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Movies like American Movie

Key Features:
Filmmaking, Independent film, Documentary, American Dream, Obsession, Ambition, Struggle, Financial hardship, Family dynamics, Spiritual crisis, Low-budget, Cult classic, Persistence, Director-driven
Tone:
humorous, earnest, gritty
Target Audience:
Filmmakers, Fans of documentaries, Viewers interested in independent film, Those who appreciate quirky and humorous stories
Emotional Arc:
Hope → Frustration → Perseverance

American Movie

1999-11-05
American Movie Poster - Find Similar Movies

American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.

Genres
Documentary, Comedy
Cast
Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank, Tom Schimmels, Monica Borchardt, Alex Borchardt, Chris Borchardt, Ken Keen, Matt Weisman, Bill Borchardt, Cliff Borchardt
Crew
Chris Smith
Rating
7.607(261 votes)
American MovieAmerican Movie
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American Dreamer
5.7

In this winsome comedy, an entitled Economics professor pursues a tactic to buy an ailing widow’s mansion for nothing, but he quickly realizes that his seemingly foolproof strategy won’t be as easy as he thought.



Americana
Americana(2025)
6.5

When a rare Lakota Ghost Shirt falls into the black market in a small town in South Dakota, the lives of local outsiders and outcasts violently intertwine.



Arizona Dream
7.2

An Inuit hunter races his sled home with a fresh-caught halibut. This fish pervades the entire film, in real and imaginary form. Meanwhile, Axel tags fish in New York as a naturalist's gofer. He's happy there, but a messenger arrives to bring him to Arizona for his uncle's wedding. It's a ruse to get Axel into the family business. In Arizona, Axel meets two odd women: vivacious, needy, and plagued by neuroses and familial discord. He gets romantically involved with one, while the other, rich but depressed, plays accordion tunes to a gaggle of pet turtles.



Erin Brockovich
7.435

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.



American Satan
7.2

A young rock band, half from England and half from the US, drop out of college and move to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams.



American Grindhouse
6.742

This documentary explores the hidden history of the American Exploitation Film. The movie digs deep into this often overlooked category of U.S. cinema and unearths the shameless and occasionally shocking origins of this popular entertainment.



Ellie Parker
5

Ellie Parker, an aspiring actress from Australia, lives a hectic Hollywood lifestyle, perpetually trying to land the role that will elevate her career. Living with her lothario musician boyfriend, Justin, Ellie is far from happy, finding support primarily from her friend Sam. But when Ellie meets Chris after a minor traffic accident, she sees new potential for both romance and her life in general.



Downhill Racer
5.8

An ambitious young skier, determined to break all existing records, is contemptuous of the teamwork advocated by the US coach when they go to Europe for the Olympics.



Irresistible
6

A Democratic political consultant helps a retired Marine colonel run for mayor in a small, conservative Wisconsin town.



Stroszek
Stroszek(1977)
7.315

Bruno Stroszek is released from prison and warned to stop drinking. He has few skills and fewer expectations: with a glockenspiel and an accordion, he ekes out a living as a street musician. He befriends Eva, a prostitute down on her luck and they join his neighbor, Scheitz, an elderly eccentric, when he leaves Germany to live in Wisconsin.



Obsession
Obsession(2015)
6.3

Simone inherits a dilapidated farmhouse in France and makes her way there with her husband Eric and their two children. Her dream is to turn the house into a bed and breakfast but as the hectic pace of the rebuilding gets underway, she gets caught up in the romance and chaos of it all. Losing sight of her goals, she must find her way back to the dreams and ambitions which brought her there in the first place.



American Woman
6.3

A young grandmother in a small Pennsylvania town raises her daughter's child after the girl disappears. All the while, a desperate search for her continues.



American Loser
5.186

A dramatic comedy about a self-induced attention-deficit disordered, learning disabled, Tourette's syndrome suffering, balance impaired, ex-alcoholic young man from the Upper East Side of Manhattan and the gold-digging girl who inspires him to try to get it together.



Bigger Stronger Faster*

In America, we define ourselves in the superlative: we are the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of our heroes are on performance enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America's win-at-all-cost culture by examining how his two brothers became members of the steroid-subculture in an effort to realize their American dream.



Rudy
Rudy(1993)
7.347

Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.



American Flyers
6.1

When Dr. Marcus Sommers realizes that he and his troubled, estranged brother David may be prone a fatal brain disease that runs in their family, he decides to make peace with his sibling, and invites him on a trip to the Rockies. There, the brothers bond over their shared enthusiasm for cycling and decide to enter a grueling bike race through the mountains. However, Marcus' health soon begins to fail, and David must compete without his brother at his side.



Star
Star(2024)
7.3

Follows a youngster Kalai and his aspirations of becoming a 'Star' in the Tamil Film Industry. Born in a lower-middle-class family, will Kalai overcome all his struggles to emerge as a Star?



American Dreams in China

Three Chinese friends build a successful English language school to help Chinese teenagers fulfil their dreams.



The Big Picture
5.8

Hollywood beckons for recent film school grad Nick Chapman, who is out to capitalize on the momentum from his national award-winning student film. Studio executive Allen Habel seduces Nick with a dream deal to make his first feature, but once production gets rolling, corporate reality begins to intervene: Nick is unable to control a series of compromises to his high-minded vision, and it's all he can do to maintain his integrity in the midst of filmmaking chaos.



Survival of the Dead

Off the coast of North America, locals simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to revert their undead relatives back to normal.



Nebraska
Nebraska(2013)
7.449

An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.



American Honey
6.795

A restless teenager escapes her troubled home and joins a traveling crew of young drifters selling magazines across the American Midwest. Immersed in a world of reckless partying, risky hustles, and fleeting romances, she searches for freedom and belonging on the open road.



Wild America
6.1

Three brothers - Marshall, Marty and Mark dream of becoming naturalists and portraying animal life of America. One summer their dream comes true, they travel through America, filming alligators, bears and moose.



Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

Frustrated with her mundane life, a Tokyo office worker becomes obsessed with a fictional movie that she mistakes for a documentary. Fixating on a scene where stolen cash is buried in North Dakota, she travels to America to find it.



Posse
Posse(1975)
6.007

A tough marshal with political ambitions leads an elite posse to capture a notorious train robber and his gang.



Waiting for Forever

A Hollywood-set romantic tale of a guy who is content to live his life without a job yet with the love of his life, a young actress.



Management
5.365

A traveling art saleswoman tries to shake off a flaky motel manager who falls for her and won't leave her alone.



American Animals
6.7

Lexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.



American Pastoral
6.175

Set in postwar America, a man watches his seemingly perfect life fall apart as his daughter's new political affiliation threatens to destroy their family.



Incubus
Incubus(1982)
5.6

In a small town in Wisconsin, a young teenage boy claims he has dreams of young women being brutally raped and murdered. A doctor and the local sheriff discover that the boy's dreams are real and that a sinister cult might be behind the brutal murders. They must track down the vicious killer, who may be the indestructible incarnation of a demon spawned from hell.



Beer League
5.1

An unemployed slacker inspires his softball teammates to improve their game to avoid getting kicked out of the local league.



Overnight
Overnight(2003)
6.333

Alternately hilarious and horrifying, Overnight chronicles one man's misadventures of making a Hollywood movie. It starts out as a rags to riches story as Troy Duffy, a Boston-bred bartender, sells his first screenplay for The Boondock Saints.



Dinner in America
7.595

An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with a local band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.



Sly
Sly(2023)
7.224

His love of film began as an escape from a rocky childhood. From underdog to Hollywood legend, Sylvester Stallone tells his story in this documentary.



Wander
Wander(2020)
5.3

After getting hired to probe a suspicious death in the small town of Wander, a mentally unstable private investigator becomes convinced the case is linked to the same 'conspiracy cover up' that caused the death of his daughter.



Tenure
Tenure(2010)
5.532

Despite his outstanding intellect, associate professor Charlie Thurber is a chronic underachiever and has never received university tenure. Aided by his nutty best friend, Charlie launches a final effort to make the grade at Gray College. But a beautiful new teacher whose ascending star threatens to eclipse him shakes up Charlie's plans.



America America
6.9

A young Anatolian Greek, entrusted with his family's fortune, loses it en route to Istanbul and dreams of going to America.



American Fiction
7.283

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.



The Hill
The Hill(2023)
7.665

The story of Rickey Hill, who overcomes his physical disability and repairs his relationship with his father in a quest to become a major league baseball (MLB) player.



Fierce People
6.1

A massage therapist looking to overcome her addictions and reconnect with her son, whose father is an anthropologist in South America studying the Yanomani people, moves in with a wealthy ex-client in New Jersey.



An American Carol
4.2

A cynical anti-American Hollywood filmmaker sets out on a crusade to abolish the 4th of July holiday. He is visited by three spirits who take him on a hilarious journey in an attempt to show him the true meaning of America.



Anvil! The Story of Anvil

At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.



Young Adult
5.8

A divorced writer from the Midwest returns to her hometown to reconnect with an old flame, who's now married with a family.



Frailty
Frailty(2002)
7

A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."



Indie Game: The Movie
7.528

Follows the dramatic journeys of video game developers as they create and release their games to the world. It's about making video games, but at its core, it's about the creative process, and exposing yourself through your work.



In the Soup
6.5

An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.



American Nightmare
4.936

A deranged female serial killer stalks seven young people whom phone a radio call-in show to discuss their darkest fears and a night-long game of cat-and-mouse is put into motion by the darkly sinister-looking murderess.



Mon Heroine
6.2

A young girl from Rouen dreams about directing movies with Julia Roberts. Overprotected by her mother, she hopes to join a prestigeous cinema school in New York City, but nothing happens as expected, and her dreams are cruelly broken. Denying her fate, she leaves France to New York City, with her nutty-aunt's help, dreaming to give her screenplay to Julia Roberts herself.



Wendy and Lucy
6.835

A near-penniless drifter's journey to Alaska in search of work is interrupted when she loses her dog while attempting to shoplift food for it.



Faults
Faults(2014)
6.667

Claire is under the grip of a mysterious new cult called Faults. Desperate to be reunited with their daughter, Claire's parents recruit one of the world's foremost experts on mind control, Ansel Roth.



Brad's Status
6.256

Although Brad has a satisfying career, a sweet wife and a comfortable life in suburban Sacramento, things aren't quite what he imagined during his college glory days. When he accompanies his musical prodigy son on a university tour, he can't help comparing his life with those of his four best college friends who seemingly have more wealthy and glamorous lives. But when circumstances force him to reconnect with his former friends, Brad begins to question whether he has really failed or if their lives are actually more flawed than they appear.



My All American
7

Freddie Steinmark, an underdog on the gridiron, faces the toughest challenge of his life after leading his team to a championship season.



Zandalee
Zandalee(1991)
4.3

Bored with her marriage to burnt out poet turned corporate executive Thierry, Zandalee falls prey to an old friend of her husband, the manipulative and egotistical Johnny and becomes enmeshed in a sensual, passionate and destructive affair.



Pursuit
Pursuit(2022)
5.113

Detective Breslin crosses paths with Calloway, a ruthless hacker desperate to find his wife, who has been kidnapped by a drug cartel. When Calloway escapes police custody, Breslin joins forces with a no-nonsense female cop to reclaim his prisoner. But is Calloway’s crime-boss father somehow involved in this explosive situation?



sex, lies, and videotape

Ann, a frustrated wife, enters into counseling due to a troubled marriage. Unbeknownst to her, her husband John has begun an affair with her sister. When John’s best friend Graham arrives, his penchant for interviewing women about their sex lives forever changes John and Ann’s rocky marriage.



Dead Man
Dead Man(1995)
7.297

On the run after committing murder, an accountant encounters a strange Native American man who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.



The Novice
6.4

A college freshman joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost.



Hoop Dreams
7.6

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.



Ascension
Ascension(2021)
6.872

The absorbingly cinematic Ascension explores the pursuit of the “Chinese Dream.” Driven by mesmerizing—and sometimes humorous—imagery, this observational documentary presents a contemporary vision of China that prioritizes productivity and innovation above all.



Mitt
Mitt(2014)
6.3

A filmmaker is granted unprecedented access to a political candidate and his family as he runs for President.



Hotel America
6.1

Helene, a pill-addicted anesthesiologist, is mourning the death of her boyfriend when, through a car accident she causes, she chances to meet the lethargic Gilles, a young man who lives for free at his mother's hotel. Gilles pursues Helene romantically, and she eventually softens up. Gilles, however, is also devoted to Bernard, a petty crook who revels in mugging gay men. All three struggle with relationships that seem to be going nowhere.



Friendship
6.5

Suburban dad Craig falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor Austin, and his attempts to make an adult male friend threatens to ruin both of their lives.



Buffaloed
Buffaloed(2020)
6.7

Set in the underworld of debt-collecting, homegrown hustler Peg Dahl will do anything to escape Buffalo, NY.



SODA: le rêve américain

Everything is going wrong for Adam: he just failed his baccalaureate, his friends Slimane and Ludovic are about to go their separate ways, his girlfriend is leaving him for another guy, and his parents are constantly arguing. Sinking into despair, the young man regains hope when he discovers a contest where the winner gets a one-year visa to the United States—the place he should have gone on vacation if he had passed his exam.



The Year I Started Masturbating

Ambitious overachiever Hanna just needs one more kid before her life is perfect. Instead, her baby daddy unexpectedly dumps her. Suddenly, she finds herself without a place to live, job or family. With every fiber of her being set for victory, Hanna refuses to give up and decides to win him back. But to get there means having to win something much more important, love and desire for herself and who she is.



American Underdog
7.122

The true story of Kurt Warner, who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.



Be My Cat: A Film for Anne

An aspiring filmmaker goes to shocking extremes to convince Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway to star in his film. First entry in Adrian Țofei's spiritual trilogy which includes We Put the World to Sleep and Pure.



Turbo
Turbo(2013)
6.268

The tale of an ordinary garden snail who dreams of winning the Indy 500.



Slow West
Slow West(2015)
6.7

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.



American Virgin
4.9

A Freshman College Girl on a scholarship from an abstinence group that advocates saving sex until marriage discovers that her antics on a night of debauchery, when she reluctantly got drunk for the first time in her life, were captured on camera by a sleazy video producer. Now she and her friends must travel across country to recover the incriminating footage.



Spetters
Spetters(1980)
6.3

Three amateur dirt-bike racers each fall in love with a young woman who, with her brother, sells French fries and hotdogs at the races. Everyone is looking for a better life: she wants out of the business and away from her brother; and the motocross racers want to make their marks as professionals in their sport.



Collapse
Collapse(2009)
7.2

From the acclaimed director of American Movie, the documentary follows former Los Angeles police officer turned independent reporter Michael Ruppert. He recounts his career as a radical thinker and spells out his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crises in economics, energy, environment and more.



Lost in America
6.881

David and Linda Howard are successful yuppies from LA. When he gets a job disappointment, David convinces Linda that they should quit their jobs, liquidate their assets, and emulate the movie Easy Rider, spending the rest of their lives traveling around America...in a Winnebago.



Uncle Buck
6.796

Buck Russell, a lovable but slovenly bachelor, suddenly becomes the temporary caretaker of his nephew and nieces after a family emergency. His freewheeling attitude soon causes tension with his older niece Tia, loyal girlfriend Chanice and just about everyone else who crosses his path.



Straight A's
5.2

Pressured by his late mother's ghost to return home to the family he abandoned, a former addict grabs a bag of pills and a sack of marijuana and hits the road to Shreveport.



Two Sons of Francisco

The story of Francisco, a very simple and poor man whose dream was to see his children become country music stars, and who made all the efforts to make it happen.



The Pursuit of Happyness

A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.



The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon

From Richard Gale, mad maker of CRITICIZED, comes a film that will never have you looking at cutlery the same way again. Set-up as an epic-length trailer for an upcoming release, HORRIBLY SLOW... depicts a man's endless pursuit by what has got to be one of the most determined and patient murderers the screen has ever seen.



The Vicious Kind
6.228

A man tries to warn his brother away from the new girlfriend he brings home during Thanksgiving, but ends up becoming infatuated with her in the process.



Adult World
6.041

Amy, a naive college graduate who believes she's destined to be a great poet, begrudgingly accepts a job at a sex shop while she pursues a mentorship with reclusive writer Rat Billings.



Grind
Grind(2003)
5.9

Four skaters follow their idol on his summer tour in an attempt to get noticed, get sponsored, and become stars themselves.



American Symphony
6.7

Musician Jon Batiste attempts to compose a symphony as his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, undergoes cancer treatment.



American Buffalo
5.377

Three inner-city losers plan a robbery of a valuable coin in a seedy second-hand junk shop.



Pleasure
Pleasure(2021)
6.3

19 year old Linnéa leaves her small town in Sweden and heads for Los Angeles with the aim of becoming the world's next big porn star, but the road to her goal turns out to be bumpier than she imagined.



Hunger
Hunger(2023)
7.273

A talented young street-food cook pushes herself to the limit after accepting an invitation to train under an infamous and ruthless chef.



Les Cowboys
6.4

Drama about a father and son who set out to find their missing daughter/sister with the help of an American headhunter.



Possession
7.3

A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair.



Magazine Dreams
6.9

Aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox struggles to find human connection in an exploration of celebrity and violence. Nothing deters him from his fiercely protected dream of superstardom, not even the doctors who warn him of the permanent damage he causes to himself with his quest.



American Samurai
5.6

A martial artist working as a reporter tries to track down his family’s sword passed down by his adopted Japanese father. He soon finds himself fighting for his life in a brutal underground tournament.



The Fabelmans
7.577

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.



Jonathan
Jonathan(2018)
5.871

Jonathan is a young man with a strange condition that only his brother understands. But when he begins to yearn for a different life, their unique bond becomes increasingly tested.



Triumph
Triumph(2021)
6.7

A bright and determined teen who has mild cerebral palsy strives to be a wrestler on his high school's team and to win over the heart of a classmate, the girl of his dreams.



Misconduct
5.6

An ambitious lawyer finds himself caught in a power struggle between a corrupt pharmaceutical executive and his firm’s senior partner. When the case takes a deadly turn, he must race to uncover the truth before he loses everything.



American Gothic
5.9

When six friends fly off on a weekend getaway and are suddenly plagued by engine trouble, they're forced to land on a remote island. Looking for shelter, they're grateful to encounter Ma and Pa and their children - an eccentric family living in the island's backwoods. But what begins as simple hospitality turns into a terrifying race for survival as the friends start disappearing one by one ... and turning up dead.



Head of State
5.556

When a presidential candidate dies unexpectedly in the middle of the campaign, the Democratic party unexpectedly picks a Washington, D.C. alderman as his replacement.



American Hardcore
6.759

Inspired by Steven Blush's book "American Hardcore: A tribal history" Paul Rachman's feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.



The Five Obstructions

In 1967, experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth created a striking short film, The Perfect Human, starring a man and women sitting in a box while a narrator poses questions about their relationship and humanity. Years later, Danish director Lars von Trier made a deal with Leth to remake his film five times, each under a different set of circumstances and with von Trier's strictly prescribed rules. As Leth completes each challenge, von Trier creates increasingly further elaborate stipulations.



The Astronaut Farmer

Texan Charles Farmer left the Air Force as a young man to save the family ranch when his dad died. Like most American ranchers, he owes his bank. Unlike most, he's an astrophysicist with a rocket in his barn - one he's built and wants to take into space. It's his dream. The FBI puts him under surveillance when he tries to buy rocket fuel, and the FAA stalls him when he files a flight plan – but Charles is undeterred.



Team Foxcatcher
6.979

With never-before seen home video, this film recounts the paranoid downward spiral of John E. du Pont and the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz.

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