors and directors talk about the most intimate side of acting, about the tricks and work methods when narrating exposed sex. In Spain the general rule is that there are no rules. Each film, each interpreter, faces it in very different ways.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Life of Rayful Edmond (2005)
The true king of cocaine. At his peak he sold 2,000 kilos a week, reaped gross profits of $70 million a month, and ran an operation with over 150 soldiers to support him. In his life champagne flowed like water, trips to Vegas, New York, and Los Angeles were the norm, and $150,000 shopping sprees were nothing. At the height of Washington, D.C.'s brutal crack epidemic in 1987, there was a 22 year old man responsible for distributing 90% of Columbian Cocaine onto the city's streets. This man is Rayful Edmond III. In the media's eyes he was guilty until proven innocent, but in the streets eyes he was a hero who made it to the top. This is his story-a story of; Power, Money, Murder, Betrayal and the rise and fall of the Edmond's Empire.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHaywire (1980)
Based on the autobiography of Brooke Hayward, daughter of famous Broadway producer Leland Hayward and actress Margaret Sullavan, who grows up in the glamorous, cruel and emotionally unstable world of her parents.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Scene of the Crash (1971)
A young married woman Jelena finds about her husband's car accident from an unknown stranger named Vlatko, but also that he wants to be visited by his mistress rather than her. The encounter with her father, an ex-politician, will be another shock, but that's when she accepts Vlatko's courtship without being able to see his self-interested nature.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Amour Fou (2014)
Heinrich wishes to conquer death through love, and when he meets Henriette, the wife of a business acquaintance, she expresses interest in a suicide pact when she learns she has a terminal illness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like James Dean: Race with Destiny?
The closest matches to James Dean: Race with Destiny are Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014) and Iron Jawed Angels (2004). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after James Dean: Race with Destiny?
Start with Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), the closest match to James Dean: Race with Destiny.
What is the highest-rated movie like James Dean: Race with Destiny?
The Theory of Everything (2014), rated 7.8/10 by 11,369 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like James Dean: Race with Destiny?
Dalíland (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like James Dean: Race with Destiny?
Yes: Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B (2014) and Iron Jawed Angels (2004).
How are movies similar to James Dean: Race with Destiny chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside James Dean: Race with Destiny, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.