Movies like The Basketball Diaries

If you like "The Basketball Diaries" you are looking for emotional, rough and serious movies about / with addiction, heroin, drug abuse, basketball, downfall, life is a bitch and teenage life themes of Biography, Crime 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.
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
 7.3
 120K
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Sport
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction.
Style: emotional, rough, serious, realistic, bleak, teen, disturbing, depressing, brutal, talky ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: addiction, heroin, drug abuse, basketball, downfall, life is a bitch, teenage life, junkie, drug addiction, drug overdose, teenager, adolescence, drug, childhood, high school, coming of age, mental illness, anguish, antisocial behavior, friends, youth, juvenile delinquency, corporal punishment, coach, diary ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, near future, year 1995, 60s, 70s, 1960s
Place: new york, boston, seattle, usa, manhattan new york city, california, new jersey
Keyword: sport, basketball movie, gangsters, oldies, dreams, latin, eye candy

Movie in categories

Most similar movies to The Basketball Diaries

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, cult classic and sincere films with plots about coming of age, drug, friendship, drug use, life is a bitch, cigarette smoking and society mostly in Drama, Crime and Biography genres. Some movies like The Basketball Diaries: Requiem for a Dream (2000), Christiane F. (1981), Alpha Dog (2006), Thirteen (2003), Kids (1995). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.
Style: psychological, disturbing, bleak, depressing, emotional ...
Audience: kids, adult
Plot: addiction, drug abuse, heroin, drug addiction, insanity, mental illness, junkie, drug, depression, dream, loneliness, drug addict ...
Time: year 2000, future, y2k, 20th century, 90s ...
Place: new york, america, britain, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
94%
 7.5
 29K
Christiane F. (1981)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: West Germany
Duration: 138 min.
Story: This movie portrays the drug scene in Berlin in the 70s, following tape recordings of Christiane F. 14 years old Christiane lives with her mother and little sister in a typical multi-storey apartment building in Berlin. She's fascinated by the ...
Style: disturbing, rough, bleak, depressing, harsh ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: addiction, heroin, drug addiction, junkie, drug abuse, drug addict, downfall, teenage girl, drug overdose, teenager, friendship, life is a bitch ...
Time: 70s, 80s, year 1981
Place: berlin germany, west berlin west germany, germany, europe, west germany
⇓ similarity ⇓
77%
 6.9
 108K
Alpha Dog (2006)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Johnny Truelove likes to see himself as tough. He's the son of an underworld figure and a drug dealer. Johnny also likes to get tough when things don't go his way. When Jake Mazursky fails to pay up for Johnny, things get worse for the ...
Style: disturbing, serious, rough, teen, harsh ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: kidnapping, gang, true crime, sex scene, youth, friendship, culture clash, crime gone awry, gangster, unlikely friendships, revenge, loss of virginity ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 2005, year 2003
Place: los angeles, usa, california, albuquerque new mexico, palm springs california
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.8
 97K
Thirteen (2003)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Tracy is a normal 13-year-old trying to make it in school. After befriending the most popular girl at school, Evie, Tracy's world is turned upside down when Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before ...
Style: tense, teen, realistic, sincere, disturbing ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, girls' night, teen drama, adult
Plot: coming of age, drug addiction, teenager, peer pressure, friendship, addiction, dysfunctional family, teenage protagonist, underage drinking, teenage girl, mother daughter relationship, self harm ...
Time: year 2003, y2k, near future, 20th century, 2000s ...
Place: california, usa, los angeles, venice beach california
⇓ similarity ⇓
88%
Movie in collections
 7.0
 84K
Kids (1995)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: A controversial portrayal of teens in New York City which exposes a deeply disturbing world of sex and substance abuse. The film focuses on a sexually reckless, freckle-faced boy named Telly, whose goal is to have sex with as many different girls as ...
Style: disturbing, depressing, psychedelic, independent film, bleak ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, kids, teen drama
Plot: coming of age, aids, innocence lost, virginity, youth, puberty, sex, underage sex, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, street kid, teenager ...
Time: 90s
Place: new york, seattle, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
95%
 8.1
 722K
Trainspotting (1996)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.
Style: disturbing, psychedelic, dark comedy, cult classic, black comedy ...
Audience: boys' night, teens, teen drama
Plot: addiction, heroin, drug addiction, drug abuse, existentialism, counterculture, junkie, dark humor, life is a bitch, redemption, dialogue, subculture ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, year 1996
Place: scotland, edinburgh scotland, london, england, britain ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
82%
 6.7
 41K
Spun (2002)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: Over the course of three days Ross, a college dropout addicted to crystal-meth, encounters a variety of oddball folks - including a stripper named Nikki and her boyfriend, the local meth producer, The Cook - but all he really wants to do is hook up ...
Style: psychedelic, disturbing, surreal, psychological, stylized ...
Audience: adult
Plot: drug abuse, drug addict, drug addiction, addiction, junkie, masturbation, drug, drug trip, drug use, strong sexual content, methamphetamine, crazy ...
Time: year 2002, y2k, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, las vegas
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.2
 6K
Jamesy Boy (2014)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Based on the true story of teenager James Burns who goes from a suburban street gang to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. He turns his life around in prison thanks to the unexpected friendship he forms with a convicted ...
Style: serious, sincere, rough, realistic, crime drama ...
Plot: prison, friendship, prison life, criminal, teaching the ways of the world, confined, jail, gang, drug, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, lawyer, ex boyfriend ex girlfriend relationship ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
teenager movies
11008
emotional movies
6204
drug movies
4224
 7.2
 48K
Candy (2006)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 108 min.
Story: A poet falls in love with an art student, who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle -- and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and ...
Style: disturbing, depressing, romantic, touching, emotional ...
Audience: date night
Plot: heroin, drug abuse, addiction, junkie, drug addict, life is a bitch, destructive relationship, obsession, drug, love story, love, mental illness ...
Time: year 2006, 20th century, 21st century
Place: australia, sydney australia, melbourne
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Mysterious Skin (2004)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA, Netherlands
Duration: 105 min.
Story: A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
Style: disturbing, depressing, psychological, independent film, realistic ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama
Plot: child abuse, coming of age, gay, sexual abuse, homosexuality, homosexual, pedophilia, male rape, child molestation, youth, homosexual rape, haunted by the past ...
Time: 90s, year 2004, 2000s, near future, y2k ...
Place: kansas, new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.9
 50K
Gia (1998)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story: Gia Carangi travels to New York City with dreams of becoming a fashion model. Within minutes of arriving, she meets Wilhelmina Cooper, a wise and high-powered agent who takes Gia under her wing. With Cooper's help and her own natural instincts, ...
Style: psychological, melancholic, erotic, sexy, rough ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night
Plot: lesbian, fashion, addiction, aids, drug abuse, drug addiction, heroin, mental illness, model, supermodel, lesbian romance, fashion industry ...
Time: 80s, 70s, 20th century
Place: new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
86%
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: Bob and his friends Dianne, Rick and Nadine have been drug addicts for years and live from one high to the next. Gus Van Sant attempts to show an intimate look into the lives of heroin addicts with his film Drugstore Cowboy.
Style: road movie, independent film, cult classic, depressing, dark ...
Audience: teens
Plot: drug abuse, junkie, addiction, heroin, drug addiction, drug, on the road, friendship, dark humor, drug addict, beat generation, recovery ...
Time: 70s, year 1989, 20th century, year 1971
Place: usa, portland oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
 7.1
 91K
Half Nelson (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a ...
Style: depressing, independent film, talky, emotional, serious ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: teacher, teachers and students, drug addiction, drug, student, addiction, drug abuse, friendship, ghetto, loneliness, school, existentialism ...
Time: year 2006, 2000s, future, 21st century
Place: new york, usa, brooklyn new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
This Boy's Life (1993)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story: In 1957, a son and mother flee the East and an abusive boyfriend to find a new life, and end up in Seattle, where the mother meets a polite garage mechanic. The boy continually gets into trouble by hanging out with the wrong crowd. The mom marries ...
Style: depressing, realistic, emotional, touching, epic ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: coming of age, child abuse, small town, single parent, domestic violence, dysfunctional family, biopic, childhood, husband wife relationship, teenager, abusive stepfather, friendship ...
Time: 1950s, 50s, year 1993, 90s, 20th century ...
Place: seattle, washington state, salt lake city utah, washington d.c., usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
 7.0
 96K
The Outsiders (1983)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, France
Duration: 91 min.
Story: When two poor greasers, Johnny, and Ponyboy are assaulted by a vicious gang, the socs, and Johnny kills one of the attackers, tension begins to mount between the two rival gangs, setting off a turbulent chain of events.
Style: teen, cult classic, melancholic, intense, hood ...
Audience: teens, girls' night, kids, family outing, teen drama
Plot: coming of age, teenager, gang, teen angst, street gang, book, friendship, small town, dysfunctional family, brat pack, juvenile delinquent, brother brother relationship ...
Time: 60s, future, 1900s, 1950s, 50s ...
Place: oklahoma, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.5
 237K
Sleepers (1996)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story: Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
Style: disturbing, sadistic, harsh, suspenseful, suspense ...
Audience: family friendly, teens, teen drama
Plot: lawyer, courtroom drama, child abuse, vengeance, friendship, childhood, rape, sexual abuse, haunted by the past, pedophilia, pedophile, murder trial ...
Time: 90s, 60s, 20th century, 80s
Place: new york, usa, madison square garden manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.3
 161K
Monster (2003)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Aileen Wuornos is an emotionally scarred highway hooker who shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer.
Style: bleak, disturbing, psychological, depressing, emotional ...
Audience: chick flick, date night, teens, adult
Plot: serial killer, lesbian, homeless, prostitute, lesbian love, mental illness, rape, female serial killer, murder, borderline personality disorder, gay, couples ...
Time: year 2003, 20th century, 80s, 2000s, 90s
Place: florida, usa, michigan, miami, ohio
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Menace II Society (1993)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Menace II Society is a coming of age tale detailing the summer after its protagonist Caine (Tyrin Turner) graduates from high school. This is Caine's story, which details real life in today's tough inner city.
Style: bleak, realistic, stylized, tense, hood ...
Audience: teens, teen drama, adult
Plot: hip hop, ghetto, african american, urban ghetto life, murder, police brutality, coming of age, street gang, friendship, organized crime, gangsta, gunfight ...
Time: 90s, year 1993, 20th century, 70s
Place: california, los angeles, usa, south central los angeles, north america
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
rough movies
8549
childhood movies
4966
90s movies
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7372
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 127 min.
Story: Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the thin line ...
Style: psychological, depressing, serious, crying, heartbreaking ...
Audience: girls' night, teens, chick flick, teen drama, adult
Plot: mental illness, coming of age, suicide, insanity, psychiatrist, suicide attempt, mental institution, teenage girl, borderline personality disorder, female protagonist, psychiatric ward, psychology ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1999, 60s
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
 6.9
 17K
Gridlock'd (1997)
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story: After a friend overdoses, Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program. Their efforts are hampered by seemingly endless red tape, as they are shuffled from one office to another while being ...
Style: dark comedy, hood, stylized, harsh, talky ...
Plot: addiction, hip hop, drug addiction, drug, urban, drug abuse, murder, heroin, gangster, justice, crime gone awry, culture clash ...
Time: 20th century, year 1997, 90s
Place: usa, detroit, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: This movie is a stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in Needle Park in New York City. Played against this setting is a low-key love story between Bobby, a young addict and small-time hustler, and Helen, a homeless ...
Style: depressing, disturbing, bleak, serious, rough ...
Plot: addiction, drug addiction, drug abuse, drug use, drug addict, heroin, drug, heroin addict, life philosophy, death of pet, redemption, loneliness ...
Time: 20th century, year 1971, 70s
Place: new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
71%
 6.2
 1K
Pinero (2001)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: "Piñero" tells the story of the explosive life of a Latino icon, the poet-playwright-actor Miguel Piñero, whose urban poetry is recognized as a pre-cursor to rap and hip-hop. After doing time in hard-core Sing-Sing for petty thefts and ...
Style: disturbing, stylized, factual, intense, sincere ...
Plot: drug abuse, addiction, writers, biopic, rise and fall, lifestyle, rising to stardom, ambition, drug, drug addiction, prison, society ...
Time: 80s, year 2001, 70s
Place: new york, usa, lower east side manhattan new york city, puerto rico, manhattan new york city ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Maria Full of Grace (2004)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: Colombia, Ecuador, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.
Style: realistic, disturbing, sentimental, sincere, independent film ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: drug dealing, immigrant, human trafficking, friendship, coming of age, life is a bitch, illegal immigration, women, loneliness, drug abuse, depression, addiction ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place: colombia, new york, latin america, new jersey, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
 7.4
 97K
Beautiful Boy (2018)
Genre: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min.
Story: After he and his first wife separate, journalist David Sheff struggles to help their teenage son Nic, who goes from experimenting with drugs to becoming devastatingly addicted to methamphetamine.
Style: disturbing, rough, captivating, sentimental, sad ...
Plot: addiction, drug addiction, drug addict, teenage boy, father son relationship, methamphetamine, teenager, boy, divorce, coming of age, stepmother stepson relationship, drug ...
Time: 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: san francisco, los angeles, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Freedom Writers (2007)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Germany, USA
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, feel good, touching, sentimental, rough ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, teen drama, adult
Plot: high school, teacher, dedicated educator, teachers and students, racism, lifestyle change, teenage life, urban ghetto life, mentor, teenager, strong female lead, idealism ...
Time: year 2007, 20th century, year 1993, year 1994, year 1999 ...
Place: california, los angeles, usa, long beach california
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
 7.3
 170K
Coach Carter (2005)
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, motivational, touching, hood, feel good ...
Audience: teens, boys' night, kids, family outing, teen drama
Plot: basketball, teacher, high school, mentor, teachers and students, underdog, athlete and trainer, life philosophy, athlete's life, human spirit, dedicated educator, sport team ...
Time: 20th century, 90s
Place: california, new jersey, usa, san francisco, sacramento california
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
 7.5
 274K
Blow (2001)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story: A boy named George Jung grows up in a struggling family in the 1950's. His mother nags at her husband as he is trying to make a living for the family. It is finally revealed that George's father cannot make a living and the family goes ...
Style: depressing, touching, emotional, serious, epic ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: drug addiction, drug lord, drug abuse, drug dealing, friendship, drug, drug dealer, drug cartel, rise and fall, addiction, gangster, drug use ...
Time: 70s, year 2001, 20th century, 80s, near future ...
Place: latin america, colombia, california, mexico, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
 7.8
 153K
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: Boyz n the Hood is the popular and successful film and social criticism from John Singleton about the conditions in South Central Los Angeles where teenagers are involved in gun fights and drug dealing on a daily basis.
Style: disturbing, tense, hood, cult classic, bleak ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: hip hop, ghetto, african american, poverty, gang, urban ghetto life, street gang, juvenile delinquency, rapper, coming of age, black, african american gangster ...
Time: 90s, 20th century, 80s, year 1991, year 1984
Place: los angeles, california, america, south central los angeles, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, ...
Style: emotional, harsh, rough, intense, realistic ...
Audience: teens
Plot: coming of age, childhood, friendship, urban ghetto life, street kid, loss of friend, depression, foul language, anger, life is a bitch, teenage boy, teenager ...
Time: 80s, y2k, year 2006, 2000s, 20th century ...
Place: new york, america, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.9
 20K
River's Edge (1986)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story: A group of high school friends discover that they are in the presence of a killer. One of them, Samson, has murdered his girlfriend Jamie. He brags to his friends about killing her, and when they discover he is telling the truth, their reactions ...
Style: disturbing, independent film, cult classic, grim, creepy ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: teenager, high school, coming of age, murder, serial killer, small town, drug abuse, violence, death, drug, strangulation, juvenile delinquency ...
Time: 80s, year 1986, 20th century
Place: oregon, california, usa, portland oregon
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
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