Imitation of Life (1959), Muriel's Wedding (1994), English Vinglish (2012), On Golden Pond (1981), Passion Fish (1992), Three O'Clock High (1987), The Entertainer (1960), Good Hair (2009) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Self-esteem movies.
Storyline: Aspiring actress Lora Meredith meets Annie Johnson, a homeless black woman at Coney Island and soon they share a tiny apartment. Each woman has an intolerable daughter, though, Annie's little girl Sarah Jane, is by far the worse. Neurotic and obnoxious, Sarah Jane doesn't like being black; since she's light-skinned (her father was practically white), she spends the rest of the film passing as white, much to her mother's heartache and shame. Lora, meanwhile, virtually ignores her own daughter in a single-minded quest for stardom.
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, family, race, identity, mother-daughter relationship, social class ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Socially awkward Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) wants nothing more than to get married. Unfortunately, due to her oppressive politician father (Bill Hunter), Muriel has never even been on a date. Ostracized by her more socially adept friends, Muriel runs into fellow outcast Rhonda Epinstalk (Rachel Griffiths), and the two move from their small Australian town to the big city of Sydney, where Muriel changes her name and begins the arduous task of redesigning her life to match her fantasies.
Plot Keywords: comedy, coming of age, australian film, female protagonist, family relationships, self-discovery, friendship ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The story of a quiet, sweet tempered housewife who endures small slights from her well educated husband and daughter everyday because of her inability to speak and understand English. She is resourceful and open-minded but somehow these traits don't get noticed by them. Then one day on a trip to visit her sister in Manhattan she decides to enroll in an English Learners class and meets a host of new people who teach her to value herself beyond the narrow perspective of her family.
Plot Keywords: comedy, drama, family, female protagonist, indian cinema, cultural clash, self-discovery ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The loons are back again on Golden Pond and so are Norman Thayer, a retired professor, and Ethel who have had a summer cottage there since early in their marriage. This summer their daughter Chelsea -- whom they haven't seen for years -- feels she must be there for Norman's birthday. She and her fiance are on their way to Europe the next day but will be back in a couple of weeks to pick up the fiance's son. When she returns Chelsea is married and her stepson has the relationship with her father that she always wanted. Will father and daughter be able to communicate at last?
Plot Keywords: family, aging, generation gap, reconciliation, father-daughter relationship, marriage, retirement ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: May-Alice Culhane was a successful soap opera star, but a car accident has left her bound to a wheelchair. She returns to her now-empty family home in the bayous of Louisiana which she had eagerly left years before. She drinks heavily and vents her bitterness on the succession of nurses who are hired to take care of her and immediately quit because she is so unbearable. Chantelle is the latest of these nurses, and May-Alice is told that Chantelle is the last nurse she'll get. Chantelle for reasons of her own, is also in a position where she badly needs the job to work out. The movie focuses on how these two women become friends and help each other heal emotionally.—Reid Gagle
Plot Keywords: drama, women, independent film, family, recovery, friendship, louisiana ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The nerd Jerry Mitchell is responsible for the student store at the Weaver High-School. When the troublemaker delinquent Buddy Revell is transferred from a continuation high-school, one teacher assigns Jerry to write an article about the notorious Buddy Revell to the school newspaper. Jerry stumbles upon Buddy in the bathroom and touches the shoulder of the bad boy that schedules a fight with Jerry at three o'clock at the parking lot. Along the day, Jerry tries to find a means to avoid the fight.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Plot Keywords: comedy, high school, bullying, confrontation, 1980s, teenagers, fear ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: On the far side of middle age, Archie Rice (Sir Laurence Olivier) lives in a British seaside resort with his father, retired successful vaudevillian Billy Rice (Roger Livesey), second wife Phoebe Rice (Brenda de Banzie), and doting son Frank Rice (Sir Alan Bates). Following in retired Billy's footsteps, Archie is a song-and-dance music hall headliner, with Frank supporting his dad as his shows' stage manager. The waning popularity of Archie's type of shows, a dying form of entertainment, is not helped by Archie's stale second rate material, which brings in small unappreciative crowds. Archie clings to his long-held lifestyle, including heavy drinking and chronic infidelity, of which Phoebe is aware. What Archie has not told his offspring is that Phoebe was his mistress while he was still married to their now deceased mother. His want to be a music hall headliner is despite his financial problems, he an undischarged bankrupt who now signs Phoebe's name to everything. Phoebe wants them to escape this life to something more stable, such as the offer from her relations to manage a hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, while Archie, always one step ahead of his creditors for his current show, wants to mount another for the winter season. Long-suffering Phoebe often drowns her sorrows with booze. One person in their immediate family who has somewhat escaped their life is Archie's daughter, Jean Rice (Dame Joan Plowright), an art school teacher in London, she who is still trying to find her place in the world. Her pre-engagement boyfriend Graham (Daniel Massey) wants her to move to Africa with him for a job, which she is reluctant to do if only because of not yet being ready to leave her dysfunctional family behind, they who she still feels to need to watch over. Unlike Archie, Jean is more concerned about the fact that her brother Mick Rice (Albert Finney) has just been shipped overseas to fight in the Suez Crisis. Archie's steps in his determination to mount that new show, seemingly at any cost, may break the family apart once and for all.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: drama, british, laurence olivier, play adaptation, realism, family, show business ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Chris Rock, a man with two daughters, asks about good hair, as defined by Black Americans, mostly Black women. He visits Bronner Brothers' annual hair convention in Atlanta. He tells us about sodium hydroxide, a toxin used to relax hair. He looks at weaves, and he travels to India where tonsure ceremonies produce much of the hair sold in America. A weave is expensive: he asks who makes the money. We visit salons and barbershops, central to the Black community. Rock asks men if they can touch their mates' hair - no, it's decoration. Various talking heads (many of them women with good hair) comment. It's about self image. Maya Angelou and Tracie Thoms provide perspective.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: documentary, comedy, african american, culture, beauty, identity, society ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the small town of South Renford, Alice Adams comes from a working class background, although she aspires to be among the upper class. Alice's mother blames her husband for their low social standing, despite his working hard and Alice not blaming him for anything. Regardless, Alice tries to do whatever necessary to put on appearances of wealth and social standing, despite everyone in that class in town knowing who she is, and thus largely ignoring her because of her false airs. First meeting at a society ball, Alice surprisingly catches the eye of Arthur Russell, surprisingly as he purportedly is engaged to débutante Mildred Palmer. As Alice continues to hide her true social standing from Arthur as he courts her, Mrs. Adams pressures Mr. Adams into doing something he doesn't want to do in an effort truly to become part of the business class, that measure which entails sinking all his money into a business venture. Beyond the time when Arthur finds out the true nature behind Alice's facade, other issues may bring the fragile Adams society house of cards tumbling down around them, and thus the happiness Alice is seeking with Arthur.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, comedy, social class, family, coming of age, female protagonist ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Manager Michele lost his job but didn't tell his wife Eve, who was completing her art history PhD. Michele ponders whether to accept quickly a less lucrative job or hope for a better one. He opts to look for a higher paying job, in an attempt to retain their upper-middle class status and lifestyle, but is disappointed time and time again. Eventually, they are forced to sell their home and rent an apartment in a working class neighborhood. Meanwhile, she is forced to take two part-time jobs, and stop her volunteer work restoring a fresco. As the reality of their new working-class status emerges, they struggle to hold onto their sense of selves and their relationship.—EA Bianco
Plot Keywords: drama, family, marriage, unemployment, midlife crisis, italian cinema, emotional conflict ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: An overweight freshman (Charlie Talbert) who pines for a pretty cheerleader is the target of a high-school quarterback's cruel prank.
Plot Keywords: high school life, bullying, self-acceptance, first love, family dynamics, single parent family, friendship ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The Marks family is a tightly-knit quartet of women. Jane is the affluent matriarch whose 3 daughters seem to have nothing in common except for a peculiar sort of idealism. Setting the tone of vanity and insecurity, Jane is undergoing cosmetic surgery to alter her figure, but serious complications put her health in real danger. Former homecoming queen Michelle, the eldest daughter, has one daughter of her own and an alienated, unsupportive husband. Elizabeth, the middle sister, has an acting career that is beginning to take off, but is timid and insecure, and habitually relieves her trepidation by taking in stray dogs. Only the youngest sister, Annie, an adopted African American 8-year-old, stands a chance of avoiding the family legacy of anxious self-absorption. If only her intelligence and curiosity will see her through what promises to be a confusing adolescence. Each of the women seeks redemption in her own haphazard way.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: family, women, self-esteem, mother-daughter relationship, coming of age, comedy, drama ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When the GTX Corporation must cut jobs to improve the company's balance sheet during the 2010 recession, thousands of employees will take the hit, like Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck). Bobby learns the real life consequences of not having a job. Not only does he see a change to his family lifestyle, and the loss of his home, but also his feelings of self-worth.
Plot Keywords: drama, workplace, unemployment, financial crisis, midlife crisis, family pressure, american dream ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her many imperfections. As a New Year's Resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones. Thrown into the mix are Bridget's band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance who Bridget cannot seem to stop running into or help finding quietly attractive.
Plot Keywords: romance, comedy, romantic comedy, british film, novel adaptation, female protagonist, urban life ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: James Francis "Ginger" Coffey has no luck finding a job in his native Ireland and him being a dreamer, he decides the place to find a job is Canada. He moves his wife, Vera, and 14-year old daughter, Paulie, to Montreal in hopes of a better life. After six months nothing has changed and his family despise their new surroundings. The Coffey's do have one thing in their favor: a rich friend named Tom who lands Ginger a job at a Newspaper. It's a dream come true for Ginger who always fancied himself a journalist and he waltzes in expecting a reporting gig and a by-line on his first day. The blow to his pride is almost too much for him when he discovers the job is as a proofreader but he accepts it begrudgingly. The job does not pay enough and Ginger is forced to take a second job as a delivery man for a diaper-laundering service. Just when things are going well, Ginger's pigheadedness and unfounded self-importance cause him to make poor choices and his life begins to spiral downward again.—pr1mal_1
Plot Keywords: drama, comedy, family, unemployment, midlife crisis, dreams, failure ...
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