#3. Walking Across Egypt (1999)

Storyline: An elderly Southern widow, Mattie Rigsbee (Ellen Burstyn), begrudgingly starts to acknowledge that she can't live on her own. When Mattie becomes friends with the town dogcatcher, Lamar Benfield (Mark Hamill), she is also introduced to his orphaned nephew, Wesley (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). Although Wesley has been in trouble with the law and incarcerated for auto theft, Mattie sees potential in the boy and tries to point him in the right direction by allowing him to live with her.

Plot Keywords: elderly woman, teen boy, uncle, widow, delinquent, reverend, emotional ...

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#5. Trust (1990)

Storyline: High school dropout Maria Coughlin (Adrienne Shelly) is having a rough time of it on Long Island. Her father recently died of a heart attack, her boyfriend has left her and she's pregnant. To make matters even worse, her mother has now kicked her out of the house. But when electronics genius Matthew Slaughter (Martin Donovan) comes into her life, things start to brighten up for Maria. Sure, he's unemployed and a little unhinged, but together they just might have a chance.

Plot Keywords: young woman, pregnant woman, boyfriend, eccentric, unemployed person, mother, witty ...

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#6. Steel City (2006)

Storyline: As his brother (Clayne Crawford) muddles through a workaday job, and his father (John Heard) sits in a jail cell after a fatal drunk-driving crash, P.J. Lee (Thomas Guiry) works as a dishwasher in a Midwestern mill town. P.J. halfheartedly pursues a relationship with local girl Amy Barnes (America Ferrera) and temporarily bunks with his ex-Marine uncle, but family troubles weigh on him. Barely 20 but already worn down, P.J. might be the only person who can help his family heal.

Plot Keywords: young man, father, marine, daughter, mill worker, gritty, somber ...

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#7. The 400 Blows (1959)

Storyline: Seemingly in constant trouble at school, 14-year-old Antoine Doinel returns at the end of every day to a drab, unhappy home life. His parents have little money and he sleeps on a couch that's been pushed into the kitchen. His parents bicker constantly and he knows his mother is having an affair. He decides to skip school and begins a downward spiral of lies and theft. His parents are at their wits' end, and after he's stopped by the police, they decide the best thing would be to let Antoine face the consequences. He's sent to a juvenile detention facility where he doesn't do much better. He does manage to escape however.

Plot Keywords: son, mother, father, friend, teacher, bleak, disheartening ...

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#8. Shoeshine (1946)

Storyline: At a track near Rome, shoeshine boys are watching horses run. Two of them, the orphan Pasquale and his younger friend Giuseppe, are riding. The pair have been saving to buy their own horse. They meet Attilio, Giuse's much-older brother, and his shady friend at a boat on the Tiber. In return for a commission, the boys agree to deliver black-market goods to a fortuneteller. Once the woman has paid, Attilio's gang suddenly arrives, pretending to be cops, to shake the woman down. With a payoff from Attilio, the boys are able to make the final payment and stable their horse in Trastevere over the river. The fortuneteller identifies Pasqua and Giuse. Held at an overcrowded boys' prison, they are separated. Giuse falls under the influence of an older lad in his cell, Arcangeli. During interrogation, Pasqua is tricked into betraying Giuse's brother to the police. With their trial still in the future, the two friends are driven further apart.—David Carless

Plot Keywords: shoeshine boy, orphan, brother, con artist, police officer, bleak, emotional ...

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#9. Captains Courageous (1937)

Storyline: Harvey Cheyne is a spoiled brat used to having his own way. When a prank goes wrong onboard an ocean liner Harvey ends up overboard and nearly drowns. Fortunately he's picked up by a fishing boat just heading out for the season. He tries to bribe the crew into returning early to collect a reward but none of them believe him. Stranded on the boat he must adapt to the ways of the fishermen and learn more about the real world.—Col Needham <col@imdb.com>

Plot Keywords: young boy, father, fisherman, captain, friend, sailor, heartwarming ...

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#10. Up the Down Staircase (1967)

Storyline: On her first day at Calvin Coolidge High, fledgling teacher Sylvia Barrett (Sandy Dennis) encounters an apathetic faculty, a delinquent student body and an administration that drowns its staff in paperwork. The following days go from bad to worse as Sylvia struggles to reach her most troubled students, bright underachiever Joe and sensitive Alice. When Alice's crush on a male teacher (Patrick Bedford) leads her to attempt suicide, Sylvia questions her ability to help the disadvantaged teens.

Plot Keywords: teacher, student, teen boy, teen girl, principal, bleak, gritty ...

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#11. No Easy Way (1996)

Storyline: Matthew, a concert pianist played by Alan Boyce, has kept his HIV positive status secret and refuses help from family and doctors. On the night he loses his job playing mood music in a fancy hotel, Matthew meets a streetwise panhandler Diana and the pair become wary friends.—Matthew T. Corey <mcorey@mail.utexas.edu>

Plot Keywords: pianist, single mother, teenager, son, doctor, moving, emotional ...

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#12. Red River (1948)

Storyline: Fourteen years after starting his cattle ranch in Texas, Tom Dunston is finally ready to drive his 10,000 head of cattle to market. Back then Dunston, his sidekick Nadine Groot and a teen-aged boy, Matt Garth -who was the only survivor of an Indian attack on a wagon train - started off with only two head of cattle. The nearest market however is in Missouri, a 1000 miles away. Dunston is a hard task master demanding a great deal from the men who have signed up for the drive. Matt is a grown man now and fought in the Civil War. He has his own mind as well and he soon runs up against the stubborn Dunston who won't listen to advice from anyone. Soon, the men on the drive are taking sides and Matt ends up in charge with Dunston vowing to kill him.

Plot Keywords: rancher, cowboy, sidekick, cook, rousing, spirited, texas ...

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#13. Boyz n the Hood (1991)

Storyline: John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together 'in the 'hood.' Half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face. Ricky is the 'All-American' athlete, looking to win a football scholarship to USC and seeks salvation through sports, while 'Dough' succumbs to the violence, alcohol, and crime surrounding him in his environment, but maintains a strong sense of pride and code of honor. Between these two is their friend Tre, who is lucky to have a father, 'Furious' Styles, to teach him to have the strength of character to do what is right and to always take responsibility for his actions.

Plot Keywords: father, son, friend, gang member, drug dealer, mother, bleak ...

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#14. Gun Crazy (1950)

Storyline: Since he was a child, Bart Tare has always loved guns. After leaving the army, his friends take him to a carnival, where he meets the perfect girl; Annie, a sharp-shooting sideshow performer who loves guns as much as he. The 2 run off and marry, but Annie isn't happy with their financial situation, so at her behest the couple begins a cross-country string of daring robberies. Never one to use guns for killing, Bart's dragged down into oblivion by the greedy and violent nature of the woman he loves.

Plot Keywords: sharpshooter, pacifist, newlywed, reporter, sheriff, sister, cool ...

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#15. When I Grow Up (1951)

Storyline: "When I Grow Up" is an uncharacteristically modest film from producer Sam Spiegel (during his "S. P. Eagle" years). Bobby Driscoll plays a young boy who feels neglected and misunderstood at home. Preparing to run away, Bobby chances across an old diary once kept by his grandfather (Charley Grapewin). Leafing through the yellowed pages, Bobby discovers that grandpa went through many of the same childhood travails that Bobby is enduring at that moment--and look how well gramps turned out! Armed with a renewed understanding of (and appreciation for) his elders, Bobby decides to stick around for a while and see how things develop.—filmfactsman

Plot Keywords: teen boy, grandfather, father, mother, troubled youth, emotional, moving ...

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