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Movies like The Way Back

Key Features:
Redemption, Addiction, Basketball, Coach, Grief, Second chance, Teamwork, High school, Loss, Resilience, Alcoholism, Sports drama, Underdog story
Tone:
serious, earnest, dramatic
Target Audience:
Sports fans, Drama viewers, Inspirational movie lovers
Emotional Arc:
Despair → Hope

The Way Back

2020-03-05
The Way Back Poster - Find Similar Movies

A former basketball all-star, who has lost his wife and family foundation in a struggle with addiction, attempts to regain his soul and salvation by becoming the coach of a disparate ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.

Genres
Drama
Cast
Ben Affleck, Al Madrigal, Michaela Watkins, Janina Gavankar, Glynn Turman, Melvin Gregg, Brandon Wilson, Will Ropp, Fernando Luis Vega, Charles Lott
Crew
Gavin O, Brad Ingelsby
Rating
6.6(1283 votes)
The Way BackThe Way Back
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The Winning Season
6.354

A comedy centered on a has-been coach who is given a shot at redemption when he's asked to run his local high school's girls basketball team



Rebound
Rebound(2005)
5.594

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.



Home Run
Home Run(2013)
6.2

A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team



Champions
Champions(2023)
6.72

A stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach is forced to train a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.



Hurricane Season
6.6

Based on true events amid the wreckage and chaos dealt by Hurricane Katrina; one basketball coach in Marrero, Louisiana just will not give up. Coach Al Collins, gathers other players from hard-hit schools and builds a team actually worthy enough to go to the state playoffs.



The Basketball Diaries

A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.



Champions
Champions(2018)
7.5

A disgraced basketball coach is given the chance to coach Los Amigos, a team of players who are intellectually disabled, and soon realizes they just might have what it takes to make it to the national championships.



Hustle
Hustle(2022)
7.718

After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, a down on his luck basketball scout takes it upon himself to bring the phenom to the States without his team's approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.



Coach Carter
7.6

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.



Hardball
Hardball(2001)
6.5

An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.



Lady Ballers
5.3

A once-great basketball coach is on a journey back to victory by reuniting his former high school championship basketball team, but this time, he’s challenging them to play like girls.



A Second Chance
6

A young girl and her coach overcome adversity to make their way into the National Australian Gymnastics Squad.



Full-Court Miracle
5.6

Inspired by the true story of University of Virginia basketball star Lamont Carr, the film centers on a group of young Jewish basketball players who search for a coach to help them out of a slump. The main character Alex Schlotsky is inspired by the true story of Alex Barbag and Chad Korpeck.



McFarland, USA
7.468

A track coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.



Hoosiers
Hoosiers(1986)
7.034

Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.



The Coach
The Coach(2018)
6.8

Contemporary Russia. After he flubs a penalty kick, a humiliated national soccer player quits the game. He flees to a small town, where he decides to coach their local team.



Back in the Day
3

A young boxer is taken under the wing of a mob boss after his mother dies and his father is run out of town for being an abusive alcoholic.



The Sandlot: Heading Home

A successful professional baseball player gets his ego in check when he travels back in time to his boyhood sandlot ball-playing days.



The Way Way Back
7.132

Shy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.



Touchback
Touchback(2011)
6.45

A former high-school football star loses his shot at a college scholarship due to a devastating gridiron injury, but gets a second chance at living his dream.



The Underdoggs
7

Jaycen 'Two Js' Jennings is a washed-up former pro football star who has hit rock bottom. When sentenced to community service coaching the Underdoggs, an unruly pee-wee football team in his hometown, he sees it mostly as an opportunity to rebuild his public image. But in the process, he may just turn his life around and rediscover his love of the game.



Overcomer
Overcomer(2019)
7.7

After reluctantly agreeing to coach cross-country, high school basketball Coach John Harrison helps the least likely runner attempt the impossible in the biggest race of the year.



The Comebacks
4.82

Out-of-luck coach Lambeau Fields takes a rag-tag bunch of college misfits and drives them towards the football championships. In the process, this life-long loser discovers that he is a winner after all by redeeming himself, saving his relationship with his family and friends, and finding that there is indeed, no "I" in "team"!



The Way Back
7

A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.



The Mighty Ducks
6.6

After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn't eager to return to hockey, a point hit home by his tense dealings with his own former coach, Jack Reilly. The reluctant Gordon eventually grows to appreciate his team, which includes promising young Charlie Conway, and leads them to take on Reilly's tough players.



Battle of the Year
6.8

A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.



Southpaw
Southpaw(2015)
7.363

Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.



Friday Night Lights

A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles, is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.



Dirt
Dirt(2018)
6

In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.



Gridiron Gang
7

Under the leadership of their counselor, teenagers at a juvenile detention center gain self-esteem by playing football together. Based on a true story.



Wolves
Wolves(2016)
5.804

Anthony Keller, star of his NYC high school basketball team, is riding his way to Cornell on a sports scholarship. But he can only maintain his popular jock facade for so long, as his troubled father Lee has a gambling addiction that threatens to derail his dreams both on and off the court.



Juwanna Mann
5

A basketball star is booted out of the NBA when his on-court antics go too far, so he poses as a woman and joins the WUBA.



Rez Ball
Rez Ball(2024)
6.507

After losing their star player, a high school basketball team rooted in Native American culture must unite to keep their state championship dreams alive.



Bounce
Bounce(2000)
5.797

Buddy Amaral, a successful and self-absorbed Los Angeles advertising executive, switches airline tickets with a stranger just before boarding a long-delayed flight so that he might enjoy an overnight fling with a pretty Dallas businesswoman. When the plane goes down, killing all aboard, Buddy's guilt soon turns into an alcohol problem. As part of his 12-step program, Buddy seeks atonement and decides to seek out the woman he thinks he's left a widow.



Rocky V
Rocky V(1990)
5.78

A lifetime of taking shots has ended Rocky’s career, and a crooked accountant has left him broke. Inspired by the memory of his trainer, however, Rocky finds glory in training and takes on an up-and-coming boxer.



Remember the Titans

After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.



Wildcats
Wildcats(1986)
6.3

High school track coach Molly McGrath knows just as much about football as anyone else on the planet. When a football coach's position becomes vacant, she applies for the job, despite snickers from fellow staff members and her former husband.



Championext
6.47

Los Amigos wins the Spanish basketball championship for the first time but are disqualified due to Sergio’s fault, leading to their dramatic breakup. Two years later, Cecilia, an inexperienced but optimistic coach, commits to fulfilling Julio’s dream of reuniting the team. Despite a string of misfortunes associated with Cecilia’s arrival, labeled as a “jinx”, Los Amigos’ enthusiasm remains unwavering. Against all odds, they find themselves participating in a thrilling and unexpected international eSports tournament watched by millions worldwide.



The Boys Are Back
6.3

When the wife of sports-writer Joe Warr dies of cancer, he takes on the responsibility of raising their 6-year-old son, and his teenage son from a previous marriage. As Joe rejects the counsel of his mother-in-law and other parents, he develops his own philosophies on parenting.



Home
Home(2021)
6.7

An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.



Flight
Flight(2012)
6.851

Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he's managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober -- but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.



Home Team
Home Team(2022)
6.6

Two years after a Super Bowl win when NFL head coach Sean Payton is suspended, he goes back to his hometown and finds himself reconnecting with his 12-year-old son by coaching his Pop Warner football team.



The Way to the Heart
9.853

Ava, an award-winning chef at a big-city restaurant, has lost her spark. Her boss sends her out to find herself to save her menu and her job. She returns home and finds little to inspire her, but when she reunites with her childhood friend Logan, Ava has to get her head out of the clouds and her foot out of her mouth to rediscover her passion for food.



A Warrior's Heart
5.386

Unable to cope with his military father's sudden death in combat, quick-tempered teen, Conor, starts getting into serious trouble. During an intense lacrosse camp, his father's old friend challenges Conor to get his life on track and become a man.



The Hammer
6.106

Approaching forty, Ferro is unsatisfied with his life as a construction worker and part-time boxing instructor in Los Angeles, CA. After a successful bout with a young pro boxer, Ferro decides to don the gloves one last time. The movie recounts his unlikely quest for Olympic gold.



The Replacements
6.69

Maverick old-guard coach Jimmy McGinty is hired in the wake of a players' strike to help the Washington Sentinels advance to the playoffs. But that impossible dream hinges on whether his replacements can hunker down and do the job. So, McGinty dusts off his secret dossier of ex-players who never got a chance (or screwed up the one they were given) and knits together a bad-dream team of guys who just may give the Sentinels their title shot.



Glory Road
7.4

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.



Palmer
Palmer(2021)
8.1

After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.



Bomber
Bomber(1982)
6.405

Bomber is an unemployed boat captain. One day he meets Jerry, a manager of boxers who are struck by the force of his fists. That is when they see the chance to win big money.



Knockout
Knockout(2011)
5.454

Outsider and new kid Matthew desperately wants to join his high school's boxing team, but resident bully and boxing champion Hector stands in his way. Facing constant torment, Matthew finds an unlikely ally in Dan, the school's janitor and one-time amateur boxer. Together, they train for the biggest boxing match of Matthew's life and discover what it truly means to be a winner.



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.



He Got Game
6.7

A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter prison sentence.



In the Game
6.4

A rebellious teenager must travel the country with his sick grandpa to get to his basketball game.



Facing the Giants
7.56

A losing coach with an underdog football team faces their giants of fear and failure on and off the field to surprising results.



A Mighty Team
5.437

Sadoun is France’s best soccer player whose extra-curriculum pleasures are damaging his play and new contract negotiations. Dispatched by his scheming agent to his home village, he ends up reconciling with his father, relating to his fatherless niece, who dotes on him, and training his local children’s team, whom he takes to championship glory.



The Miracle Season
7.203

After the tragic death of star volleyball player Caroline "Line" Found, a team of dispirited high school girls must band together under the guidance of their tough-love coach in hopes of winning the state championship!



Feel the Beat
7.566

After failing to make it on Broadway, April returns to her hometown and reluctantly begins training a misfit group of young dancers for a competition.



Back on Track
7.3

A former Olympic champion wants to compete in the Berlin Marathon one last time.



Half Nelson
6.642

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 startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.



Crazy Heart
6.923

When reporter Jean Craddock interviews Bad Blake—an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend—they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son.



F1
F1(2025)
7.805

Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing one more chance at glory.



Jawbone
Jawbone(2017)
6.176

A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.



The Dream Team
5.028

A former footballer living in Brittany enlists his old teammates to help the local fisherman to win some games in order to raise money and save jobs.



The Bad News Bears
6.9

An aging, down-on-his-luck ex-minor leaguer coaches a team of misfits in an ultra-competitive California little league.



Back of the Net
6.7

A new student at a soccer academy is determined to beat her rival's team in the national tournament.



Unbeatable
6.9

Fai, once a world champion in boxing, escapes to Macau from the loan sharks and unexpectedly encounters Qi, a young chap who is determined to win a boxing match. Fai becomes Qi's mentor and rediscovers his passion to fight not only in the ring but for his life and the cares.



17 Again
17 Again(2009)
6.3

On the brink of a midlife crisis, 30-something Mike O'Donnell wishes he could have a "do-over." And that's exactly what he gets when he wakes up one morning to find he's 17 years old again. With his adult mind stuck inside the body of a teenager, Mike actually has the chance to reverse some decisions he wishes he'd never made. But maybe they weren't so bad after all.



The Natural
6.9

An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.



Shooting Stars
7.725

The inspiring origin story of a basketball superhero, revealing how LeBron James and his childhood friends become the #1 high school team in the country, launching James's breathtaking career as a four-time NBA Champion, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and the NBA's all-time leading scorer.



Step Up
Step Up(2006)
6.9

Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with an up and coming dancer, Nora.



Bleed for This
6.8

The inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza, who after a near fatal car crash, which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sports most incredible comebacks.



Heart of Champions
6.6

During their last year at an Ivy League college in 1999, a group of friends and crew teammates' lives are changed forever when an army vet takes over as coach of their dysfunctional rowing team.



The Forge
The Forge(2024)
8.283

19 year old Isaiah Wright lives for basketball and video games. A year out of high school, he has no job, no plans, and no idea how to be a man. At odds with his single mother Cynthia, Isaiah is given an ultimatum – to step up or move out. Feeling the pull from his friends and the push from his mom, Isaiah is hired by Moore Fitness, unaware of how the owner will personally impact his life. With the prayers of his mother and unexpected guidance from his new mentor, Isaiah is forced to deal with his past, sacrifice his selfishness and discover how God might have a greater purpose for his life.



Grown Ups
Grown Ups(2010)
6.401

After their high school basketball coach passes away, five good friends and former teammates reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend.



Soul
Soul(2020)
8.1

Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.



12 Mighty Orphans
7.2

Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.



Above the Rim
7

Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.



Q
Q(2014)
5.8

When growing up in a community where gang violence is a way of life and Basketball is a way to escape it.



Goodbye Mr. Loser
7.034

A middle-aged loser travels back in time to his high scool years to put his life on the right track.



Critical Thinking
6.569

Based on a true story from 1998, five Latino and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher.



The Air Up There
6.137

Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.



D2: The Mighty Ducks
6.187

After Gordon Bombay's hockey comeback is cut short he is named coach of Team USA Hockey for the Junior Goodwill Games. Bombay reunites the Mighty Ducks and introduces a few new players, however, he finds himself distracted by his newfound fame and must regather if the Ducks are to defeat tournament favourites Iceland.



Bruised
Bruised(2021)
6.8

Jackie Justice is a mixed martial arts fighter who leaves the sport in disgrace. Down on her luck and simmering with rage and regret years after the fight, she's coaxed into a brutal underground fight by her manager and boyfriend Desi and grabs the attention of a fight league promoter who promises Jackie a life back in the Octagon. But the road to redemption becomes unexpectedly personal when Manny - the son she gave up as an infant - shows up at her doorstep. A triumphant story of a fighter who reclaims her power, in and out of the ring, when everyone has counted her out



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.



Challengers
6.94

Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Major champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.



Max Dugan Returns
6.527

An English teacher and struggling single mother has her life disrupted when the father who abandoned her as a child comes back into her life.



Sparring
Sparring(2017)
5.884

Steve Landry, an aging boxer with more losses than wins, accepts to become a sparring partner for an emerging champion in a last-ditch attempt to stay relevant.



Take the Lead
6.9

A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.



Letters to God
6.863

A young boy fighting cancer writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact. An unsuspecting substitute postman, with a troubled life of his own, becomes entangled in the boy's journey and his family by reading the letters. They inspire him to seek a better life for himself and his own son he's lost through his alcohol addiction.



The Life Coach
5.4

Max Chêne is a life coach who helps to motivate everybody from professional athletes to government ministers to business executives. After his gambling debts get out of control and his wife throws him out, he is approached to take on a unique client.



Unbroken: Path to Redemption

Zamperini returns to California where he wound up marrying Cynthia Applewhite while wrestling with untreated PTSD, suffering constant nightmares, angry, bitter and deeply depressed, his wife convinces Zamperini to attend the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade.



Playing for Keeps
5.656

A former sports star who's fallen on hard times starts coaching his son's soccer team in an attempt to get his life together.



Journeyman
6.608

A boxer suffers a serious head injury during a fight, and must deal with the consequences.



Necessary Roughness
5.492

When the Texas State University Fightin' Armadillos football team is disqualified for cheating and poor grades, the University is forced to pick from a team that actually goes to school. Will they even win a single game?



The Samaritan
5.5

After twenty years in prison, Foley is finished with the grifter's life. When he meets an elusive young woman named Iris, the possibility of a new start looks real. But his past is proving to be a stubborn companion.



Never Back Down: No Surrender

Picking up after the events of Never Back Down 2, former MMA champion Case Walker is on the comeback trail to become champion once again.



Jersey
Jersey(2019)
8.195

After his career fails to take off, a gifted cricketer in his mid-thirties decides that he’s not ready to give up quite yet.



Unstoppable
5.122

With the unwavering love and support of his devoted mother Judy and the encouragement of his coaches, Anthony Robles fights through adversity to earn a spot on the Arizona State Wrestling team. But it will demand everything he has, physically and mentally, to achieve his ultimate quest to become an NCAA Champion.



The Lost Bus
7.135

A determined father risks everything to rescue a dedicated teacher and her students from a raging wildfire.

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