Movies Like Palookas

If you liked Palookas (2018), a movie directed by Prado Mukherji, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Smoke (1995)
★ 7.2/10
Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid Cole saves his life, and soon middle-aged Paul tells homeless Rashid that he wouldn't mind a short-term housemate…
2
Adaptation. (2002)
★ 7.3/10
Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to…
3
Take the Money and Run (1969)
★ 7.1/10
Virgil Starkwell is intent on becoming a notorious bank robber. Unfortunately for Virgil and his not-so-budding career, he is completely incompetent.
4
Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
★ 6.2/10
After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty…
5
The Outsiders (1983)
★ 7.2/10
In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs. When a deadly encounter forces two Greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny, to flee, their struggle for survival…
6
Palookaville (1996)
★ 5.9/10
Jerry and his two pals, Russ and Syd, are just looking for some easy money to help them break out of their nowhere lives in their nowhere town. Despite a bungled jewelry store heist which exposes their incompetence as…
7
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)
★ 6.6/10
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation.
8
Love Me Love Me (2026)
★ 6.1/10
After her brother's death, June moves to Milan for a fresh start, finding comfort in Will, the perfect honor student at her new international school. But when his troubled best friend James—hiding a dangerous life in…
9
If I Stay (2014)
★ 7.3/10
Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow her heart to be with the love of her…
10
Raising Arizona (1987)
★ 7.1/10
When a childless couple—an ex-con and an ex-cop—take one of a wealthy family’s quintuplets to raise as their own, their lives grow more complicated than anticipated.
11
Less Than Zero (1987)
★ 6.4/10
A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for Christmas at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.
12
Play Dirty (2025)
★ 6.6/10
Expert thief Parker gets a shot at a major heist, but to pull it off he and his team must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world's richest man.
13
A Street Cat Named Bob (2016)
★ 7.9/10
James Bowen, a homeless busker and recovering drug addict, has his life transformed when he meets a stray ginger cat.
14
The Town (2010)
★ 7.2/10
A proficient group of thieves rob a bank and hold the manager hostage. Things begin to get complicated when one of the crew members falls in love with her.
15
The Art of the Steal (2013)
★ 6.2/10
Crunch Calhoun, a third-rate motorcycle daredevil and part-time art thief, teams up with his snaky brother to steal one of the most valuable books in the world. But it's not just about the book for Crunch — he's keen…
16
Reversal of Fortune (1990)
★ 6.7/10
Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
17
Nothing to Lose (1997)
★ 6.6/10
Advertising executive Nick Beame learns that his wife is sleeping with his employer. In a state of despair, he encounters a bumbling thief whose attempted carjacking goes awry when Nick takes him on an involuntary…
18
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
★ 7.6/10
Set in the changing world of the late 1960s, Susanna Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's Wonderland, where she struggles with the…
19
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
★ 6.7/10
An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.
20
Bottle Rocket (1996)
★ 6.7/10
Upon his release from a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, the directionless Anthony joins his friend Dignan, who seems far less sane than the former. Dignan has hatched a harebrained scheme for an…