Movies like Lean on Me
If you like "Lean on Me" you are looking for inspirational, feel good and hood movies about / with african american, teenager, high school, teacher, black, school and mentor themes of Biography and Drama genre shot in USA.
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Lean on Me (1989)
24K
Original name: Lean On Me
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
When principal Joe Clark takes over decaying Eastside High School, he's faced with students wearing gang colors and graffiti-covered walls. Determined to do anything he must to turn the school around, he expels suspected drug dealers, padlocks doors and demands effort and results from students, staff and parents. Autocratic to a fault, this real-life educator put it all on the lin
Style:
inspirational, feel good, hood, realistic, political, non fiction, sincere, atmospheric, rough, uplifting ...
Audience:
teens, kids, girls' night
Plot:
african american, teenager, high school, teacher, black, school, mentor, urban, school teacher, teaching, violence, teenage pregnancy, black history, gang, school principal, society, biopic, unwanted pregnancy, bad attitude, high school teacher, police, fired from the job, punched in the face, argument, police arrest ...
Time:
80s, year 1989, 20th century, 60s, 1960s
Place:
new jersey, american
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Lean on Me
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, realistic, inspirational and touching films with plots about hopes, teacher, school teacher, youth, society, education and high school mostly in Drama, Biography and Sport genres. Some movies like Lean on Me: Stand and Deliver (1988), Dangerous Minds (1995), Freedom Writers (2007), Life of a King (2013), Gridiron Gang (2006). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top ...
Style:
inspirational, touching, sentimental, realistic, independent film ...
Audience:
teens, family outing, girls' night, kids, teen drama
Plot:
mathematics, teacher, high school, dedicated educator, bullying, school, biopic, mentor, chicano, civil rights, school teacher, coming of age ...
Time:
80s, 20th century, 1930s
Place:
los angeles, america, usa, california
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns ...
Style:
inspirational, touching, sentimental, sexy, hood ...
Audience:
teens, date night, kids, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
high school, teacher, school teacher, profanity, hopes, coming of age, hip hop, school, teaching, ghetto, mentor, gangster ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, 80s
Place:
california, bay area, usa, san francisco, new jersey
Similarity:
83%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.
Style:
inspirational, touching, feel good, sentimental, rough ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, girls' night, kids, teen drama ...
Plot:
high school, teacher, dedicated educator, teachers and students, lifestyle change, racism, teenage life, strong female lead, mentor, school teacher, bonding, idealism ...
Time:
year 2007, 20th century, year 1961, year 1999, year 2006 ...
Place:
california, los angeles, long beach california, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Life of a King is the true story of one man's mission to give inner city kids of Washington DC something he never had - a future. After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown established the Big Chair Chess Club to get kids off the ...
Style:
sincere, rough, touching, psychological, captivating ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
chess, dedicated educator, hardcase students, ex convict, teenage life, ambition, gain trust, bad attitude, society, contests and competitions, youth, redemption ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
cuba, washington d.c., usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together.
Style:
inspirational, hood, realistic, serious, rough ...
Audience:
teens, boys' night, kids, girls' night
Plot:
american football, juvenile delinquency, athlete and trainer, african american, prison, redemption, underdog, youth, destiny, competition, football, life philosophy ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, new jersey
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher at New York's inner-city Calvin Coolidge High: her lit classes are overcrowded, a window is broken, there's no chalk, books arrive late. The administration is concerned mainly with forms and rules ...
Style:
esoteric, independent film, serious, realistic, bleak ...
Plot:
teacher, school teacher, education, teaching, teacher student relationship, high school teacher, high school, dedicated educator, racial discrimination, mentor, racism, unrequited love ...
Time:
year 1967, 60s
Place:
new york, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
Mark Thackeray (Poitier) is a West Indian, who in the 1967 film had taken teaching in a London East End school. He spent twenty years teaching and ten in administrative roles. He has taught the children of his former pupils, but is now retiring.
Style:
political, serious, realistic, uplifting, emotional ...
Plot:
teacher, education, black, juvenile delinquency, high school teacher, school teacher, african american, high school, dedicated educator, hopes, society, idealism ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
chicago, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Style:
philosophical, inspirational, sentimental, uplifting, touching ...
Audience:
teens, family friendly, kids, family outing, girls' night ...
Plot:
teacher, suicide, poetry, coming of age, poet, mentor, teenager, literature, teachers and students, friendship, philosophy, dedicated educator ...
Time:
50s, 1950s, 20th century, year 1989, year 1959
Place:
vermont, new england, usa, harvard university
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.
Style:
inspirational, touching, educational, realistic, sentimental ...
Audience:
teens, kids, girls' night
Plot:
high school, teacher, teaching, dedicated teacher, coming of age, teenager, mentor, new teacher, cockney, gym teacher, slum, death of mother ...
Time:
60s, year 1967, 20th century, 80s
Place:
england, east end london, europe, united kingdom, london
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
A sailor prone to violent outbursts is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood. Through the guidance of his doctor, he confronts his painful past and ...
Style:
thought provoking, inspirational, sincere, touching, emotional ...
Plot:
redemption, african american, psychiatrist, child abuse, destiny, family reunited, hopes, u.s. navy, human spirit, loneliness, changing lives, therapist ...
Time:
2000s, 20th century, year 2002, 21st century
Place:
usa, mexico, san diego california, cleveland ohio, africa ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story:
Two determined mothers, one a teacher, look to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children
Style:
touching, realistic, serious, emotional, inspirational ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
teacher, fighting the system, school, human spirit, hopes, teachers and students, parents and children, youth, society, changing lives, social relations, family relations ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
pittsburgh, pennsylvania, usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.
Style:
touching, realistic, serious, spiritual, uplifting
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
chess, teacher, school teacher, misfit, youth, hardcase students, high school life, juvenile delinquency, elementary school, lifestyle, hopes, life is a bitch ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, bronx new york city
Similarity:
100%
174K
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
Newly elected President Nelson Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby ...
Style:
inspirational, sincere, christian film, uplifting, political ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
human spirit, rugby, racism, politics, president, apartheid, leadership, underdog, leader, biopic, politician, life philosophy ...
Time:
year 2009, 90s, 2000s, year 1995, 20th century
Place:
south africa, africa, cape town south africa, johannesburg south africa, england ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to ...
Style:
inspirational, realistic, touching, contemplative, emotional ...
Audience:
kids, teens, girls' night
Plot:
teacher, dedicated educator, coming of age, boarding school life, ethics, school teacher, schoolboy, boarding school, teachers and students, youth, hardcase students, boys' school ...
Time:
20th century, year 2002, 70s, 2000s, future
Place:
washington d.c., pennsylvania, new jersey
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story:
Oversized African-American, Michael Oher, the teen from across the tracks and a broken home, has nowhere to sleep at age 16. Taken in by an affluent Memphis couple, Michael embarks on a remarkable rise to play for the NFL.
Style:
touching, inspirational, sentimental, emotional, motivational ...
Audience:
chick flick, family outing, teens, kids, family friendly ...
Plot:
american football, adoption, life, african american, football, christian, interracial relations, human spirit, family drama, rising to stardom, interracial adoption, strong female character ...
Time:
year 2009, 20th century, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, boston, tennessee, america, mississippi ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
Inspired by the true story of Greg Yance. In the film, Yance (Epps) is a hood who goes to jail for possession of drugs. He is given a choice: 5 years in jail or a couple of months in boot camp. He chooses boot camp and finds out it is tougher than ...
Style:
hood, inspirational, serious, realistic, tense ...
Plot:
black, urban, blaxploitation, boot camp, thug life, ghetto, prison, prison life, black history, thug, black man, drug dealing ...
Time:
90s
Similarity:
100%
47K
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
High school football coach, Harold Jones befriends Radio, a mentally-challenged man who becomes a student at T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson, South Carolina. Their friendship extends over several decades, where Radio transforms from a shy, ...
Style:
feel good, inspirational, sentimental, sweet, touching ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, family outing, teens, girls' night ...
Plot:
american football, football, disability, underdog, radio, destiny, friendship, teacher, prejudice, football team, bully, football player ...
Time:
20th century, 70s, year 2003, 60s
Place:
cuba, south carolina, san francisco
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She's smart, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by ...
Style:
touching, independent film, emotional, sentimental, sweet ...
Audience:
family outing, kids, family friendly, toddlers, teens ...
Plot:
african american, coming of age, self esteem, child prodigy, hopes, female protagonist, teacher, prodigy, teachers and students, elementary school, mentor, black ...
Time:
year 2006, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, washington d.c., america, south central los angeles, usa ...
Similarity:
100%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama, Sport
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
Gus van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help ...
Style:
feel good, sentimental, touching, sincere, inspirational ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, teen drama
Plot:
mentor, literature, dedicated educator, coming of age, prejudice, genius, basketball, writers, teacher, african american, prodigy, intergenerational friendship ...
Time:
year 2000, 90s, 20th century
Place:
new york, brooklyn new york city, scotland, usa, bronx new york city ...
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
A young, white teacher is assigned to an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina populated mostly by poor black families. He finds that the basically illiterate, neglected children there know so little of the world outside their island.
Style:
deep, realistic, serious, uplifting, thought provoking ...
Plot:
teacher, racism, school teacher, education, youth, racial discrimination, american south, african american, humanist, teaching, black history, blaxploitation ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, 60s, year 1969
Place:
south carolina, america, usa, southern usa
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
When David Greene receives a football scholarship to a prestigious prep school in the 1950s, he feels pressure to hide the fact that he is Jewish from his classmates and teachers, fearing that they may be anti-Semitic. He quickly becomes the big man ...
Style:
emotional, talky, intense, serious, sincere ...
Audience:
teens, family outing, girls' night, kids
Plot:
high school, coming of age, friendship, preparatory school, anti semitism, american football, justice, boarding school life, prejudice, judaism, working class, youth ...
Time:
1950s, 50s, 20th century, year 1992, 80s
Place:
israel, massachusetts, harvard university, usa, boston
Similarity:
100%
22K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
Military cadets take extreme measures to insure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers.
Style:
inspirational, realistic, cult classic, epic, serious ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, kids, teen drama
Plot:
military school, military academy, military training, military, coming of age, last stand, student, politics, school shooting, fighting the system, cadet, brat pack ...
Time:
80s, future
Place:
philadelphia
Similarity:
100%
190K
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.
Style:
inspirational, touching, motivational, hood, sexy ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens, kids, family outing, girls' night ...
Plot:
basketball, teacher, mentor, teachers and students, underdog, athlete and trainer, high school, athlete's life, dedicated educator, sport team, life philosophy, college ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
california, new jersey, usa, san francisco, sacramento california ...
Similarity:
24%
Movie in collections
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min.
Story:
The true story of a brilliant but politically radical debate team coach who uses the power of words to transform a group of underdog African American college students into an historical powerhouse that took on the Harvard elite.
Style:
inspirational, realistic, touching, political, emotional ...
Plot:
racism, mentor, debate, african american, college, teacher, black american, professor, biopic, segregation, discrimination, racial segregation ...
Time:
1930s, year 2007, 20th century
Place:
texas, africa, oklahoma, usa, harlem ...
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Biography, Drama, Family
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Inspired by a true story, “Beyond the Blackboard” is about a 24-year-old first-time teacher who makes a difference in the lives of the homeless children she teaches in a shelter’s makeshift classroom. Set in 1987 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ...
Style:
uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, inspirational ...
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
teacher, homeless, youth, changing lives, children, power relations, hopes, idealism, society, teachers and students, school, dedication ...
Time:
80s, year 1987
Place:
albuquerque new mexico, new mexico, usa, salt lake city utah
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Washington plays a school principal in a tough inner city Los Angeles high school out to rid it of drugs, gangs, low moral of teachers, and restore educational values.
Style:
inspirational
Plot:
teacher, black, school teacher, african american, high school teacher, mentor protege relationship, mentor, blaxploitation, black history, child prodigy, prodigy, drug ...
Time:
80s
Place:
california, los angeles
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story:
Based on a true story, former parole officer Marilyn Gambrell and a colleague set up a pioneer trial-based program in one of America's toughest high schools to help the children of incarcerated parents regain control of their own lives and not ...
Style:
serious, realistic, uplifting
Plot:
support group, against the odds, dedicated educator, idealism, teenage life, society, hopes, teachers and students, high school, child abuse, children, inspiration ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
texas, usa, houston texas
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Based on a true story. Liz Murray is a young girl who is taken care of by her loving, but drug-addicted parents. Liz becomes homeless at 15 and after a tragedy comes upon her, she begins her work to finish high school.
Style:
sincere, serious, touching, captivating, realistic ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, family outing, teen drama
Plot:
homeless, homeless teenager, against the odds, drug addict, youth, starting over, university, family problems, dysfunctional family, hopes, society, aids ...
Time:
90s, 21st century
Place:
nova scotia, america, new york, usa
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
"Front of the Class" is based on the true story of Brad Cohen -- played in the movie by Jimmy Wolk -- who, "after being challenged by Tourette's syndrome from a very young age, defies all odds to become a gifted teacher
Style:
touching, inspirational, sentimental, emotional, sweet ...
Audience:
family outing, teens, girls' night
Plot:
teacher, tourette's syndrome, dedicated educator, social misfits, teachers and students, school, disability, life philosophy, honest, friendship, father son relationship, understanding ...
Time:
80s, 21st century
Place:
louisiana, usa, atlanta georgia, england
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Style:
inspirational, emotional, sentimental, uplifting, motivational ...
Audience:
family outing, chick flick, teens, family friendly
Plot:
homeless, life, human spirit, rags to riches, life philosophy, success, single father, poverty, rise to the top, family drama, life is a bitch, biopic ...
Time:
80s, year 2006, 2010s, 20th century
Place:
usa, california, bay area, san francisco, america
Similarity:
20%
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