Movies like Hope Floats (1998)
The best movies like Hope Floats (1998) are Varsity Blues (1999), Catch and Release (2006) and Love Again (2023). If Hope Floats hooked you with its romance and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLife in a Year (2020)8.2/10 from 2,027 votes
- NewestThe Friend (2025)Released 2025
Varsity Blues (1999)
In small-town Texas, high school football is a religion, 17-year-old schoolboys carry the hopes of an entire community onto the gridiron every Friday night. When star quarterback Lance Harbor suffers an injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of John Moxon, a second-string quarterback with a slightly irreverent approach to the game.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCatch and Release (2006)
For a grieving fiancée, learning to love again requires the help of her late love's three best friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisLove Again (2023)
Mira Ray, dealing with the loss of her fiancé, John, sends a series of romantic texts to his old cell phone number… not realizing the number was reassigned to Rob Burns' new work phone. Rob, a journalist, is captivated by the honesty in the beautifully confessional texts. When he’s assigned to write a profile of megastar Céline Dion, he enlists her help in figuring out how to meet Mira in person and win her heart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJerry Maguire (1996)
Jerry Maguire used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he's really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell, an egomaniacal football player.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
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 · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForget Paris (1995)
Mickey Gordon is a basketball referee who travels to France to bury his father. Ellen Andrews is an American living in Paris who works for the airline he flies on. They meet and fall in love, but their relationship goes through many difficult patches.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Evening Star (1996)
Continuing the story of Aurora Greenway in her latter years. After the death of her daughter, Aurora struggled to keep her family together, but has one grandson in jail, a rebellious granddaughter, and another grandson living just above the poverty line.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMeet John Doe (1941)
As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI Met a Girl (2020)
An aspiring musician struggling with schizophrenia falls for a mysterious woman who may be all in his head. When she suddenly vanishes, he takes off on a cross-country journey across Australia to find her, forcing his long-suffering brother to chase after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBronco Billy (1980)
An idealistic, modern-day cowboy struggles to keep his Wild West show afloat in the face of hard luck and waning interest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA California Christmas: City Lights (2021)
Follows Callie and Joseph one year after they fell in love, now running a dairy farm and winery, but their romance is threatened when business and family obligations call Joseph back to the city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpoiler Alert (2022)
Journalist Michael Ausiello embarks on a rollercoaster ride of emotions when Kit Cowan, his partner of 14 years, is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRestless (2011)
Two outsiders, both shaped by the circumstances that have brought them together, forge a deep and lasting love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSnow Cake (2006)
A drama focused on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLife in a Year (2020)
A 17 year old finds out that his girlfriend is dying, so he sets out to give her an entire life, in the last year she has left.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisCollateral Beauty (2016)
Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Ghost Story (2017)
Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife, only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Girl (1991)
Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher, and joins a poetry class over the summer just to impress him. Thomas J., her best friend, is "allergic to everything", and sticks with Vada despite her hangups. When Vada's father hires Shelly, and begins to fall for her, things take a turn to the worse...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Friend (2025)
New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past, and her own creative inner life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Been Kissed (1999)
Josie Geller, a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob, Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation -- not to mention her own failed love life -- when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisO (2001)
Even though he's the only black student at the elite Palmetto Grove Academy, star basketball player Odin James has the adoration of all, including the team's coach and the Dean's beautiful daughter Desi. Odin's troubled friend Hugo, the coach's son, deeply resentful of his father's preference of Odin on and off the court, plots a diabolical scheme to sow the seed of mistrust between O and Desi, setting in motion a disturbing chain of events which erupts into a firestorm of breathtaking intensity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisKate & Leopold (2001)
When her scientist ex-boyfriend discovers a portal to travel through time -- and brings back a 19th-century nobleman named Leopold to prove it -- a skeptical Kate reluctantly takes responsibility for showing Leopold the 21st century. The more time Kate spends with Leopold, the harder she falls for him. But if he doesn't return to his own time, his absence will forever alter history.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Cinderella Story (2004)
Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother, the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPaper Moon (1973)
During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisW-A-L-K (2015)
During a lazy Montreal summer day, preteen Clara decides to master the art of walking in high-heel shoes. It would probably be an easier undertaking if she didn't have to take the dog, Eddie, along for the ride.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
The Upside of Anger (2005)
After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters. As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny, a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
When a casino-owning dog named Charlie is murdered by his rival Carface, he finds himself in Heaven. Wanting to get back at his killer, he cons his way back to the living with the warning that doing so damns him to Hell. Once back, he teams with his old partner, Itchy, to prep his retaliation. He stumbles upon an orphan girl who can talk to the animals, thus allowing him to get the inside info on the races to ensure his wins to finance his plans. However, all the while, he is still haunted by nightmares of what's waiting for him on the other side unless he can prove that he is worthy of Heaven again.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMust Love Dogs (2005)
Sarah Nolan is a newly divorced woman cautiously rediscovering romance with the enthusiastic but often misguided help of her well-meaning family. As she braves a series of hilarious disastrous mismatches and first dates, Sarah begins to trust her own instincts again and learns that, no matter what, it's never a good idea to give up on love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisTeen Wolf (1985)
When a shy teenager's new-found powers help him score at basketball - and with the popular girls - he has some pretty hairy decisions to make.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hope Floats?
The closest matches to Hope Floats are Varsity Blues (1999), Catch and Release (2006) and Love Again (2023). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hope Floats?
Start with Varsity Blues (1999), the closest match to Hope Floats.
What is the highest-rated movie like Hope Floats?
Life in a Year (2020), rated 8.2/10 by 2,027 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hope Floats?
The Friend (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Hope Floats?
Yes: Varsity Blues (1999), Catch and Release (2006) and Love Again (2023).
How are movies similar to Hope Floats chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hope Floats, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.