20 best movies like Running on Empty (1988)

List of the best movies like Running on Empty (1988): Permanent Record, Marina, The Last Song, LelleBelle, ATL, Step Up All In, Nowhere Boy, American Heart, Dance with Me, A Marine Story.

Tags: movies similar to Running on Empty (1988) - full list

Markimdb: 6.3
Genremelodrama, drama, music
CountryUSA
Duration01:31

David Sinclair seems to have everything going for him: he's smart, musically talented, and very successful. To top off his senior year in high school, his band is trying to get a recording session. Therefore, David's suicide leaves everyone, especially his best friend and band-mate, Chris, with a lot of questions.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genremelodrama, drama, music, biography
CountryBelgium, Italy

The true story of Rocco Granata, an Italian coal miner's son who followed his passion for music against his father's wishes and social barriers.

Markimdb: 6
Genremelodrama, drama, music
CountryUSA
Duration01:47

    A drama centered on a rebellious girl who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father. Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect.

    Markimdb: 5.4
    Genremelodrama, drama, music
    CountryNetherlands

    19-year old Belle practices playing the violin diligently, but is unable to impart her music with a sensitive undertone. Her life changes when she discovers that sexual desire stimulates passion in her music.

    Markimdb: 6.1
    Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, crime, music
    CountryUSA

    As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.

    Markimdb: 6
    Genremelodrama, drama, crime, music
    CountryUSA, Canada
    Duration01:35

      All-stars from the previous Step Up installments come together in glittering Las Vegas, battling for a victory that could define their dreams and their careers.

      Markimdb: 7.1
      Genremelodrama, drama, music, biography
      CountryUnited Kingdom, Canada
      Duration01:38

      The drama tells the story of Lennon's teenage years and the start of his journey to becoming a successful musician. The story also examines the impact on his early life and personality of the two dominant females in his childhood

      Markimdb: 6.7
      Genremelodrama, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:53

      An ex-convict is tracked down by his estranged teenage son, and the pair try to build a relationship and life together in Seattle.

      Markimdb: 5.9
      Genremelodrama, drama, music
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:06

      Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't know he is Rafael's father. John runs a dance studio, and everyone prepares for the World Open Dance championship in Las Vegas. It soon becomes clear Rafael is a very good dancer, and Ruby is the biggest hope for the studio at the championship.

      Markimdb: 6
      Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime, military
      CountryUSA

      Marine officer Alexandra is tough enough to kick any guy's ass in a bar fight, but there's one opponent she can't beat: military policy. When she returns to her conservative hometown from Iraq with a mysterious personal life, she finds herself charged with preparing a tempestuous teenage girl to boot camp.

      Markimdb: 6.5
      Genremelodrama, drama, musical, crime, music
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:36

      After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.

      Markimdb: 6.8
      Genremelodrama, drama, crime, military
      CountryUSA, Poland
      Duration01:35

      A 12-year-old Jewish boy hides with a family of Catholic peasant farmers to escape the Nazis.

      Markimdb: 7.1
      Genremelodrama, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:34

      Duncan Mudge, mid-teens, lives apart from his rural world populated by his distant father and rough local kids. His main companionship is a chicken left after his mother's death until the neighbor's son befriends him.

      Markimdb: 5.9
      Genremelodrama, drama, music
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:55

      Jess Robin dreams of a career in popular music, but his father, Cantor Rabinovitch, forbids it, insisting Jess live as a traditional Jew and inherit his position at the synagogue. With the help of friend and professional musician Bubba, Jess gets a chance to go to Los Angeles and have famous singer Keith Lennox record one of his songs. Defying both his father and his wife, Jess leaves New York to pursue his dreams.

      Markimdb: 6.3
      Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:36

      Four young people navigate the suburban wonderland of metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last weekend of summer.

      Markimdb: 6.9
      Genredrama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:14

      Grand Canyon revolved around six residents from different backgrounds whose lives intertwine in modern-day Los Angeles. At the center of the film is the unlikely friendship of two men from different races and classes brought together when one finds himself in jeopardy in the other's rough neighborhood.

      Markimdb: 2.3
      Genremelodrama, drama, music
      CountryUSA

      A young woman is catapulted into pop stardom, with her already-famous DJ boyfriend calling the shots.

      Markimdb: 6.2
      Genredrama, crime, music
      CountryChina, Australia
      Duration01:37

      Dean Randall has sponsored a young Chinese orphan Mei Mei for many years, when she arrives in Sydney out of the blue to thank him, their lives are changed forever.

      Markimdb: 7.2
      Genremelodrama, drama
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:38

      A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while traveling across town to perform landscaping work for the city's wealthy landowners.

      Markimdb: 7.4
      Genremelodrama, drama, music, biography
      CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
      Duration02:01

      The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Beside all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved and the movie tries to find out who this beloved was. Not easy as Beethoven has had many women in his life.

      Markimdb: 6.7
      Genredrama, music
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:52

      The story of a close-knit group of young kids in Nazi Germany who listen to banned swing music from the US. Soon dancing and fun leads to more difficult choices as the Nazi's begin tightening the grip on Germany. Each member of the group is forced to face some tough choices about right, wrong, and survival.

      Markimdb: 5.2
      Genremelodrama, drama, music
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:29

      A new music teacher in a 1955 West Texas home for wayward boys brings new vision and hope for many of the interned boys.

      Markimdb: 7.2
      Genremelodrama, drama, music
      CountryUSA
      Duration01:52

      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. But can he leave behind an existence playing in the shadow of Tommy, the upstart kid he once mentored?

      Markimdb: 7.3
      Genredrama, music
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:23

      In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.

      Markimdb: 6.6
      Genredrama, crime, music
      CountryUnited Kingdom
      Duration01:57

      Six London school-leavers attempt to make it in the world, balancing the challenge of trying to make a name for themselves in the music industry against the pressures and tragedies of everyday life.

      Markimdb: 7
      Genremelodrama, drama
      CountryUSA, United Kingdom
      Duration01:43

      A romantic comedy centered on Dexter and Emma, who first meet during their graduation in 1988 and proceed to keep in touch regularly. The film follows what they do on July 15 annually, usually doing something together.

      Markimdb: 8.3
      Genremelodrama, drama, crime
      CountryTaiwan
      Duration03:57

      A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.

      Markimdb: 8
      Genremelodrama, drama, crime
      CountryUnited Kingdom, USA, India
      Duration02:00

        Jamal Malik is an impoverished Indian teen who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ but, after he wins, he is suspected of cheating.

        Markimdb: 6.7
        Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, musical, western, music
        CountryUSA

        A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren, and a host of others hold court

        Markimdb: 7
        Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, music
        CountryNorway

        A strong, human tale about a boy growing up with an alcoholic father, but also an energetic story about teenage lust, pain and passion – about liberation and redemption.

        Markimdb: 6.1
        Genremelodrama, drama, crime
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:56

        A teen drama set during the fall potato harvest in a small northern Maine town.

        Markimdb: 7.4
        Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:34

        In the fall of 1963, Eddie Birdlace is an 18-year-old Marine Corps volunteer who is about to ship out with three of his buddies for a tour of duty in Vietnam. Planning a massive blowout for their last night in San Francisco, Eddie, his buddies, and a number of other Marines set up a contest they call a "dogfight."

        Markimdb: 6.7
        Genremelodrama, drama
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:46

        Author Joel Garcia breaks his neck while hiking, and finds himself in a rehab center with Raymond, an exaggerating ladies man, and Bloss, a racist biker. Considerable tension builds as each character tries to deal with his new found handicap and the problems that go with it, especially Joel, whose lover Anna is having as difficult a time as he is.

        Markimdb: 7.4
        Genredrama, crime
        CountryUSA
        Duration02:11

        Two boys find a fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River and form a pact to help him reunite with his lover and escape.

        Markimdb: 7.3
        Genredrama, crime, music
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:56

        With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.

        Markimdb: 7.1
        Genremelodrama, drama, crime
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:34

        Rusty James, an absent-minded street thug, struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days when gang warfare was going on.

        Markimdb: 6.7
        Genredrama, musical, crime, music, history
        CountryUSA

        In 1950s Alabama, the owner of the Honeydripper juke joint finds his business dropping off and against his better judgment, hires a young electric guitarist in a last ditch effort to draw crowds during harvest time.

        Markimdb: 6.7
        Genremelodrama, drama, music
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:38

        Ram Bowen and Eddie Cook are two expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris where, unlike America at the time, Jazz musicians are celebrated and racism is a non-issue. When they meet and fall in love with two young American girls, Lillian and Connie, who are vacationing in France, Ram and Eddie must decide whether they should move back to America with them, or stay in Paris for the freedom it allows them. Ram, who wants to be a serious composer, finds Paris more exciting than America and is reluctant to give up his music for a relationship, and Eddie wants to stay for the city's more tolerant racial atmosphere.

        Markimdb: 6.4
        Genremelodrama, drama, military
        CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
        Duration02:08

        He had everything and wanted nothing. He learned that he had nothing and wanted everything. He saved the world and then it shattered. The path to enlightenment is as sharp and narrow as a razor's edge.

        Markimdb: 7
        Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, music
        CountryUSA
        Duration02:07

        Anti-Semitism, race relations, coming of age, and fathers and sons: in Baltimore from fall, 1954, to fall, 1955.

        Markimdb: 6.4
        Genremelodrama, drama, music, biography
        CountryFrance

        A re-imagined account of the early life of Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart, five years older than Wolfgang and a musical prodigy in her own right.

        Markimdb: 6.3
        Genrecomedy, drama, music
        CountryUnited Kingdom

        Teenage musicians travel to England's Spike Island in the hope of attending an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses.

        Markimdb: 6.8
        Genredrama, music
        CountryPoland

        Follows four friends in their quest to form a punk band. As workers protests sweep across the country, Janek and Staszek, the sons of a navy man, the rebellious Kazik, and the affluent Diabel gel as a band, but their disparate lives are touched by social turmoil and outside perceptions.

        Markimdb: 6.5
        Genredrama, musical
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:48

        The chance to shine in a singing competition offers much-needed hope for a Southern middle-schooler who's drowning in worries, from bullies in the halls to turmoil at home -- and the news that his reservist father has been called back to Afghanistan.

        Markimdb: 7.4
        Genrecomedy, melodrama, drama, music
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:41

          A long lost music producer finds a singer-songwriter right about the moment he has given up all hope on life.

          Markimdb: 7.1
          Genrethriller, drama, adventure, crime, detective
          CountryUnited Kingdom, Brazil, Germany
          Duration01:54

          Set in Brazil, three kids who make a discovery in a garbage dump soon find themselves running from the cops and trying to right a terrible wrong.

          Markimdb: 7.8
          Genremelodrama, drama, crime
          CountryUSA
          Duration02:01

          Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his neighborhood - for a beautiful black girl.

          Markimdb: 6.4
          Genremelodrama, drama
          CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
          Duration02:08

          Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster who wears an old wedding dress and lives in the dilapidated Satis House, asks Pip's "Uncle Pumblechook" (who is actually Joe's uncle) to find a boy to play with her adopted daughter Estella. Pip begins to visit Miss Havisham and Estella, with whom he falls in love,then Pip a humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.

          Markimdb: 6
          Genredrama, music, biography
          CountryUSA

          The daughter of jazz pianist Joe Albany witnesses her beloved father's struggle -- and failure -- to kick his heroin habit.

          Markimdb: 5.8
          Genremelodrama, drama, biography
          CountryUSA
          Duration01:36

          Tod Lubitch is born with a deficient immune system. As such, he must spend the rest of his life in a completely sterile environment. His room is completely hermetically sealed against bacteria and virus, his food is specially prepared, and his only human contact comes in the form of gloved hands. The movie follows his life into a teenager.




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