Movies like The Emmett Smith Story (1979)
The best movies like The Emmett Smith Story (1979) are If I Had Wings (2013), Radio (2003) and McFarland, USA (2015). If The Emmett Smith Story hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOvercomer (2019)7.7/10 from 313 votes
- NewestThe Map That Leads to You (2025)Released 2025
If I Had Wings (2013)
Alex, blind since the age of two, dreams of running for his school's cross-country team. His father, a probation officer, finds a running partner who spends his time 'running' from the law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadio (2003)
In the racially divided town of Anderson, South Carolina in 1976, football coach Harold Jones spots a mentally disabled African-American young man nicknamed Radio near his practice field and is inspired to befriend him. Soon, Radio is Jones' loyal assistant, and he becomes a student at T.L. Hanna High School. But things start to sour when Coach Jones begins taking guff from parents and fans who feel that his devotion to Radio is getting in the way of the team's quest for a championship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMcFarland, USA (2015)
A track coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWalk. Ride. Rodeo. (2019)
Tells the incredible true story of Amberley Snyder, a nationally ranked rodeo barrel racer who defies the odds after barely surviving a car accident that leaves her paralyzed from the waist down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this23 Blast (2014)
When a high school football star is suddenly stricken with irreversible total blindness, he must decide whether to live a safe handicapped life or bravely return to the life he once knew and the sport he still loves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOvercomer (2019)
After reluctantly agreeing to coach cross-country, high school basketball Coach John Harrison helps the least likely runner attempt the impossible in the biggest race of the year.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWildcats (1986)
High school track coach Molly McGrath knows just as much about football as anyone else on the planet. When a football coach's position becomes vacant, she applies for the job, despite snickers from fellow staff members and her former husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChampions (2023)
A stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach is forced to train a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight School (2018)
Teddy Walker is a successful salesman whose life takes an unexpected turn when he accidentally blows up his place of employment. Forced to attend night school to get his GED, Teddy soon finds himself dealing with a group of misfit students, his former high school nemesis and a feisty teacher who doesn't think he's too bright.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStronger (2017)
A victim of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 helps the police track down the killers while struggling to recover from devastating trauma.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOut of My Mind (2024)
Melody Brooks, a sixth grader with cerebral palsy, has a quick wit and a sharp mind, but because she is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, she is not given the same opportunities as her classmates. When a young educator notices her student's untapped potential and Melody starts to participate in mainstream education, Melody shows that what she has to say is more important than how she says it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPassion Fish (1992)
After an accident leaves her a paraplegic, a former soap opera star struggles to recover both emotionally and mentally, until she meets her newest nurse, who has struggles of her own.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAny Given Sunday (1999)
A star quarterback gets knocked out of the game and an unknown third stringer is called in to replace him. The unknown gives a stunning performance and forces the aging coach to reevaluate his game plans and life. A new co-owner/president adds to the pressure of winning. The new owner must prove herself in a male dominated world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe Are Marshall (2006)
When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarvellous (2014)
Dramatisation of the true story of the life of Neil "Nello" Baldwin. Born with a mild learning disability but without the burden of social embarrassment & how his inexhaustible ability to see the good in any situation overcame any stigma society tried to label him with.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Belles of St Trinian's (1954)
The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian's are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when the arrival at the school of Princess Fatima of Makyad coincides with the return of recently expelled Arabella Fritton, who has the kidnap of a prize racehorse on her mind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)
No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWords on Bathroom Walls (2020)
Diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through his senior year of high school, a witty, introspective teen struggles to keep it a secret while falling in love with a brilliant classmate who inspires him to open his heart and not be defined by his condition.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor Love of the Game (1999)
A baseball legend almost finished with his distinguished career at the age of forty has one last chance to prove who he is, what he is capable of, and win the heart of the woman he has loved for the past four years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Map That Leads to You (2025)
Heather is a young woman traveling Europe with friends before starting her perfectly planned life. A chance meeting with Jack sparks an unexpected romance that leads to deep emotional discovery. As secrets and life choices test their bond, her path changes forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Break (1995)
A washed-up tennis pro begins coaching a hopeful teen, Joel Robbins, whose overbearing father wants to discourage him from playing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Paul and Michelle (1974)
Taking place approximately three years after the events in Friends, Paul and Michelle follows the family of Paul Harrison and Michelle Latour-Harrison after they have been reunited. Paul has to cope with the difficulties he faces balancing work, college, and trying to maintain their family as well as a new love interest for Michelle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Two Men in Town (1973)
A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBrute (1997)
Shipped off to a Romanian orphanage to finish his sentence, a British criminal finds romance but also discovers corruption inside the facility.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Girl with Brains in Her Feet (1997)
A 13 year old talented athlete struggles to come to terms with the traumas of life as she prepares for a very important athletics event.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Seeing Through the Darkness (2025)
The film follows five people who lost their sight in armed conflicts, gathering fragments of their present-day lives. Through an enveloping sound composition, veiled archival material, footage shot by the protagonists themselves, and a sensitive visual approach, the film explores memory, perception, and our relationship to the visible. Steering away from spectacle, it invites us to hear what often goes unheard, and to feel differently. In an age saturated with images, this documentary offers a sensory experience where listening becomes a gesture of resistance and human reconnection.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like this12 Feet Deep (2018)
Two sisters are trapped under the fiberglass cover of an Olympic sized public pool and must brave the cold and each other to survive the harrowing night.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoosiers (1986)
Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGirl's Reform School (1956)
The day to day life in an establishment for delinquent teenage girls.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Emmett Smith Story?
The closest matches to The Emmett Smith Story are If I Had Wings (2013), Radio (2003) and McFarland, USA (2015). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Emmett Smith Story?
Start with If I Had Wings (2013), the closest match to The Emmett Smith Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Emmett Smith Story?
Overcomer (2019), rated 7.7/10 by 313 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Emmett Smith Story?
The Map That Leads to You (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Emmett Smith Story?
Yes: If I Had Wings (2013), Radio (2003) and McFarland, USA (2015).
How are movies similar to The Emmett Smith Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Emmett Smith Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.