Movies like Wish I Was Here

If you like "Wish I Was Here" you are looking for independent film, inspirational and touching movies about / with self discovery, direction and purpose, father son relationship, justice, tragedy, midlife crisis and happy ending themes of Comedy and Drama genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
Wish I Was Here (2014)
 6.6
 39K
Wish I Was Here (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, father and husband, is 35 years old and still trying to find a purpose for his life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially and Aidan passes his time by fantasizing about being the great futuristic Space-Knight he'd always dreamed he'd be as a little kid. When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids and the only available public school is on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. Through teaching them about life his way, Aidan gradually discovers some of the parts of himself he couldn't find.
Style: independent film, inspirational, touching, sentimental, light, sweet, emotional, melancholic, sincere, realistic ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: self discovery, direction and purpose, father son relationship, justice, tragedy, midlife crisis, happy ending, dysfunctional family, redemption, cancer, parents and children, actor's life, teaching the ways of the world, thirtysomething life, family relations, artists and showbiz, adolescence vs adulthood, parenthood, bittersweet, strong female character, brother brother relationship, religion, father, father daughter relationship, crisis ...
Time: year 2014, 21st century, contemporary
Place: los angeles, usa, california, new jersey
Keyword: jewish, challenge, dreams, change

Most similar movies to Wish I Was Here

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, touching, semi serious and humorous films with plots about family relations, parents and children, family problems, bittersweet, profanity, couples and unfulfillment mostly in Comedy, Drama and Adventure genres. Some movies like Wish I Was Here: This Is Where I Leave You (2014), People Like Us (2012), A Thousand Words (2012), Captain Fantastic (2016), 10 Items or Less (2006). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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This Is Where I Leave You (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: When their father passes away, four grown, world-weary siblings return to their childhood home and are requested -- with an admonition -- to stay there together for a week, along with their free-speaking mother and a collection of spouses, exes and ...
Style: touching, humorous, independent film, emotional, melancholic ...
Audience: chick flick, teens
Plot: dysfunctional family, family drama, infidelity, family gatherings, homecoming, childhood home, death of father, children, family relations, loneliness, life & death, last wish ...
Time: year 2014, 21st century
Place: usa, new england
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.0
 44K
People Like Us (2012)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, India
Duration: 114 min.
Story: It tells the story of a struggling man who, after flying home to L.A. for the funeral of his estranged record-producer father, discovers that the will stipulates that he must deliver $150,000 in cash to a 30-year-old alcoholic sister he never knew ...
Style: touching, sentimental, intense, semi serious, feel good ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night
Plot: family secret, salesman, family bonds, relationships, father son relationship, family relations, funeral, single mother, introspection, family problems, siblings relations, family life ...
Time: year 2012, 21st century
Place: usa, los angeles, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Hector and the Search for Happiness (2014)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany, Canada, UK, South Africa, USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story: Hector is a quirky psychiatrist who has become increasingly tired of his humdrum life. As he tells his girlfriend, Clara, he feels like a fraud: he hasn’t really tasted life, and yet he’s offering advice to patients who are just not getting any ...
Style: feel good, sentimental, entertaining, emotional, semi serious ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: travel, self discovery, life, psychiatrist, life philosophy, relationships, existentialism, introspection, happiness, teaching the ways of the world, friendship, loneliness ...
Time: year 2014, 21st century
Place: africa, china, tibet, england, london ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
A Thousand Words (2012)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis) for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a ...
Style: light, entertaining, humorous, touching, semi serious ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: life & death, guru, change of heart, workplace, life philosophy, buddhist, liar, family relations, life turned upside down, imaginary, communication problem, existentialism ...
Time: year 2012, 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa, california, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
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Captain Fantastic (2016)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: A father living in the forests of the Pacific Northwest with his six young kids tries to assimilate back into society.
Style: intellectual, philosophical, sad, cerebral, sweet ...
Audience: date night, teen drama, adult
Plot: road trip, home schooling, capitalism, family drama, survivalist, precocious child, parenthood, teenage girl, dysfunctional family, suicide, children, funeral ...
Time: 2010s, year 2016, 90s, near future, 21st century
Place: washington state, nebraska, oregon, xian
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
10 Items or Less (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story: An actor who is considering the role of a supermarket manager arrives at a grocery store on the outskirts of Los Angeles to do some field research. He subsequently becomes stranded, without a car or cell phone, and accepts a ride home with Scarlet, ...
Style: feel good, road movie, humorous, touching, clever ...
Plot: self discovery, friendship, introspection, road trip, research, on the road, movie star, job interview, mentor, friends, stranger, actor's life ...
Time: 20th century, year 2006
Place: los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Just Before I Go (2014)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Ted Morgan has been treading water for most of his life. After his wife leaves him, Ted realizes he has nothing left to live for. Summoning the courage for one last act, Ted decides to go home and face the people he feels are responsible for ...
Style: emotional, dark comedy, realistic, semi serious, inspirational ...
Plot: suicide attempt, gay, loneliness, midlife crisis, closeted homosexual, suicide, relationships, guilt, brutality, family relations, redemption, justice ...
Time: year 2014, 21st century
Place: usa, los angeles, massachusetts
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Instructions Not Included (2013)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Mexico
Duration: 115 min.
Story: Valentin is Acapulco's resident playboy, until a former fling leaves a baby on his doorstep and him heading with her out of Mexico.
Style: feel good, sentimental, sweet, touching, emotional ...
Plot: father daughter relationship, parenting, single father, life philosophy, single parent, life & death, family drama, parenthood, child care, character change, grownups, eccentric family ...
Time: year 2013, 2010s, 21st century
Place: mexico, latin america, california, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
 7.4
 223K
Garden State (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: Andrew returns to his hometown for the funeral of his mother, a journey that reconnects him with past friends. The trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants. A chance meeting with Sam - a girl also suffering from ...
Style: sentimental, touching, sweet, independent film, funny ...
Audience: chick flick, teens, date night
Plot: depression, self discovery, coming of age, funeral, melancholy, friendship, psychiatrist, cat, family relations, drug, dysfunctional family, small town ...
Time: year 2004, near future, medieval times, 2000s, 21st century
Place: new jersey, los angeles, new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 6.3
 5K
Dad (1989)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story: A busy executive (Ted Danson) learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him (Jack Lemmon) than ever before. Estranged from his own son (Ethan ...
Style: touching, sentimental, feel good, uplifting, inspirational ...
Plot: father son relationship, aging, family drama, hospital, family bonds, doctor, hopes, parents and children, family life, terminal illness, redemption, dysfunctional family ...
Time: year 1989, 80s
Place: los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 4.2
 637
Jake Squared (2013)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: A filmmaker sets out to make a new project in order to figure out how he's screwed up every relationship he's ever had.
Style: semi serious, psychological, contemplative, humorous, captivating ...
Plot: midlife crisis, introspection, filmmaking, hollywood, artists and showbiz, unfulfillment, society, art, relationships, losing-it hero, cause and meaning, bittersweet ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa, los angeles, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
 5.2
 297
Manhood (2003)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min.
Story: A black comedy about a reformed womanizer who struggles to keep his family together.
Style: sentimental, humorous, touching, semi serious, realistic ...
Plot: family relations, life turned upside down, manhood, youth, family problems, disorder, dysfunctional family, parents and children, dark humor, adolescence vs adulthood, couples, family in crisis ...
Time: 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
Isn't It Delicious (2013)
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, sincere, humorous, touching ...
Plot: self discovery, parents and children, dysfunctional family, family relations, family problems, life is a bitch, family life, terminal illness, bittersweet, husband wife relationship, one night stand, death ...
Time: 21st century
Place: new england, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
Daddy Longlegs (2009)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: After months of living a solitary existence, Lenny, 34, picks up his kids from school. Every year he spends a couple of weeks with his sons Sage, 9, and Frey, 7. Lenny hosts his kids within a midtown studio apartment in New York City. During these ...
Style: mumblecore, semi serious, humorous, realistic, sincere ...
Plot: youth, children, disorder, nothing goes right, parents and children, bittersweet, family relations, thirtysomething life, family problems, dark humor, adolescence vs adulthood, custody ...
Time: year 2009, 21st century
Place: usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
25%
The Banger Sisters (2002)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: In the late '60s, the self-proclaimed belles of the rock 'n' roll ball, rocked the worlds of every music legend whose pants they could take off -- and they have the pictures to prove it. But it's been more than two decades since ...
Style: touching, sentimental, feel good, humorous, light ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: midlife crisis, friendship, rock star, odd couple, female bonding, women, secret past, self discovery, family relations, artists and showbiz, female protagonist, road trip ...
Time: year 2002
Place: los angeles, phoenix arizona, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
 7.1
 39K
The Savages (2007)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min.
Story: A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.
Style: sentimental, realistic, independent film, compassionate, emotional ...
Plot: midlife crisis, dysfunctional family, mental illness, father daughter relationship, redemption, character study, family relations, childhood, parents and children, nursing, siblings relations, cheerleader ...
Time: year 2007, 2000s, 90s, 21st century
Place: arizona, poland, new york, usa, phoenix arizona ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Everything Must Go (2010)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: When an alcoholic relapses, causing him to lose his wife and his job, he holds a yard sale on his front lawn in an attempt to start over. A new neighbor might be the key to his return to form.
Style: touching, realistic, feel good, humorous, talky ...
Plot: friendship, addiction, salesman, unemployment, alcohol abuse, bittersweet, loneliness, tragedy, character study, self discovery, starting over, marital problem ...
Time: 21st century
Place: arizona, usa, texas, phoenix arizona
⇓ similarity ⇓
21%
 6.7
 16K
With Honors (1994)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: Convinced he'll graduate with honors because of his thesis paper, a stuffy Harvard student finds his paper being held hostage by a homeless man, who might be the guy to school the young man in life.
Style: feel good, touching, sentimental, inspirational, road movie ...
Audience: kids
Plot: college, homeless, friendship, youth, college student, father son relationship, law school, justice, happy ending, graduation, self discovery, college life ...
Time: 90s, year 1994, 20th century
Place: massachusetts, usa, boston, harvard university
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Movie in collections
The Weather Man (2005)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 102 min.
Story: A Chicago weather man, separated from his wife and children, debates whether professional and personal success are mutually exclusive.
Style: depressing, realistic, dark comedy, sincere, emotional ...
Plot: weatherman, midlife crisis, dysfunctional family, family drama, relationship vs career, introspection, father son relationship, family problems, character study, hopes, father, parents and children ...
Time: year 2005, 21st century
Place: chicago, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Crimes of the Heart (1986)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: Three sisters with quite different personalities and lives reunite when the youngest of them, Babe, has just shot her husband. The oldest sister, Lenny, takes care of their grandfather and is turning into an old maid, while Meg, who tries to make it ...
Style: talky, touching, humorous, dark comedy, emotional ...
Plot: sisters, dysfunctional family, sibling relationship, childhood, betrayal, redemption, sister, adaptation, parenthood, family relations, eccentric family, parents and children ...
Time: 80s
Place: mississippi, usa, southern usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
 6.3
 123K
Funny People (2009)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 146 min.
Story: Famous and wealthy funnyman George Simmons doesn't give much thought to how he treats people until a doctor delivers stunning health news, forcing George to reevaluate his priorities with a little help from aspiring stand-up comic Ira.
Style: funny, humorous, tragicomedy, melancholic, black comedy ...
Audience: adult
Plot: comedian, cancer, loneliness, character study, dark humor, midlife crisis, sarcasm, redemption, destiny, life philosophy, old love, supportive friend ...
Time: year 2009, 21st century
Place: california, usa, los angeles, san francisco
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Grandmother has nothing to say when Libby tells her that she is off to LA to look up Dad, a Hollywood screenwriter. Grandmother has been in a New York cemetery for six years and Dad has been out of Libby's life for 16 of her 19 years. Libby ...
Style: semi serious, realistic, humorous, clever, touching ...
Plot: filmmaking, screenwriter, writers, struggling actor, estrangement, hollywood, midlife crisis, elderly, writer's life, love and romance, artists and showbiz, elderly lovers ...
Time: year 1982, 80s
Place: california, los angeles, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Memories of Me (1988)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: After a heart attack, Abbie Polin (Crystal), a New York doctor, goes to Los Angeles to see his father, Abe (King), who works in Hollywood as the "king of the extras." Their relationship has been strained for several years. This was the ...
Style: independent film, realistic, semi serious, sentimental, emotional ...
Plot: heart attack, father son relationship, hollywood, death of father, flashback, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, father son estrangement, surgeon, doctor, parent child relationship, bittersweet, family problems ...
Time: 80s
Place: los angeles, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
 7.3
 251K
The Descendants (2011)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron, Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.
Style: touching, depressing, emotional, sad, tragicomedy ...
Audience: teens
Plot: infidelity, dysfunctional family, father daughter relationship, teenage daughter, dying mother, bittersweet, family relations, cheating wife, greed, parenthood, family drama, estate ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: hawaii, usa, iran
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story: The story of Peter McGowan, a chain-smoking, impotent, insomniac playwright who lives in Los Angeles. Once very successful, he is now in the tenth year of a decade-long string of production failures. He finds himself bonding with a new ...
Style: humorous, melancholic, light, realistic, semi serious ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: midlife crisis, dog, single parent, writers, introspection, couple relations, family life, parents and children, family problems, family relations, couples, love and romance ...
Time: 90s
Place: los angeles, usa, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008)
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: realistic, touching, humorous, semi serious, independent film ...
Plot: dysfunctional family, hopes, homecoming, couples, family problems, parents and children, family relations, couple relations, estrangement, eccentric family, family life, love and romance ...
Time: year 2008, 21st century
Place: usa, florida
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
 6.6
 19K
Shrink (2009)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Unable to cope with a recent personal tragedy, LA's top celebrity shrink turns into a pothead with no concern for his appearance and a creeping sense of his inability to help his patients.
Style: realistic, psychological, depressing, emotional, serious ...
Plot: suicide, mental illness, therapist, psychiatrist, hollywood, character study, loneliness, life philosophy, widower, suicide attempt, haunted by the past, power relations ...
Time: year 2009, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 91 min.
Story: The feature film debut by artist Miranda July about a various comic situations and plots that intertwine. One story line is about a father who is ending his marriage and the other story is of a video artist (possibly autobiographical of Miranda ...
Style: touching, disturbing, realistic, humorous, surreal ...
Audience: girls' night, teens
Plot: artist, childhood, coming of age, art, depression, unlikely friendships, complex characters, art gallery, neighbor, struggle, shyness, divorce ...
Time: year 2005, 90s, 2000s, 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 83 min.
Story: Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.
Style: touching, mumblecore, humorous, feel good, melancholic ...
Plot: slacker, brother brother relationship, midlife crisis, brothers, twists and turns, everyday life, parents and children, loser, naivete, character change, immature, existentialism ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa, new orleans
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Brooklyn Lobster (2005)
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, family relations, save the day, family problems, restaurant, working class, estrangement, parents and children, bank, siblings relations, family in crisis, society ...
Time: year 2005
Place: new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
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