Movies Like Hope Floats (1998)

Hope Floats is a 1998 comedy, drama, romance film from Forest Whitaker with a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Collateral Beauty and A Mighty Heart.

Comedy Drama Romance

Collateral Beauty

2016

Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.

7.2

MagicScore

A Mighty Heart

2007

Based on Mariane Pearl's account of the terrifying and unforgettable story of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl's life and death.

6.4

MagicScore

The Tree of Life

2011

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

6.7

MagicScore

Elizabethtown

2005

Drew Baylor is fired after causing his shoe company to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. To make matters worse, he's also dumped by his girlfriend. On the verge of ending it all, Drew gets a new lease on life when he returns to his family's small Kentucky hometown after his father dies. Along the way, he meets a flight attendant with whom he falls in love.

6.2

MagicScore

Kolya

1996

After a fictitious marriage with a Russian emigrant, Cellisten Louka, a Czech man, must suddenly take responsibility for her son. However, it’s not long before the communication barrier is broken between the two new family members.

7.3

MagicScore

Once Were Warriors

1994

A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.

7.4

MagicScore

First Reformed

2018

A pastor of a small church in upstate New York starts to spiral out of control after a soul-shaking encounter with an unstable environmental activist and his pregnant wife.

7.0

MagicScore

Without Family

2000

Young Remi, a foundling, lives on the farm run by his impoverished foster parents. When their money runs out, unbeknown to his foster-mother, Rémi is sold by his hard-hearted foster father to an old street performer named Vitalis. Vitalis was once a famous opera singer, but became destitute after a tragic love affair.

6.8

MagicScore

Manchester by the Sea

2016

After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.

7.5

MagicScore

#10

Stay Cool

2011

A successful author is forced to confront an unrequited high school crush when he returns home to deliver a commencement address to graduating seniors. Shasta O'Neil, a sexy high school senior flirts with the visiting author and invites him to the prom.

4.9

MagicScore

#11

Umberto D.

1952

When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.

7.9

MagicScore

#12

Waves

2019

A controlling father’s attempts to ensure that his two children succeed in high school backfire after his son experiences a career-ending sports injury. Their familial bonds are eventually placed under severe strain by an unexpected tragedy.

7.4

MagicScore

#13

Suncoast

2024

While caring for her brother along with her audacious mother, a teenager strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric activist who is protesting one of the most landmark medical cases of all time.

6.7

MagicScore

#14

Giant

1956

Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.

7.6

MagicScore

#15

Donnie Darko

2001

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

7.8

MagicScore

#16

Steptoe & Son Ride Again

1973

Albert Steptoe and his son Harold are rag-and-bone men, complete with horse and cart to tour the neighbourhood. They also live amicably together at the junk yard. Always on the lookout for ways to improve his lot, Harold invests his father's life savings in a greyhound who is almost blind and can't see the hare. When the dog loses a race and Harold has to pay off the debt, he comes up with another bright idea. Collect his father's life insurance. To do this his father must pretend to be dead.

6.8

MagicScore

#17

Make-Out with Violence

2008

A genre-bending tale of a boy trying to fulfill his unrequited love for a girl who has risen from the dead. It tells the story of twin brothers Patrick and Carol Darling, newly graduated from high school and struggling to come to terms with the mysterious disappearance of their friend, the bright and beautiful Wendy Hearst. When a drive through the countryside surrounding their suburban community leads to the discovery of Wendy's mysteriously animated corpse, the boys secretly transport the un-dead Wendy to an empty house in hopes of somehow bringing her back to life. As the sweltering summer pushes on, they must maintain the appearance of normalcy for their friends and family as they search for ways to revive the Wendy they once knew, or, failing that, to satisfy their own quests for love amongst the living and the dead.

4.4

MagicScore

#18

We Are What We Are

2013

The Parkers, reclusive people who cling to ancient customs, find their secret lives threatened when a torrential downpour and the death of the family matriarch forces daughters Iris and Rose to assume special responsibilities.

5.8

MagicScore

#19

Dazed and Confused

1993

The adventures of a group of Texas teens on their last day of school in 1976, centering on student Randall Floyd, who moves easily among stoners, jocks and geeks. Floyd is a star athlete, but he also likes smoking weed, which presents a conundrum when his football coach demands he sign a "no drugs" pledge.

7.3

MagicScore

#20

Hurricane Bianca

2016

A teacher from New York moves to a small town in Texas, gets fired for being gay, and returns disguised in drag to get revenge on the people who were nasty to him.

6.1

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Hope Floats?

The top films similar to Hope Floats by MovieMagicScore are Collateral Beauty (7.2), A Mighty Heart (6.4), The Tree of Life (6.7). Each shares comedy/drama/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Hope Floats worth watching?

Hope Floats holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10 from 485 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Hope Floats?

Hope Floats (1998) is a comedy, drama, romance film directed by Forest Whitaker, starring Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr., Gena Rowlands.

Where can I find more recommendations like Hope Floats?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more comedy recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Collateral Beauty Movies like A Mighty Heart Movies like The Tree of Life Movies like Elizabethtown Movies like Kolya Movies like Once Were Warriors

About movies like Hope Floats

This ranked list pairs Hope Floats (1998), a comedy and drama and romance film from Forest Whitaker, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Sandra Bullock take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

← Back to Hope Floats