Movies like Joy 2005
If you like "Joy" you are looking for sentimental, touching and humorous movies about / with optimism, family relations, parents and children, misfit, family life, dysfunctional family and family problems themes of Comedy and Drama genre shot in Israel.
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Joy (2005)
74
Original name: מוכרחים להיות שמח
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
Joy Levine lives in an old apartment that, in complete contrast to her, is shabby and worn-out on the outside while well-kept and filled with joy on the inside. Her life changes when she auditions for a TV show called "Gotta Be Happy". To her astonishment, she is chosen, and her mission is to throw a surprise party for her parents on the upcoming show. However, there is a price to pay for all this: she has to let the viewers into her private inner world and share with them an event that has been overshadowing her family's life and hers for the past 22 years; an event that made a tight-knit bunch of friends shun her parents, Chaya and Yitzhak Levine.
Style:
sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious, emotional, offbeat
Plot:
optimism, family relations, parents and children, misfit, family life, dysfunctional family, family problems, physical appearance, fictional reality show, forgiveness, family secret, family drama, reconciliation, mother daughter relationship, secrets, redemption, resilience, jewish culture, bittersweet, hopes, father daughter relationship, moral dilemma, surprise party, media, reunion ...
Time:
21st century, contemporary
Place:
middle east, israel
Most similar movies to Joy
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, semi serious, touching and humorous films with plots about parents and children, family relations, family problems, dysfunctional family, family life, bittersweet and siblings relations mostly in Comedy, Drama and Romance genres. Some movies like Joy: The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008), Father and Sons (2003), The Perfect Family (2011), Cinemanovels (2013), The Syrian Bride (2004). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A commitment-phobic man reunites with his estranged, ailing father and comes to terms with his own childhood.
Style:
touching, realistic, humorous, semi serious, independent film ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, homecoming, hopes, family problems, couples, family relations, love and romance, estrangement, family life, eccentric family, parents and children, couple relations ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
usa, florida
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Léo, un vieux père de famille ancien représentant de commerce, est prêt à tout pour retrouver l'affection de ses trois fils, David, Max et Simon. Il va même jusqu'à invoquer une maladie et une intervention chirurgicale pour les ...
Style:
semi serious, humorous, touching, sentimental, entertaining ...
Plot:
family relations, parents and children, dysfunctional family, family problems, family life, eccentric family, family gatherings, unemployment, fake illness, father son relationship, father son reunion, father and son ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
quebec, canada, paris france, montreal
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
Kathleen Turner stars as suburban mother and devout Catholic Eileen Cleary, who has always kept up appearances. When she runs for the Catholic Woman of the Year title at her local parish, her final test is introducing her family to the board for the ...
Style:
touching, semi serious, realistic, humorous
Plot:
lesbian, dysfunctional family, church, parents and children, physical appearance, couples, religions or cults, family problems, society, couple relations, gays and lesbians, gender ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Canada
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
The estranged daughter (Lauren Lee Smith) of a recently deceased filmmaker gains a new understanding of her father when she offers to create a retrospective of his work.
Style:
touching, sentimental, realistic, humorous, contemplative ...
Plot:
self discovery, parents and children, family relations, filmmaking, father, unfulfillment, estrangement, love, funeral, lost girl, artists and showbiz, nudity ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
canada
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel, France, Germany
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
In Majdal Shams, the largest Druze village in Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border, the Druze bride Mona is engaged to get married with Tallel, a television comedian that works in the Revolution Studios in Damascus, Syria. They have never met ...
Style:
touching, emotional, sentimental, sincere, islamic ...
Plot:
wedding, politics, occupation, ethnic, border, hijab, wedding ceremony, arranged marriage, nationalism, culture clash, love and romance, reconciliation ...
Time:
year 2004, 21st century
Place:
middle east, syria, israel, palestine
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Leo Spivak is drifting through life without a compass. His father is aging fast, his teenage daughter is rebelling, his protégé is after his job and his wife is losing her patience. A twist of fate and some bizarre wisdom from a "freelance ...
Style:
realistic, humorous, semi serious, psychological, touching ...
Plot:
midlife crisis, dysfunctional family, clergy, family life, dull life, family problems, society, aging, human nature, juvenile delinquency, parents and children, family in crisis ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
28%
310
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
A black comedy about a reformed womanizer who struggles to keep his family together.
Style:
touching, sentimental, humorous, realistic, emotional ...
Plot:
family relations, life turned upside down, adolescence vs adulthood, couples, family problems, disorder, parents and children, manhood, youth, dysfunctional family, dark humor, family in crisis ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
26%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
An Irish funeral has a wake. A Jewish funeral has sitting shiva. A traditional Chinese funeral is something else entirely. Thats what the estranged siblings of the Chinese-American Xiao family must undergo upon news of their mothers death. The one ...
Style:
realistic, humorous, semi serious, emotional, touching ...
Plot:
lesbian, self discovery, family problems, siblings relations, dysfunctional family, family gatherings, family relations, haunted by the past, family life, parents and children, female martial artist, cancer ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
seattle
Similarity:
26%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Steven Lidz, unhappy with his home life since his mother got sick, goes and lives with his two crazy Uncles. There he changes and gets closer to his Uncles, but his parents want him home even though he is finally happy and popular. Written by Todd ...
Style:
emotional, sentimental, touching, semi serious, realistic ...
Plot:
coming of age, dysfunctional family, terminal illness, youth, family drama, eccentricity, cancer, uncle nephew relationship, children, child hero, social justice, family relations ...
Time:
20th century, year 1962, 60s
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
24%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
When Joan Weldon discovers she is dying of lung cancer, she sets out to reconcile her dysfunctional relationships with her three children, her husband, and along the way, her former best friend. The family's destructive ways are offset by messy ...
Style:
realistic, semi serious, touching, humorous, sincere ...
Plot:
self discovery, parents and children, dysfunctional family, family relations, family problems, life is a bitch, terminal illness, family life, bittersweet, one night stand, husband wife relationship, cancer ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, new england
Similarity:
24%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
The five daughters of a famous actor, all from different mothers and different nationalities, get together on the 10th anniversary of his death for a celebration of his career.
Style:
touching, realistic, sentimental, semi serious, humorous ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
haunted by the past, family relations, parents and children, ego clash, family life, rivalry, family problems, strong female presence, family gatherings, estate, estrangement, siblings relations ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
italy
Similarity:
24%
Genre: Comedy
Country: Israel
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A Comic drama that tells the story of the Geva family - a bourgeois family from Jerusalem. When the mother of the family, Ora, goes into a coma after a car accident, the family members try to bring her back in every way possible.
Style:
tragicomedy, semi serious, humorous, touching, realistic ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
hospital, parents and children, family relations, family problems, dysfunctional family, eccentric family, siblings relations, family in crisis, bittersweet, family drama, coma, grief ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
israel, jerusalem
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
A family with five kids in the 80s get into a crisis when twin brothers fall in love with the same girl.
Style:
semi serious, humorous, captivating, emotional, realistic ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
family relations, twins, coming of age, love triangle, parents and children, family in crisis, teenage love, family problems, fall in love, small town, friendship, rivalry ...
Time:
80s, 20th century
Place:
israel, middle east, palestine
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
For the first time in 15 years, all four siblings in a family show up to care for their dying mother, who is only given a couple of weeks to live. One comes from America with her two children. A divorced sister also comes with her child and sneaks ...
Style:
humorous, independent film, black comedy, semi serious, realistic ...
Plot:
working class, dysfunctional family, male nudity, family relations, terminal illness, bittersweet, estrangement, family problems, couples, parents and children, family in crisis, family life ...
Time:
year 1999, 90s
Place:
australia, sydney australia, tokyo
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
A 40-year old actress (single and strong, yet lonely), her sister (an emotionally unstable schoolteacher whose married-with-kids life appears more orderly) and their domineering father, who gradually loses control over his family due to his ...
Style:
touching, emotional, sincere, psychological, captivating ...
Plot:
sisters, illness, family drama, fighting illness, family problems, sister sister relationship, parents and children, family relations, mother and daughter, mother daughter relationship, sister, sick mother ...
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Marine Life revolves around the choatic family life of June, a middle-aged lounge singer and mother. Aging and twice divorced, lounge singer June Nordstrom tries to cope with her fading beauty, her troubled offspring, her waning career and her young ...
Style:
realistic, humorous, touching, emotional, semi serious ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, family relations, love affair, family life, family problems, couples, single parent, love and romance, youth, parents and children, midlife crisis, child as adult ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story:
A retired New York City couple drive across country to reconnect with their reclusive son, joined by their two unmarried daughters.
Style:
realistic, semi serious, humorous, touching, witty ...
Plot:
eccentric family, on the road, family relations, elderly, family in crisis, cross country, parents and children, family problems, estrangement, dysfunctional family, friend, secret ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
california, new york, usa, los angeles
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Chile, Mexico
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A family visits an idyllic five-star resort in the Mayan Riviera in order to spend some quality time together for the first time in many years. A series of events will affect each member of the family that will change them forever.
Style:
emotional, realistic, humorous, touching, semi serious ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, resort, parents and children, family problems, family life, family vacation, family relations, family in crisis, hurricane, family drama, vacation, terminal illness ...
Time:
year 2008, 21st century
Place:
mexico
Similarity:
23%
Movie in collections
239
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Every kid wants to be cool and fit in - life's a blast even when you're different. When Mo's reflection is revealed, he sees a body that doesn't quite resemble any of his peers. Here, he tells the tale of his youth, growing up on ...
Style:
sentimental, semi serious, touching, feel good, realistic ...
Plot:
youth, family relations, friendship, teenage life, family problems, optimism, disability, social misfits, hopes, society, parents and children, physical appearance ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa, long island
Similarity:
23%
242
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
An elderly Israeli Jew of Greek origins was sent to Greece to represent his town in a town twinning ceremony, however he went instead to search for his friend from the childhood, who saved him from the Holocaust. In meantime he formed a special ...
Style:
touching, realistic, humorous, semi serious
Plot:
parent child relationship, parents and children, family problems, family relations, holocaust survivor, bittersweet, estrangement, elderly, religions or cults, quibbling, escapades, aging ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
middle east, greece, palestine
Similarity:
22%
674
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Spain, Argentina
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A retired teacher and a soap star leave their routines and the men in their lives behind and embark on a weekend trip.
Style:
touching, sentimental, humorous, semi serious, realistic ...
Plot:
self discovery, friendship, fall in love, human nature, on the road, looking for love, introspection, best friend, hopes, parents and children, family business, strong female presence ...
Time:
21st century
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
When her husband keels over from a stroke, Raynelle Slocumb calls the entire clan together to remember their dearly departed. Family tensions reach a comedic boil as the wildly dysfunctional Slocumbs squabble and fight their way to the funeral.
Style:
humorous, touching, light, intense, sentimental ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
dysfunctional family, death, family drama, eccentric family, family problems, introspection, parents and children, family in crisis, self discovery, hip hop, african american, urban ...
Time:
year 2001
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
Giorgio's Lobster Farm has been a tradition in Brooklyn for over 65 years. Manned by an eccentric crew and serving the best seafood in the state
Style:
emotional, humorous, captivating, atmospheric, touching ...
Plot:
family business, save the day, family relations, working class, family problems, restaurant, society, siblings relations, family in crisis, bank, parents and children, estrangement ...
Time:
year 2005
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
22%
Movie in collections
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 81 min.
Story:
Suspension from school, the loss of a friend, a broken heart and lack of inspiration lead to Maude's downfall in this romp through teenage error. Your teenage years are never easy… but for Maude, things couldn't be worse. Within one ...
Style:
semi serious, stylized, sentimental, humorous, realistic ...
Plot:
teenage love, dysfunctional family, family life, siblings relations, teenage life, family relations, best friend, parents and children, love and romance, family problems, eccentric family, suicide ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Washed-up history professor Lewis Birch takes his begrudging teenagers Zoe and Jack on a road trip to a conference in hopes of jumpstarting his career and reconnecting with his kids. But, when Lewis’s estranged father Stanley goes missing on a ...
Style:
road movie, semi serious, humorous, light, captivating ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, self discovery, family relations, family problems, parents and children, siblings relations, bittersweet, parent child relationship, family drama, love, reconciliation, midlife crisis ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
usa, chicago
Similarity:
22%
2K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
The story of a unique young boy genius, Bruno, whose expression of his own individuality leads his family and community along an emotional journey.
Style:
realistic, touching, emotional, semi serious, humorous ...
Plot:
friendship, youth, coming of age, dysfunctional family, parents and children, family life, family problems, convent school, nun, overweight, angel, prodigy ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Comedy
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
Babou's daughter refuses to invite her mother to her wedding, prompting Babou to begin life anew.
Style:
humorous, light, feel good, captivating, sincere ...
Plot:
parents and children, family relations, family problems, estrangement, hopes, society, optimism, mother daughter relationship, couples, friendship, atmosphere, women ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
belgium, europe
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Rob Lawson's perpetual quest for success is interrupted when his estranged daughter shows up pregnant, challenging him to be a father before he becomes a grandfather.
Style:
semi serious, humorous, captivating, psychological, contemplative ...
Plot:
family relations, estrangement, family problems, couples, parents and children, river, pregnancy, unfulfillment, self discovery, moral dilemma, dysfunctional family, youth ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
michigan
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
In this bittersweet comedy, four adult siblings gather at their dying mother's house in North Carolina for what they expect to be a quick, last goodbye. Instead, they find themselves trapped — together — for two weeks.
Style:
touching, realistic, humorous, sentimental, tear jerker ...
Plot:
introspection, family life, eccentric family, estrangement, family problems, single parent, homecoming, parents and children, family gatherings, dysfunctional family, dying, grief ...
Time:
year 2006
Place:
usa, north carolina
Similarity:
21%

Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Argentina, Spain, France, Italy
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Empty Nest tells the story of a couple who have to struggle to find themselves after their children grow up and move out. It starts out as a fairly simple story of a couple but becomes complicated by a series of events that may or may not be ...
Style:
touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic, sentimental
Plot:
couples, couple relations, parents and children, midlife crisis, elderly, college, artists and showbiz, family relations, leaving home, love and romance, family problems, lifestyle ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
latin america, argentina
Similarity:
21%
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