Movies like Bright Lights, Big City
If you like "Bright Lights, Big City" you are looking for intense, serious and sentimental movies about / with drug abuse, addiction, redemption, writers, nightlife, alcohol abuse and life is a bitch themes of Drama genre shot in USA.
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1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
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Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
8K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
A young kid from Kansas moves to New York to work on a magazine. He gets caught up in the world of drink and drugs, and starts a steady decline. The only hope is the cousin of one of his drinking partners, can she pull him through it ?
Style:
intense, serious, sentimental, touching, bleak, realistic, stylized, unusual plot structure, melancholic, surreal ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
drug abuse, addiction, redemption, writers, nightlife, alcohol abuse, life is a bitch, starting over, friendship, supportive spouse, downfall, drugs, nude, brother sister relationship, magazine, loser, drug addiction, catastrophe, teenager, gangsters, fashion, drug addict, natural disaster, relationships, women ...
Time:
20th century, 80s
Place:
new york, new jersey, manhattan new york city
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Bright Lights, Big City
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, melancholic, talky and harsh films with plots about storytelling, dialogue, mentor, redemption, brutality, catastrophe and loneliness mostly in Drama, Comedy and Romance genres. Some movies like Bright Lights, Big City: 28 Days (2000), The Panic in Needle Park (1971), The Boost (1988), Drunks (1995), Bodies, Rest & Motion (1993). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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52K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story:
After getting into a car accident while drunk on the day of her sister's wedding, Gwen Cummings is given a choice between prison or a rehab center. She chooses rehab, but is extremely resistant to taking part in any of the treatment programs ...
Style:
touching, realistic, compassionate, emotional, intense ...
Audience:
chick flick, girls' night, teens, date night
Plot:
alcohol abuse, addiction, drug addiction, drug addict, wedding, rehabilitation, dysfunctional family, going straight, drugs, siblings relations, doctors and patients, drug abuse ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
usa, new jersey, new york, manhattan new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
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 addict, drugs, death of pet, heroin, heroin addict, drug use, loneliness, life philosophy, redemption ...
Time:
20th century, 70s
Place:
new york, usa, california, new jersey
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Lenny Brown moves to California to find his fortune in tax shelter investments. When the federal government changes the tax laws, poor Lenny finds himself $700,000 in hock with nowhere to turn. His friend, Joel, introduces him to cocaine to give ...
Style:
bleak, allegory, unusual plot structure, intense, melancholic ...
Plot:
addiction, drugs, drug addiction, drug abuse, mentor, life philosophy, mental illness, life, dystopic future, distopia, greed, lone hero ...
Time:
80s, future, 20th century
Place:
los angeles, california, new york, usa, mexico
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
At the beginning of a nightly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim seems particularly troubled. His sponsor encourages him to talk that night, the first time in seven months, so he does - and leaves the meeting right after. As Jim wanders the night, ...
Style:
realistic, talky, splatter, disturbing, stylized ...
Plot:
alcoholic, alcohol abuse, drug addiction, drugs, self discovery, redemption, drug abuse, addiction, support group, heroin, drug addict, death ...
Time:
90s
Place:
new jersey, new york, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
39%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Rebelling against his dreary life in a small Arizona town, salesman Nick abandons his girlfriend, Beth, and strikes out onto the highway in search of... something else. Encouraged by her best friend, Carol, Beth reluctantly accepts the romantic ...
Style:
clever, stylized, visually appealing, unusual plot structure, entertaining ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
love, friends, small town, nude, shopping, solitude, dysfunctional family, weapons, farce, rat, twists and turns, road trip ...
Time:
90s
Place:
arizona, california, usa, las vegas, tucson arizona ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
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Thirteen related movies
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
This movie tells five stories set in a single day at the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York City, involving an ensemble cast of some 30-35 characters.
Style:
meditative, intense, serious, touching, talky ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
eccentricity, lifestyle, writer's life, looking for love, drug abuse, addiction, couple relations, rising to stardom, human nature, down on your luck, nightlife, hotel ...
Place:
new york, usa, empire state building manhattan new york city, manhattan new york city, minneapolis minnesota ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 143 min.
Story:
Albany, New York, Halloween, 1938. Francis Phelan and Helen Archer are bums, back in their birth city. She was a singer on the radio, he a major league pitcher. Death surrounds them: she's sick, a pal has cancer, he digs graves at the cemetery ...
Style:
emotional, touching, intense, serious, realistic ...
Plot:
alcohol abuse, homeless, mental illness, redemption, halloween, couple relations, rich and poor, parents and children, life is a bitch, human nature, buddies, best friends ...
Time:
1930s, 20th century, 1910s
Place:
new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Hotshot real estate salesman Daryl has a bad cocaine habit. After embezzling his company's money, he wakes up next to a girl who overdosed. To hide from the police, he checks into a rehabilitation program guaranteeing anonymity. Under the ...
Style:
realistic, touching, compassionate, emotional, melancholic ...
Plot:
addiction, drug addiction, redemption, introspection, drug abuse, alcoholic, drugs, yuppie, tragedy, character study, crime gone awry, human nature ...
Time:
80s
Place:
usa, new jersey, philadelphia, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min.
Story:
Angel celebrates the birth of his daughter by taking his first hit of crack cocaine. With the hesitant support of his wife, Monika, he joins a friend of his to deal drugs for a short time--enough time to get out of debt and buy some nice things for ...
Style:
melancholic, realistic, serious, buddy movie, feel good ...
Plot:
drug addiction, drug abuse, loneliness, family problems, family relations, downfall, introspection, life is a bitch, crumbling marriage, misfit, money, addiction ...
Time:
90s
Place:
new jersey, new york, usa, bronx new york city
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Genre: 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, emotional, realistic, feel good, thought provoking ...
Plot:
friendship, alcohol abuse, salesman, addiction, unemployment, bittersweet, loneliness, character study, tragedy, self discovery, starting over, midlife crisis ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
arizona, new jersey, texas, usa, phoenix arizona
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
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Trainspotting similar movies
5K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
A group of friends come of age in the asphalt desert of the San Fernando Valley, as set to a blazing soundtrack and endless drinking, drugs and sex.
Style:
stylized, thought provoking, clever, cerebral, unusual plot structure ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
teenager, coming of age, friendship, relationships, addiction, drug abuse, sex, girl gang, drug addiction, mentor, loneliness, life philosophy ...
Time:
70s, 80s, 20th century
Place:
california, los angeles, new jersey, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
24%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Each of the three short films in this collection presents a young gay man at the threshold of adulthood. In "Pool Days," Justin is a 17-year old Bethesda lad, hired as the evening life guard at a fitness center. In the course of the ...
Style:
allegory, sexy, feel good, visually appealing, stylized ...
Plot:
gay, lgbt, gay interest, coming of age, lgbtq, male nudity, sexuality, lone hero, honest, life philosophy, loneliness, mentor ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
tokyo, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
23%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
The family of Raymond, his wife Val and her brother Billy live in working-class London district. Also in their family is Val and Billy's mother Janet and grandmother Kath. Billy is a drug addict and Raymond kicks him out of the house, making ...
Style:
disturbing, rough, depressing, realistic, gloomy ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, drugs, drug addiction, heroin, working class, addiction, alcohol abuse, brutality, gangsters, drug addict, violence, drug abuse ...
Time:
90s
Place:
london, england, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
J.R. is a typical Italian-American on the streets of New York. When he gets involved with a local girl, he decides to get married and settle down, but when he learns that she was once raped, he cannot handle it. More explicitly linked with Catholic ...
Style:
talky, sexy, dramatic, intellectual, light ...
Plot:
male nudity, friendship, redemption, violence, catholicism, morality, mentor, revenge, relationships, justice, multiple storylines, secrets ...
Time:
60s, 20th century
Place:
new york, new jersey, europe, italy, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min.
Story:
Meet the denizens of New York City: artists, prostitutes, saints, and seers. All are aspiring toward either fame or oblivion, and hoping for love and acceptance. Instead they find high rents, faithless partners, and dead-end careers.
Style:
ironic, humorous, sentimental, captivating, psychological ...
Plot:
adaptation, artist, couples, self discovery, society, lifestyle, bittersweet, love, ambition, loneliness, art, fashion show ...
Time:
80s
Place:
new york, usa, new jersey, tokyo
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Also search:
Scent of a Woman related movies
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A New York film director, working on his latest movie in Los Angeles, begins to reflect the actions in his movie and real life, especially when he begins an affair with the lead actress.
Style:
psychological, sexy, melancholic, erotic, rough ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
redemption, filmmaking, drugs, obsession, multiple storylines, addiction, lifestyle, life is a bitch, downfall, showbiz, human nature, infidelity ...
Time:
90s, 70s
Place:
los angeles, israel, new york, middle east, california ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
Tommy has lost his job, his love and his life. He lives in a small apartment above the Trees Lounge, a bar which he frequents along with a few other regulars without lives. He gets a job driving an ice cream truck and ends up getting involved with ...
Style:
talky, gloomy, art house, entertaining, thought provoking ...
Plot:
alcohol abuse, drugs, suburbs, drug addiction, addiction, small town, self discovery, coming of age, older man younger woman relationship, alcoholic, transformation, loner ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
new york, new jersey, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
In the early 1980s, Anna, a New Jersey teenager faces her impending adulthood, dreaming of a life as a successful New York artist. When she gets caught up in the carefree sport of pre-AIDS sex and drugs, Anna's future becomes less certain.
Style:
realistic, bleak, bad ending, visually appealing, feel good ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
coming of age, friendship, school, drugs, high school, gang, workplace, adaptation, police investigation, age difference, nude, multiple storylines ...
Time:
80s, future, 70s
Place:
new jersey, california, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
22%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Set in the 1980's, Debby Miller (Uma Thurman) goes out in New Jersey looking for a man after she is diagnosed with "hysterical blindness".
Style:
psychological, stylized, serious, touching, emotional ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick
Plot:
friendship, working class, loneliness, character study, family relations, love and romance, couple relations, single parent, looking for love, family problems, lifestyle, getting home ...
Time:
80s
Place:
new jersey, tokyo, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
21%
181K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min.
Story:
The filmed adaptation from David Benioff's novel of the same name. Set in New York, a convicted drug dealer named Monty has one day left of freedom before he is sent to prison. Anger, blame, frustration, betrayal, guilt and loneliness are ...
Style:
psychological, emotional, depressing, realistic, bleak ...
Plot:
friendship, drugs, organized crime, drug lord, race against time, drug dealer, betrayal, gangsters, redemption, freedom, russian mafia, mistrust ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
new york, usa, new jersey
⇓ similarity ⇓
21%
Also search:
Poetic Justice similar movies
2K
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Slam tells the story of Ray Joshua, an original, gifted young MC trapped in a war-zone housing project known as Dodge City. Unable to find a job, Ray copes with the despair and poverty of his neighborhood by using his wits and verbal talent. Written ...
Style:
talky, psychological, sexy, dramatic, heartbreaking ...
Plot:
prison, gang, hip hop, art, bittersweet, life philosophy, justice, marijuana, drug addiction, mental illness, revenge, redemption ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
washington d.c., africa, california, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
An elderly beekeeper and Vietnam vet must rescue his daughter-in-law and protect his grandchildren from killers.
Style:
realistic, thought provoking, atmospheric, enigmatic, light ...
Plot:
dysfunctional family, prison, beekeeper, farm, family bonds, culture clash, tragedy, beautiful scenery, betrayal, crime gone awry, death, depression ...
Time:
90s
Place:
florida, orlando florida, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story:
Joe Slovak is a brilliant first-year med student whose casual, nonconforming approach to life gets tested when he enrolls in Gross Anatomy, the toughest course in med school.
Style:
talky, clever, humorous, sexy, light ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night, date night
Plot:
college, teenager, medical, school, medical school, nude, transformation, love story, writers, violence, fight scenes, doctors ...
Time:
80s
Place:
new jersey, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Rosa Lynn sends her druggie daughter Loretta and her children Thomas and Tracy away from the big city to live with their uncle Earl in the ancestral home in rural Mississippi. Earl puts Loretta to work in his restaurant, Just Chicken, while also ...
Style:
sentimental, emotional, touching, feel good, affectionate ...
Plot:
slavery, bittersweet, dysfunctional family, drug addiction, african american, anti racism, racism, nude, women of color, multiple storylines, fashion, adoption ...
Time:
20th century, 90s
Place:
mississippi, chicago illinois, canada, tokyo, usa ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
Three inner-city losers plan a robbery of a valuable coin in a seedy second-hand junk shop.
Style:
talky, bleak, stylized, thought provoking, visually appealing ...
Plot:
betrayal, heist, revenge, robbery, rainstorm, trust, poker game, loyalty, antique dealer, paranoia, mental illness, adaptation ...
Time:
90s
Place:
new jersey, rhode island, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Also search:
Rambling Rose related movies
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
The Los Angeles club scene is a place of booze-fueled decadence and debauchery. In a night full of possibilities, eight 20-somethings take to the clubs seeking good times, companionship and maybe a little sex. But in the harsh light of the morning ...
Style:
sexy, intense, melancholic, entertaining, psychological ...
Audience:
date night, teens
Plot:
sex, erotica, friendship, suspense, nightclub, oral sex, rough sex, life philosophy, dysfunctional family, happy ending, lone hero, party ...
Time:
90s
Place:
california, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Around 1940, New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character who cadges meals, drinks, and contributions to the Joe Gould Fund and who is writing a voluminous Oral History of the World, a record of 20,000 ...
Style:
melancholic, sentimental, realistic, gloomy, enigmatic ...
Plot:
friendship, writers, eccentricity, alone in the world, character study, mysterious character, human nature, buddies, writer's life, secret, reporter, philosophy ...
Time:
1940s, 1930s, 50s, 20th century
Place:
new york, new jersey, greenwich village manhattan new york city, usa, harvard university ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
A career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.
Style:
touching, melancholic, emotional, realistic, thought provoking ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
terminal illness, cancer, dysfunctional family, tragedy, relationships, women, life, parenthood, honest, parents and children, unfulfillment, family problems ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
new jersey, usa, new york
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
A headstrong young woman returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother.
Style:
touching, emotional, sincere, realistic, serious ...
Plot:
alcohol abuse, mentor, nervous breakdown, haunted by the past, funeral, sexual tension, family problems, parents and children, family relations, drinking problem, love, love story ...
Time:
year 2002, 2000s, 70s, 21st century
Place:
new orleans, louisiana, new jersey, usa, alabama
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min.
Story:
Traces over three generations an immigrant family's trials, tribulations, tragedies, and triumphs. Maria and Jose, the first generation, come to Los Angeles, meet, marry, face deportation all in the 1930's. They establish their family in ...
Style:
touching, sexy, entertaining, clever, emotional ...
Plot:
family relations, immigrants, father son relationship, prison, nude, marriage, death of wife, family bonds, dysfunctional family, prejudice, adaptation, beautiful scenery ...
Time:
1920s, 50s, 20th century, 70s
Place:
los angeles, california, usa, mexico
⇓ similarity ⇓
19%
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