Happens every time. Flipping channels on Sunday, Rudy‘s on, and it’s the final game. Obviously, I put down the clicker and prepare to hold back the tears, but it never works. I don’t know what it is about that flick, but every single time I watch I’m transformed into an eight-year-old schoolgirl by the time he’s carried off the field. So in honor of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, I present clips from nine films that make me—and many other guys I know—well up just a little. It’s my first official “TMI” mental_floss post.
[Note: Some spoilers ahead, so if you've never seen Brian's Song, Hoosiers, Ordinary People, Saving Private Ryan, Dead Poets Society, Glory, Scent of a Woman, Field of Dreams or Rudy, you might want to skip over those clips.]
1. Brian’s Song
Anyone remember this made for TV movie? The Scene: When Billy Dee says it should be Brian Piccolo accepting the Halas Award instead of him.
2. Hoosiers
The two best moments: When the team manager, Ollie, makes both free throws in the regionals, and when Jimmy Chitwood sinks the shot that wins the finals. (Any scene where Dennis Hopper jumps wildly on his bed is a classic.)
3. Ordinary People
You probably weren’t expecting this, but Ordinary People is one of my favorite films of all time, and the final scene always gets me.
4. Saving Private Ryan
My favorite scene in the movie is the Captain Miller monologue after Wade dies (“I’m a school teacher…”.), but the line at the end of the final battle (5:33) is the saddest part, IMHO.
(P.S. Maybe someone can answer a question I’ve always had. Is the German soldier who knifed Pvt. Mellish the same one who Upham didn’t want to kill earlier?)
5. Dead Poets Society
“Oh Captain My Captain.” The look of terror in the kids’ eyes, trying to get up the guts to stand on the desk. Love that scene.
6. Glory
“Give ‘em hell, 54th!” The Scene: The march before the final battle.
7. Scent of a Woman
One of my favorite monologues AND tearjerker moments of all time. When Pacino and Chris O’Donnell walk out of the room (7:15), that’s when I get a little misty. It’s the same effect as when Jamaal and Sean Connery walk out of the classroom in Finding Forrester.
8. Field of Dreams
Do I need to explain? “Hey dad…wanna have a catch?” Classic.
9. Rudy
And of course, the winner. Rudy is a multiple-crying-moment flick. When his best friend dies, when he gets the Notre Dame acceptance letter, when every player puts their jersey on the coach’s desk, the team running a different play to get the defense back in, the sack, and getting carried off the field. “Who’s the wild man now!”
* * * * *
Your turn. What movies always make you cry?
Comments (220)
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Brian Song was remade a couple of years ago with a very different version. When it aired, I was working with Brian’s daughter and she had a lot of renewed media interest in her life.
posted by Steven on 10-12-2009 at 2:58 pm
The one that always gets me is Whale Rider. When Paikea is giving the speech at the school, it’s impossible to not start crying. Such a well done scene and such a good young actress. I generally then proceed to cry through the rest of the movie. But I love it all the same.
posted by Moth on 10-12-2009 at 3:02 pm
For me, the end of “The Color Purple” is the ultimate tear-jerker, when Nettie comes home and she runs through the field of wildflowers to reunite with her sister.
posted by Ranger J on 10-12-2009 at 3:05 pm
I don’t believe that was the same German soldier. The one Upham “saved” was also the one he shot in cold blood, however.
posted by Jason on 10-12-2009 at 3:11 pm
Homeward Bound isn’t on this list? That golden retriever gets me at the end EVERY TIME!
posted by Steven on 10-12-2009 at 3:13 pm
Mr. Holland’s Opus, Remember the Titans, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, and Schindler’s List.
posted by Kate on 10-12-2009 at 3:14 pm
Mario,
I believe that in “Saving Private Ryan” that the German soldier that Private Upham does not want shot when they take the machine-gun nest at the radar installation is the same one who is shooting at Captain Miller around 2:00 into the clip you posted. The German soldier that stabs Private Mellish is a different one entirely.
posted by Ryan on 10-12-2009 at 3:14 pm
Thanks, Kate – Mr. Holland’s Opus for me, too!
posted by Roger on 10-12-2009 at 3:16 pm
The end of “Big Fish” gets me every single time.
posted by Kyle on 10-12-2009 at 3:17 pm
Oh my God, the scene in “Flick” with adam sandler at the end when he’s laying on the concrete in the rain and he’s realized he’s wasted his life and he’s like, “family first, family first”. Frickin waterworks every single time. Geez!!!
oh yeah and in the Patriot, when his youngest daughter doesn’t talk, and won’t talk to him and Mel Gibson is just like, “just give me a word just one word” and she rejects him.
Then he starts riding away and she goes, “poppa…” and she starts hugging him and saying “i’ll say anything you want, just please don’t go, i’ll say anything you want…” oh my god. wow. tearjerker. Man i’m a wuss.
posted by xanderjones on 10-12-2009 at 3:18 pm
Brian’s Song and Old Yeller: I’ll cry for a whole week.
posted by Hurricane on 10-12-2009 at 3:20 pm
“8 Seconds” – the movie about Lane Frost. Many things that movie were not true (Lane and his wife never cheated on each other; Lane and his father were VERY close, not like in the film), but the end is very emotional.
When Tuff Hedeman stays on that bull for what seems like an eternity (it was an additional 8 seconds, in honor of Lane), I burst into tears like a little baby. It’s especially emotional because that did happen.
posted by Jeff on 10-12-2009 at 3:22 pm
Oh, and Backdraft.
posted by Jeff on 10-12-2009 at 3:23 pm
The Color Purple
It’s a Wonderful Life – particularly, “to my big brother, George, the richest man in town!”
& when Beast dies in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast!
posted by vegebrarian on 10-12-2009 at 3:25 pm
“Steel Magnolias.” The scene in the cemetary after Shelby’s funeral when Sally Fields starts screaming, insisting she’s fine. “I’m fine! I can run to Texas and back! But my daughter can’t!”
I’m actually crying as I’m typing this. Good Lord.
posted by Chelsea on 10-12-2009 at 3:25 pm
My choices are far more girly, but these are ones that no matter how many times I’ve seen them, the tears come.
- Love Actually (I cry from start to finish, for both sad and happy reasons)
- Eternal Sunshine
- My Girl (esp. during the “He can’t see without his glasses!” part, which is so utterly cheesy but oh well)
- Gone with the Wind (You always know it’s coming, and still sort of wish it would change.)
posted by Katie on 10-12-2009 at 3:26 pm
“Finding Neverland” always reduces me to a blubbering mess.
posted by Nora on 10-12-2009 at 3:27 pm
Saving Private Ryan always gets me at the end when the old Ryan asks his wife to tell him he’s a good man.
Waterworks, baby.
I also always cry at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life. Just call me an old softy.
posted by Pithecanthropus on 10-12-2009 at 3:27 pm
The Bucket List…when Jack Nicholson is giving the eulogy at Morgan Freeman’s funeral.
posted by Billy Bob on 10-12-2009 at 3:28 pm
Big Fish
Braveheart
Ladder 49
posted by Witty Nickname on 10-12-2009 at 3:29 pm
Color Purple FTW!
posted by Kai on 10-12-2009 at 3:30 pm
I am not a girl who likes “chick flicks”. I do not like Rom-Com’s. I go for action and war type movies. I was forced into seeing Titanic and did not shead a tear, I have only ever teared up at a small group of movies. But, the one T.V. show that makes me cry like a little baby is “Adoption Stories” on DHC. I am adopted as is my baby sister and I just can not stop crying during that cheesy 30-min show!
posted by megan on 10-12-2009 at 3:31 pm
That whole ‘O Captain, My Captain!’ scene takes me back to my Sophomore yr of college when the Campus Activities Board was showing it not long after its theatrical release.
Several hrs later, after the viewing, I heard noises outside my third floor dorm and it was roomie and a few friends saluting me, the English major amongst us, with ‘O Captain, My Captain!’
I answered with ‘Give me a barbaric yawp!’ before receiving more than a few choice words from other residents.
Memories!
posted by Amy on 10-12-2009 at 3:39 pm
Oh, let’s see here…
Step-Mom
The Notebook (cheesy, but true, and always at the end of the movie!)
Finding Nemo (“it’s ok Nemo, daddy’s here…” ugh, tear-jerker moment!)
My Girl
Marley and Me
posted by KatieJ on 10-12-2009 at 3:47 pm
I concur with many on these lists.
“The Color Purple” – One scene that always gets the waterworks going when Celie and Nettie reunite.
“The Lion King” – No child should ever see their father get trampled and die.
“Little Women” – Okay, the book is better, but when Beth dies I can’t help getting a bit misty-eyed.
“The Joy Luck Club” – The book is, again, better, but the scene when Jing-Mei asks her mother why she doesn’t love her and the mother gives her all the reasons why she does . . . I cry through the rest of the movie.
posted by tambalina on 10-12-2009 at 3:54 pm
i totally agree on “the color purple” and “finding neverland”. i would also add one of my favorite blubbering moments, the ending scene from “the shawshank redemption”. that one gets me every time.
posted by Nathan on 10-12-2009 at 3:54 pm
If you do not cry at the end of Braveheart, your tear ducts obviously don’t work.
He’s laying there getting his guts ripped out, looks over the crowd, sees his friends, and then the spirit of his dead wife coming to get him… Then of course the epic cry of “FREEEEEEDDDOOOOMM!!!”
I get choked up just thinking about it. So beautiful.
posted by Josiah on 10-12-2009 at 3:58 pm
Oh, man, tambalina, I hear you on “Little Women.” I know exactly what happens and I still bawl every single time.
The majority of “chick flicks” are not actually very well made and not worth our tears, but the ones that are? Oh man.
“Shadowlands” – geez.
and Emma Thompson’s version of “Wit” – the scene where she reads her The Runaway Bunny. Oh man!
posted by Anneke on 10-12-2009 at 4:04 pm
Serenity when Walsh dies… always does it for me.
posted by Bryan on 10-12-2009 at 4:05 pm
dunno why but “The Green Mile” made me cry like a little girl….also if anyone has seen “UP” that damn disney movie also brought me to tears
posted by Dre on 10-12-2009 at 4:11 pm
The montage scene at the end of Cinema Paradiso always makes my eyes a little sweaty.
posted by Nick on 10-12-2009 at 4:11 pm
Every time I watch “A Walk to Remember”, I start crying. I love that movie! I also cried at “Bridge to Terabithia”.
Once in a while I cry at the “Phantom of the Opera”. It’s not really a sad movie, but I can’t help it! I feel so bad for the phantom. No one loves him =(
And “Odd Girl Out” made me cry once, when she tried to kill herself. Horrible nasty girls!
posted by Carli on 10-12-2009 at 4:11 pm
Man on Fire. The exchange between Pita & Creasy:
Pita: “I love you, Creasy. And you love me too, don’t you?”
Creasy: “Yes, I do. With all my heart, Pita. Go.”
posted by Rico on 10-12-2009 at 4:14 pm
Oh! I forgot one. “The Passion of the Christ” made me cry. I wish I could’ve yelled at the Roman soldiers. “No!!! Stop hitting him!”
posted by Carli on 10-12-2009 at 4:14 pm
@billy bob….thanx for giving that movie away, no need for me to see it now, what a shocker, the black man dies
posted by Dre on 10-12-2009 at 4:16 pm
Seriously, no Shawshank Redemption?
“Red: [narrating] I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone. I guess I just miss my friend.”
Damn, I’m getting worked up just thinking about that scene. I need to go watch it again tonight.
posted by Drew Lanning on 10-12-2009 at 4:17 pm
I always cry at the end scene of “An Affair to Remember”. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr played it brilliantly.
The bollywood film “Kal Ho Naa Ho” can reduce me to tears in a matter of seconds.
posted by Kristine on 10-12-2009 at 4:22 pm
The ending of Requiem for a Dream doesn’t make me cry, but I still think it’s one of the saddest movie endings EVER.
posted by Izam on 10-12-2009 at 4:24 pm
Sam’s speech at the end of the Two Towers always gets me crying.
posted by Rachel on 10-12-2009 at 4:30 pm
@Dre
No, actually they both die. Black and white. Freeman & Nicholson. Great movie.
posted by Nerak on 10-12-2009 at 4:30 pm
Many of those above, will add:
My Dog Skip
In the Name of the Father
Return of the King
posted by airy on 10-12-2009 at 4:30 pm
I’ll agree on Rudy. It’s ok for a man to cry at Rudy.
posted by Dave on 10-12-2009 at 4:35 pm
No one for Beaches yet?
posted by Jane on 10-12-2009 at 4:39 pm
Field of Dreams. Easily #1 for me.
posted by Paul on 10-12-2009 at 4:40 pm
Old Yeller always does it to me
posted by Frog on 10-12-2009 at 4:42 pm
There are so many that make me cry.
I agree with pretty much all those listed. Schindler’s List, Shawshank, Green Mile, Color Purple, Braveheart, Big Fish, Mr. Holland, Forrest Gump.
I have to add: Philadelphia, The English Patient, Edward Scissorhands, Beaches, Legends of the Fall, Last of the Mohicans. (Probably a lot more that I can’t think of.)
And, Chelsea, that scene gets me too.
The scores alone can make me misty eyed eg: Schidler’s List theme by Itzhak Perlman.
One that really got to me recently was the ending of “Marley and Me”. I knew that it was coming but could not help bawling. I’ve lost some special dogs, and it brought everything back.
posted by Nerak on 10-12-2009 at 4:47 pm
The very last shot of the Shawshank Redemption always does it for me… no matter how many times I’ve seen it. The camera pulls back, and you see Red and Andy heading towards one another.. and I start blubbering like a baby.
I’m also with Mario on Field of Dreams.. that and a League of Their Own… both baseball movies.. but I always start to tear up at the end of both too.
posted by Mindy on 10-12-2009 at 4:47 pm
I have to agree with your movie selection, two movies that caught me completely off guard were Saving Private Ryan and Forest Gump. They were both films where I just cried at the very end. With Saving Private Ryan, I lost it when he told him to “Earn it”, he morphed into a man who look just like my grand-dad and I couldn’t leave the theater. In Forest Gump where Forest describes to Jenny all of the wonderful moments during his life that he had seen, she says she wished she could have been there with him, and he responds by saying “you were”. It just gets me.
posted by Don on 10-12-2009 at 4:52 pm
I’ll add “What Dreams May Come”. I’d go to Hell to get my wife back without thinking twice about it, and the thought of that kind of love turns on the tears.
Also, I’m with Pithecanthropus on Saving Private Ryan. The very end is the ‘teariest’ part of that movie.
posted by TXCherokee on 10-12-2009 at 4:54 pm
No one has listed Armageddon yet? Very much a tearjerker for summer blockbuster type of thing. In quite a few places, inc pretty much every scene involving Chick and his son.
posted by Bran on 10-12-2009 at 4:54 pm
The scene near the end of \She’s having a baby\ where they take the wife away for an emergency c-section, and the husband is sitting off by himself in a pool of light always makes me cry.
And I agree with the mention of Step-mom.
posted by Lisa on 10-12-2009 at 4:54 pm
@nerak….ok so the black man dies first, same as usual
posted by Dre on 10-12-2009 at 4:54 pm
Homeward Bound, when the last old dog shows up, and Marley and Me.
posted by JFS in IL on 10-12-2009 at 4:59 pm
Miracle on Ice 1981 made for TV version. When we beat the Russians it’s hard not to get emotional. I also cry when the guys are receiving their medals and singing the national anthem.
posted by Addie on 10-12-2009 at 5:01 pm
Forgot one… I almost cried during Vanilla Sky. But that was just because I was losing that time off my life. :-)
posted by Roger on 10-12-2009 at 5:06 pm
The ending of “Ghost” when Patrick Swayze walks away from Molly.
posted by deb on 10-12-2009 at 5:09 pm
Little Women, Amelie (but in a happy way) It’s a Wonderful Life, Life is Beautiful (I was curled up in the fetal position sobbing at the end of that one), Homeward Bound, and many, many others :)
posted by Fruppi on 10-12-2009 at 5:09 pm
Old Yeller and Homeward Bound. I haven’t watched those movies in years.
posted by Sara in AL on 10-12-2009 at 5:10 pm
Terms of Endearment…When Emma tells her sons she has cancer, and the youngest boy cries. I hate it when kids cry. Tears me up everytime.
Glad DPS is listed. My fav movie and made me want to be a teacher. I have the soundtrack on my Ipod (nerd, I know). Goosebumps everytime.
posted by Leanna on 10-12-2009 at 5:12 pm
Good Will Hunting. Every damn time.
posted by Ian on 10-12-2009 at 5:14 pm
The first movie I ever remember crying over (and one that still does it to me)- Ghost, at the end when he’s all, “Push a penny under the door,” and Whoopi does, and Demi realizes that her dead boyfriend really IS there- jeez, I’m such a girl.
Also, a few people have already mentioned Life Is Beautiful- I cried so hard the first time I saw it that I choked on a Raisinet.
Oh- and recently I cried for pretty much the final 30 minutes of Gran Torino. It was really embarrassing when the lights came back up.
posted by FizzyGurrl on 10-12-2009 at 5:20 pm
Re: Saving Pvt. Ryan
The soldier is in fact the same in all three scenes:
When being released by Capt. Miller, I believe it was Burns’ character who says (paraphrased, I’m at work), “He’ll be picked up by the first patrol and put back on the front line”.
The soldier who kills Mellish with a knife (IMO, one of the most violent scenes ever filmed). Upham was on the staircase, paralyzed with fear, and could not enter to save his mate’s life.
The soldier Upham kills. He believes the American will not shoot him since after killing Mellish, he encountered him on the staircase and knows that Upham does not have what it takes to pull the trigger.
Brilliant movie.
posted by VSack on 10-12-2009 at 5:27 pm
I tear up a little every time I watch the end of Spike Lee’s “The 25th Hour”. There’s a monologue/montage sequence at the end when Brian Cox is telling his son what life could be like if they skipped town instead of driving the son to prison to serve his sentence. The love of a father, willing to sacrifice everything to see his son live out a happy life, is so touching and so deeply depressing because you know it’s all just a pipe dream. It’s a beautiful sequence and it gets me every time.
posted by SpaceMonkeyX on 10-12-2009 at 5:31 pm
Awakenings, when Robert DeNiro tells Penelope Ann Miller that her catatonic dad knows that she comes and reads the boxscores to him. Then at the end, when she is shown reading to DeNiro after he slips back into his own catatonic state.
I know its not a movie, but it gets me every time: The In Excelsis Deo episode of The West Wing when Mrs. Landingham misses her boys.
posted by Tim on 10-12-2009 at 5:31 pm
@Bryan – I cried so hard when they killed off Walsh. I was very angry at Joss Whedon for a good 2 weeks after that.
Big Fish
Japanese Story
A Very Long Engagement
The Sea Inside
posted by nikki on 10-12-2009 at 5:33 pm
Shawshank Redemption, like clockwork when Red narrates, “I guess I just miss my friend.”
posted by Seth on 10-12-2009 at 5:35 pm
The Lion King and the end of The Green Mile.
posted by Gabe on 10-12-2009 at 5:42 pm
The Shawshank Redemption, I couldn’t stop crying at the end of that one – from the moment Andy broke out of prison to the very last scene when they reunite on the beach.
posted by Charles on 10-12-2009 at 5:42 pm
Green Mile, when he doesn’t mind dying at the end. Geez, I could have just dumped water on the kleenex box. And, call me a complete dork, but Edward Scissorhands did. But just for one tear, and just for a second.
posted by PiedrasPR on 10-12-2009 at 5:43 pm
Life is Beautiful! Beaches! Yeah, I’m a big ol’ softy. I refuse, however, to watch movies where the animal dies at the end. It rips my heart out. I can’t handle it. I am still scarred from Ol’ Yeller and Where the Red Fern Grows that I was forced to watch as a kid. I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t watch an animal die. I will not watch Marley and Me, I haven’t even seen Turner and Hooch! Although from what I’ve heard I’m not missing much on that one.
My recaptcha: memorial vivifies
posted by TooFewShoes on 10-12-2009 at 5:44 pm
The Rookie, with Dennis Quaid. Scene starts to build up the sobs when he finds out he’s going to “The Show” and then it’s full blown blubbering when he tells his son. Kills me everytime.
posted by Mark O'Leary on 10-12-2009 at 5:49 pm
Bridge to Terabithia – didn’t see it coming and floored me.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 10-12-2009 at 5:51 pm
When ET has to go home?
posted by KJ on 10-12-2009 at 5:58 pm
Good Will Hunting – ‘It’s not your fault.’ Kills me.
And Sally Field’s funeral freak-out in Steel Magnolias is one of the saddest damn things ever.
And the end of La Bamba – ‘Ritchie!!’
posted by Andrew T on 10-12-2009 at 6:19 pm
“My Girl” is the only movie I’ve cried real tears watching as an adult.
posted by Melissa on 10-12-2009 at 6:20 pm
Elf.
Don’t laugh.
It makes me cry every time.
When everyone believes in Santa.
*sob*
And sadly, I am telling the truth. lol
posted by Molly on 10-12-2009 at 6:22 pm
I haven’t looked at the whole list, but I didn’t see anyone mention The Iron Giant. I’m not very prone to crying in movies, but at the end when the giant sacrifices himself to save a world that treated him so poorly, I teared up a little. It’s just so well made and executed…
posted by Ben on 10-12-2009 at 6:30 pm
Bunch of dude flicks!
posted by Tammy on 10-12-2009 at 6:38 pm
The montage in “Up” near the beginning would make a robot cry.
Any of the “Miracle on Ice” movies – I’m a total sucker for. If you get to see the documentary on HBO, I highly recommend it – the pep talk that Herb Brooks gives before the team goes out to play (and beat) Finland is unprintable here – but I think about it all the time.
Any “dog in peril” movie – even before I owned a dog – kill me every time.
posted by swss on 10-12-2009 at 6:45 pm
I’m with kyle, the ending scene of Big Fish gets me every time.
I love the very end of the Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It was so simply shot, but I was in tears.
posted by heather on 10-12-2009 at 6:52 pm
Jeez Dre, chill. Why’s everything about race? Get a life!!!
posted by Shannon on 10-12-2009 at 6:54 pm
I have cried in every one of the movies listed in the comments with the exception of Elf. I cry all the time during movies and am a constant source of amusement for my husband for that reason alone.
The two that I remember for vividly ripping my heart out of my chest and making me weep for at least 30 minutes after the end of the movie were “Pay It Forward” and “City of Angels.” I have watched each of them once and will never watch either of them again.
posted by bzzyb on 10-12-2009 at 6:55 pm
Toy Story 2. “When She Loved Me.
I’m crying before the song is half-over.
posted by Michael on 10-12-2009 at 6:55 pm
Just reading this list made me cry, though I am pregnant and prone to crying at commercials.
I refuse to even think about Life is Beautiful, I didn’t know what the movie was about and was completely blindsided.
posted by readerMom on 10-12-2009 at 6:57 pm
I thought I never cried at movies until saw The Pianist.
posted by nora on 10-12-2009 at 7:12 pm
It used to be, the only movies that made me cry were Dead Poets Society and Eight Men Out (when they get sentenced to never being able to play baseball again…gets me every time.) But apparently now I cry all the time, because as I was reading down the comments, I was saying “oh, yeah, totally cry at that one…and that one…”
posted by emily on 10-12-2009 at 7:25 pm
I cry EVERYTIME I see the end of “50 First Dates” with Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore. Adam (forgot the character’s name) plays this video every morning for Drew (who suffers from memory loss, and then with “Over The Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo`ole playing in the background, the tears start – so sweet!
posted by pdoll on 10-12-2009 at 7:28 pm
The Pursuit of Happiness, both at the end and when will smith is holding his sleeping son in teh bathroom with his foot on the door…as a father, if you don’t tear up at that, you don’t deserve to be one…
As for “Rduy”, all real-life accounts were that he was a pompous ass, so I don’t cry at that one…
posted by Chris on 10-12-2009 at 7:31 pm
@ Dre..the movie isn’t abotu what happens in the end but the middle…
Oh, and EVERYBODY dies in real life, regardless of your race.
Grow up
posted by Chris on 10-12-2009 at 7:33 pm
Are there no Asian film fans here?
“Hero” is a masterful film which can not only coax salt-water from your eys, but also makes very poignant statements about what it means to sacrifice for love and loyalty.
posted by n2y2 on 10-12-2009 at 7:35 pm
There’s something about Robin Williams in Hook. And the way he does and does not interact with his kids. Usually start crying at the baseball game and am hiccuping by the time I get to the end.
posted by Theresa Quintanilla on 10-12-2009 at 7:38 pm
The montage in “Up” really got to me. Wasn’t expecting that much emotion pressed into a couple of minutes. Pixar has the best scripts in the business, animated or not.
posted by Wallis Lane on 10-12-2009 at 7:47 pm
I don’t remember what about it made me misty/cry, but I remember My Girl made me little too womanish for my own good.
@ Addie, I think Miracle, the more recent theatrical release of the Miracle on Ice story got me, especially cuz Herb Brooks died in a car accident shortly before the film opened. Plus, it was a damn fine movie.
I also liked Gran Torino. I saw the ending coming, and it still made me a little verklempt.
posted by Jonny on 10-12-2009 at 7:59 pm
I’m so relieved that I’m not the only one to blubber during “When She Loved Me” in Toy Story 2. Good grief, I was a college student when that movie was released, and I just sat there sniffling about every toy I ever stopped playing with.
posted by Melissa on 10-12-2009 at 8:01 pm
Anne Frank: The Whole Story made both me and my daughter cry.
Not Without My Daughter because she got away from her husband.
Boys Don’t Cry also made my daughter cry (I haven’t seen it.)
I have cried at a lot of the movies on the list.
posted by veete on 10-12-2009 at 8:09 pm
The ending of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”.
When Aragorn tells the hobbits “You bow to no one”… that gets me every time.
posted by Chris Martin on 10-12-2009 at 8:10 pm
The Green Mile – I will sob every time, not just a few tears, but all out hysterics
Marley & Me
Braveheart
Big Fish
posted by Staci on 10-12-2009 at 8:12 pm
Some wonderful movies listed here. Here’s 2 more that do it for me: Silent Running (that poor robot!), and Untamed Heart.
posted by Eric on 10-12-2009 at 8:18 pm
Yep, Life is Beautiful… I always make it until the narrator’s beautiful accent comes on (in the English dubbed version), “Dis is de gift my father gave to me…” Ah, so beautiful… so sad.
posted by Dave J on 10-12-2009 at 8:22 pm
I’m with Chelsea, every time I watch Steel Magnolias I cry, but for me its when Jackson sees Shelby on the ground and the baby is crying in the background. I put the movie on when I need a good cry. :)
posted by Bethany on 10-12-2009 at 8:31 pm
@Molly: similarly, I choke up at every Peter Pan -themed movie or theatrical performance, when all the children start clapping because they believe in fairies.
Also, as a Notre Dame alum, I concur that Rudy is very tear-inducing. The scene where all the athletes place their jerseys on the coach’s desk leaves me a blubbery mess.
I always get chills during “To Kill a Mockingbird” at the line, “Jean-Louise, stand up. Your father’s passing.”
And I will never, ever watch Ol’ Yeller. I might cry for the rest of my life if I do.
posted by Kristin on 10-12-2009 at 8:32 pm
Molly, I know exactly what you mean about Elf. I also teared up at the end of Polar Express.
Life is Beautiful got to me and Little Miss Sunshine made me cry, mainly because I laughed so hard.
Years, and years and years ago I saw a made-for-Tv movie. It was based on a true story about a man who tried to win custody of his three sons. Their mother was a drug addict who was dating a criminal. At the end of the movie, the boys are in a pick-up with their mom and her boyfriend, with the dad chasing behind them in his car. I think at this point, dad finally was granted custody and the mom was trying to run away with the kids. The pick-up stopped, the mom and boyfriend got out and ran away. While dad was running towards the truck, it blew up with the boys still inside. It just broke my heart because it actually happened. They’re the movies that get to me.
posted by Carol on 10-12-2009 at 8:34 pm
“While You Were Sleeping” when Sandra Bullock gives her little “speech” at her wedding. It makes me tear up because I have experience the same lonliness.
posted by Shanna on 10-12-2009 at 8:43 pm
My husband got teary-eyed at the end of School of Rock, when all the school kids and Jack Black’s character are playing the rock song together on stage at the end.
posted by Sarah on 10-12-2009 at 8:54 pm
have to agree with those who posted:
glory
saving private ryan
green mile
lord of the rings
but for me a few more have to be:
- A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)
- Contact (when Elle is trying to reach her deceased mom over the ham radio)
- TAPS – the shoutout at the end
posted by Scott T. on 10-12-2009 at 8:55 pm
Truly Madly Deeply –
The scene where Jaimie (Alan Rickman) is reciting the poem, breaks my heart.
posted by Jo on 10-12-2009 at 9:13 pm
Pan’s Labyrinth… I didn’t actually know what the film was about before I started it, but by the end I was a blubbering mess!
posted by Sabrina on 10-12-2009 at 9:16 pm
Wow, I don’t think anyone mentioned Schindler’s List. Hard movie to watch and it ends with Schindler thinking he was a horrible person because he could have saved more. “This pin. How many could this pin have saved? Ten? Twenty? Or this car. A hundred, at least. I didn’t need this car. I could have saved more!”
posted by That Jeff on 10-12-2009 at 9:19 pm
Strange Circus, a Japanese film that is not for the faint of heart, makes me cry all the way through. It starts with the girls dialogue:(pardon the translation)
“I was born on the execution stand in place of my mother. I have been standing in for her ever since. I am my mother, she is me.”
Its such a sad story you can’t help but cry the entire time.
posted by Justine on 10-12-2009 at 9:26 pm
The one movie that gets me every time (and I’ve seen it at least a dozen times) is “A River Runs Through It”
I always cry when the old man is fishing alone.
posted by Alyssa on 10-12-2009 at 9:27 pm
As far back as I can remember I’ve only cried during two movies: The Little Princess and Lilo and Stitch.
I’ve seen each twice (The Little Princess at 5 and 10 and Lilo and Stitch at 11 and 19) and cried for all of the showings. I rarely ever cry. I have no idea why these movies get to me over movies that seem much more sad to me.
posted by Erika on 10-12-2009 at 9:40 pm
I’m with Micheal – Toy Story 2, When She Loved Me…I had the movie in the van for my kids for a long time & everytime that song came on, I had to try not paying attention. Makes me cry every time.
I cry at pretty much every damned movie, happy or sad.
posted by Tracy on 10-12-2009 at 10:02 pm
No one has said these, so I thought I would add. In Spider-Man 2 when Spider-Man saves the ell train and he faints, but is then carried by the people he saved inside the train… always tear up a little.
Also, in the first Spider-Man when the crowd starts throwing rocks at Green Goblin.
One more… at the end of Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader redeems himself and tosses the Emperor down the shaft. Ok I can’t continue…
posted by Greg on 10-12-2009 at 10:07 pm
As an incredibly shy person yet creative person, who also has a huge fear of reading aloud, I have always held Todd from the Dead Poet’s Society up as a hero. No joke. I hope that when the time comes, I can overcome my fears long enough to stand up (though not necessarily on a desk) for what I believe is right.
posted by Squirrelgirl on 10-12-2009 at 10:08 pm
I also cry during just about every Christmas movie ever made. Especially How the Grinch Stole Christmas, when the Who’s all sing despite having nothing.
posted by Squirrelgirl on 10-12-2009 at 10:11 pm
Mr. Chips–The end floors me every time.
Mrs. Miniver–The final sermon in the bombed out church.
Henry V–The Kenneth Branaugh version when they show the aftermath of Agincourt.
Pride of the Yankees–Lou Gehrig’s speech
posted by CamilleR on 10-12-2009 at 10:16 pm
I agree with Saving Private Ryan.
Also, Antwone Fisher.
posted by Krys on 10-12-2009 at 10:17 pm
Step Mom for sure
posted by Shannon on 10-12-2009 at 10:19 pm
the pursue for happiness with will smith… I watched the film four times and the four times I cried… kkkk
posted by delaorden on 10-12-2009 at 10:19 pm
Beaches makes me cry every time I watch it (to the point I haven’t seen it in forever!). Also, Mighty Joe Young (after he falls off the Ferris wheel…) after I saw it the first time.
posted by Samma on 10-12-2009 at 10:20 pm
mostly dad&kid movies:
Big Fish
The Rookie
Jersey Girl
Zathura
and one I’m hesitant to admit having scene twice now and both times getting teared-up: Hannah Montana – The Movie
posted by Cy Guy on 10-12-2009 at 10:22 pm
If you haven’t seen “Taking Chance” with Kevin Bacon, well – let me just say this. If it can make a hardened soldier “leak at the eyes” it can make anybody.
My parents won’t even watch it – brother is still in “over there”.
posted by roi_ratt on 10-12-2009 at 10:25 pm
maybe because I’m a teacher, but Mr. Holland’s Opus when they have the orchestra on stage to play his finished symphony at his retirement celebration.
posted by Trevor on 10-12-2009 at 10:25 pm
This is going to be cheesy and girly, but 13 Going on 30. The scene at the end, where Mark Ruffalo is getting married, and Jennifer Garner runs home always gets me.
Rent, pretty much from when Angel dies onward (so, you know, 15-20 minutes straight of sobbing.)
The beginning (and end) of Up, when Carl is losing (and loses) his wife.
posted by Day on 10-12-2009 at 10:30 pm
An Officer and A Gentleman. The scene with Sgt Foley making Mayo do situps while trying to make him quit the program. Mayo sits up and cries “I’ve got no where else to go!” Best line ever delivered by Richard Gere. Wow! I’m crying as I write this.
posted by Dennis Magnusson on 10-12-2009 at 10:32 pm
Some additions (and I meant ‘seen’ obviously – talking about movies made me type scene I guess).
Marley and Me
Anything with Tom Hanks in the last 20 years – but especially Apollo 13.
All of the Pixar movies made after A Bug’s Life.
My wife’s favorite movie: August Rush
And a side note to Scott T. if you haven’t read it yet, definitely read the book of Contact, in some ways the film is better, but it entirely changes Sagan’s message. If anything, the book is more of a tear-jerker, but the characters that make it so aren’t in the movie or aren’t significant.
(PPS question for the MF folks, why do we call them tear-jerkers? It seems the tears are being pushed out not pulled.)
posted by Cy Guy on 10-12-2009 at 10:52 pm
2 movies always get me
1) “boys in the hood” when ricky gets shot
2) the pixar movie “up” when the little boy talks about his dad and at the end when they get ice cream
And I know its not a movie but anyone ever see the episode of “the fresh prince of bell air” when wills dad was gonna take him out on the road but leaves w/o him. Then will breaks down and asks “why doesn’t he love me” I dare you not to break down yourself
posted by john on 10-12-2009 at 11:26 pm
I agree with “Passion of the Christ” not a dry eye in the house
posted by john on 10-12-2009 at 11:52 pm
Whale Rider, the speech scene – definite tears
My Life Without Me – when she’s recording tapes for her daughters’ birthdays
Cousins – the American version with Ted Danson and Isabella Rosellini – just hearing the music gets me all teary-eyed.
posted by Dee on 10-13-2009 at 12:08 am
see i always found the ending scene where private ryan (of course older) is standing over the grave a much more heartbreaking scene.
posted by zt on 10-13-2009 at 1:49 am
Just saw Bright Star a week back and I left the theater in tears. Fanny’s reaction when she heard of Keats’ death — literally fighting for breath as the spasms of her grief and shock choke her — and her grimly, fiercely methodical sewing of mourning garb and shearing of her hair.
reCaptcha: starlit May, a phrase Keats would be proud to coin.
posted by VM on 10-13-2009 at 2:25 am
Wow, i read through all of those looking for someone else who felt like me – Dumbo has the saddest scene ever. When he is separated from his mother and his little trunk is reaching out…the helplessness of it all just tears me up. Surely someone agrees?
posted by Alex on 10-13-2009 at 2:43 am
Great topic!
Finding Nemo, when Marlin leaves Dory. To quote: “”Please don’t go away! Please! No one’s ever stuck with me so long before…I remember things better with you because when I look at you, I can feel it. I look at you….and I’m home.”
Similarly, the end of The Muppet Movie, when all their dreams come true, thanks to you (the audience). Yeah, I can’t believe puppets make me cry, but there’s something about dreams coming true that gets me, even more than tragedy.
I think everybody cries at the end of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
A special mention for one of my favorites, which is also a bit obscure….the Australian classic dark comedy “Bliss,” based on the Peter Carey novel, ends with an unusual and poignant love story.
The saddest song ever recorded: “Shine” by the Blood Oranges, from their CD “The Crying Tree.”
posted by Larry on 10-13-2009 at 2:48 am
I might be burned at the stake as a heretic, but I found “Rudy” to be a little silly. Guy goes through hell to get on the field for one stinking play. Of course, I’m not a Notre Dame fan.
How could you leave out “The Green Mile” and “The Shawshank Redemption”? But the ultimate tear-jerker movie is “Shindler’s List,” especially near the end when Shindler is looking at his possessions and wondering how many more he could have saved with the money he wasted. Gets me every time.
posted by fdtate on 10-13-2009 at 4:26 am
i have to agree- 50 first dates made me tear up when i saw it on tv the other day (and that’s the only version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow that i like), same thing with forest gump and saving private ryan
but Good Will Hunting ALWAYS makes me cry, especially when robin williams says “it’s not your fault”, and matt damon just breaks down..
oh, and it’s a mini-series, but episode 9 “Why We Fight” of Band of Brothers gets me everytime- when they’re asking the prisoner in the concentration camp why they’re there, and the prisoner just keeps repeating “juden” over and over and wanders away crying. UGH.
posted by em on 10-13-2009 at 4:28 am
I agree with a lot of the above – ‘Rudy’, ‘Little Women’, ‘She’s Having a Baby’, ‘Whale Rider’, etc.
The end of ‘Dead Man Walking’. I was bawling like a baby in the theater and have not been able to watch that film since.
‘Taking Chance’
The end of ‘Redacted’, a movie that is otherwise not THAT great, when they show photos of the real Abeer Hamza (this ending footage was removed from the US release of the film, though).
Not a movie movie, a documentary, but ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ was heart wrenching, especially the anguish of the father of one of the victims.
‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’. I was TOTALLY not expecting that ending. I hope to never see that film again.
‘Pianist’, when he’s pulled from the line to get on the train by the kapo, and he watches his family get on, knowing where they will go and that he will never see them again. And then you see the square where they had been waiting for the train, and it is all discarded bags and emptiness and stillness.
posted by MJ on 10-13-2009 at 4:31 am
I always loved “I Am Sam”. It always makes me cry.
posted by Karl on 10-13-2009 at 5:01 am
\Lord of the Rings: Return of the King\- King Theoden’s speech and the moments right before the Rohirrim charge into battle at Minas Tirith. Always gets me teary.
Field of Dreams and Glory, as well.
posted by Steve on 10-13-2009 at 5:31 am
“I Am Sam”, “Remember the Titans”,”A.I.”. “Jack” and “Dead Poets Society”
posted by sab on 10-13-2009 at 5:54 am
The only movie to ever make me cry was “my Life” starring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman. I’ve only watched it once and the dvd is still unopened, but I love that movie
posted by Lorelei on 10-13-2009 at 6:45 am
I forgot one – Apollo 13, when the men are finally safe and Gene Krantz just collapses into a chair.
recaptcha: Hussein’s hyde
posted by Kristin on 10-13-2009 at 7:38 am
It has been close to 1/2 century since I saw The Day They Gave Babies Away/ Mine To Give. I can clearly remember weeping over the story of the 12 YO who must find adoptive parents for his siblings
posted by MagicBoy on 10-13-2009 at 7:53 am
Don’t know if anyone has mentioned it, but Marley & Me is probably one of the only movies I have ever sobbed like a little girl. My fiance and I have two dogs, so at the end (even though you know what is coming) we were both tearing up without a doubt!
posted by JW on 10-13-2009 at 8:12 am
Ladder 49, Backdraft, world trade center, flight 93, vision quest,saving private ryan,antwon fisher,gump,taking chance, but the kicker is in the movie the patriot when the youngest daughter speaks to mel gibson for the first time…”Pappa!, Pappa!, dont leave I’ll do anything please dont leave!” Kills me everytime.
posted by CJ on 10-13-2009 at 8:38 am
to Cy Guy – i read the book a few years ago & YES it is definitelya almost completely story – i acutally thinkits better
another one i just watched over the weekend was THE MARTIAN CHILD – really felt sorry for him !
posted by Scott T. on 10-13-2009 at 8:38 am
I was not prepared to get emotional at the end of “Cinema Paridiso”, when we realize what the package is, I was weeping.
posted by Robert Holdridge on 10-13-2009 at 8:41 am
Selena.
posted by Elizabeth on 10-13-2009 at 8:56 am
TooFewShoes – I am with you!! Even if an animal dying is an insignificant part of a movie, I will blubber over it every time – like when the cows get shot in O Brother Where Art Thou? Anytime someone asks me to watch a movie, my first question is ‘do any animals die?’
For some reason, I tear up at the end of the Wedding Singer when Adam Sandler sings her that song on the plane. The Green Mile does it to me everytime. Gran Torino – I cry when I think about the ending. Steel Magnolia’s is the chick flickiest chick flick ever, but I LOVE Sally Field’s moment at the end. Amazing. But you hit it right on with Rudy at the top of the list.
posted by BMC on 10-13-2009 at 9:24 am
Definitely Fried Green Tomatoes. I cry like a baby every time I see it, not so much for the movie itself, but of the sentimental value of watching it with my mom, who died 8 years ago.
Also–Saving Private Ryan, and even though it’s not technically a movie, Band of Brothers.
I cry in Forrest Gump when his mom dies (a tough scene for me to watch) and when he’s talking to Jenny’s headstone.
posted by JLPatterson09 on 10-13-2009 at 9:28 am
The end of the bucket list where Jack Nicholson sees his granddaughter for the first time and kisses her cheek. He later crosses “Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world” off the list
posted by Al on 10-13-2009 at 9:31 am
Did anyone mention “PS I love you”….If you haven’t seen this movie, watch it with your significant other and try to fight back the tears.
posted by Jordan on 10-13-2009 at 9:45 am
“Hotel Rwanda”. Pretty much from beginning to end.
posted by Tina on 10-13-2009 at 10:08 am
@ Alex I watched Dumbo as a kid and I refuse to watch it ever again… That scene breaks my heart.
A few others that make me cry are Edward Scissorhands, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Dead Man Walking and Leaving Las Vegas.
posted by Sarah on 10-13-2009 at 10:16 am
@Alex – YES, Dumbo! “Baby Mine” playing, his chained mother can’t move close enough to see him, he weeps into her outstretched trunk…
If you haven’t seen “Anvil! The Story of Anvil”, there are quite a few moments that got me choked up, but the one that stands out is when lead singer Lipps is talking about still following their dreams and all the frustration and failures along the way, and that he could throw himself off a cliff and take the easy way out, and his best friend, drummer Robb Reiner (his real name) says, “Yeah but, you won’t jump off a cliff, because I’ll stop you.”
posted by Janet on 10-13-2009 at 10:26 am
Click.
posted by Cody on 10-13-2009 at 10:56 am
Radio. Close to the beginning when he is tied up in the shed. And also, Shawshank Redemption, but not the ending. The part that gets me is when Brooks gets out and ends up committing suicide.
posted by Angela on 10-13-2009 at 11:01 am
My mom took me to the theatre to see “Snoopy, Come Home” in 1972 (when I was five) and I remember crying my eyes out. I haven’t seen it since.
posted by Sandy Wood on 10-13-2009 at 11:09 am
- I’m pretty sure the guy who killed Mellish is NOT Steamboat Willie. Steamboat Willie shot Miller in the end, and Upham kills him for either that, or reneging on his promise to surrender.
- I read a stat, I don’t remember where, that 95% of men cry watching Field of Dreams. The other five percent must have serious issues.
- Brian’s Song never did it for me. Maybe it’s because I’m not much of a football fan, or a Bears fan, but I just didn’t get too worked up over Lando Calrissian praying for Sonny Corleone.
- The end of Apollo 13 always got me. I knew the ending, I knew the men were going to make it, but when Jim Lovell comes back on the radio, I don’t know, the waterworks come on.
posted by Jim on 10-13-2009 at 11:09 am
I AM SAM gets me everytime…when he tells the foster mom that she is the red in her pictures, it just kills me. i look around and my 3 daughters are crying…even my husband gets a coughing fit at that part everytime. cinema gold!!!
posted by poo on 10-13-2009 at 11:16 am
“Fearless”.
The scene with the daughter in “The Patriot” always gets me as well.
But nobody’s mentioned “The Guardian”? My God, I was sobbing so hard at the end of that movie that people in the theater were staring at me, and it took me until the credits were done rolling to get myself under control. I don’t cry as hard when I watch it now, but I still can’t help but tear up.
posted by Thena on 10-13-2009 at 11:19 am
There are already 150 posts on this, so I’m just skipping to the bottom to write my list… :)
Green Mile, Edward Scissorhands (everytime! At the end when you realize who the old woman is and that she never got to see Edward again, and he’s living alone in the castle, sob), Titanic (I know. I’m better now b/c my boyfriend jokes with me, so I’m sobbing and laughing – awesome), Notebook, just about every pixar movie (Finding Nemo, Up (stupd montage!), WALL-E (esp the part where Eve sees how Wall-E protected her after she shut down, etc) ), etc.
I know there are more and some I cried at when I saw them in theaters and haven’t seen since.
oh, thanks, guys. I’m about to cry, but on the front line at the bank and we’re busy. LOL. I’m afraid to open my mouth to speak now, LOL.
“omg, what’s wrong?!”
“I’m thinking about the montage scene from Up!…”
“k…”
hahaha.
Good topic! Very universal!
posted by OkieMelissa on 10-13-2009 at 11:22 am
@Elizabeth,
Selena! Seems like every spanish class I took in both middle and high school felt like Selena was an appropriate movie to showcase the spanish language. I *hate* movies like that where you know she’s going to die, but it still hits you. How awkward to be a high school freshman, trying not to cry over the movie in the dark classroom…
oh, I’m adding “American Beauty” to my list of movies that make me cry everytime. We watched it for a class my sophomore year of college, so same story (trying not to cry in a classroom). The end *always* gets me, where the wife comes home and just falls into the closet against her husband’s jackets and Kevin Spacey is smiling/doing the montage of his wife/daughter. Oh God… ::sob::
recaptcha – “28 spiders”. Spooky!
posted by OkieMelissa on 10-13-2009 at 11:36 am
Hmmm…perhaps I breezed through the posts too quickly, but I saw no “Sophie’s Choice.” Are you kidding me?
An unexpected moment that gets me everytime is in “A Christmas Story” when Ralphie’s mom finally stops him from beating the snot out of Farkus. The moment when he looks at her and comes down out of his rage, then just starts sobbing…perhaps you have to have been bullied more than your share as a kid for that scene to choke you up.
Also, a short while later when Randy won’t come out from under the sink because “Daddy’s gonna kill Ralphie!” That wells me up a bit, too.
And though it doesn’t get to me like it did when I saw it at the movies when I was 15, but Patrick Dempsy’s speech in “Can’t Buy Me Love” after he defends his friend (red-haired kid from “Children of the Corn” and “Burbs”) from the jocks…that got me back then…until the cheesy one-slow-clap-building-to-applause ruined the whole thing.
posted by Derek on 10-13-2009 at 11:40 am
I agree with the poster about Terms of Endearment. I get teared up when Debra Winger’s character has the “end of life” speech with her two boys in her hospital bed. It’s the part she says when it’s over and she looks to her littlest boy and says “I think that went well, don’t you?” and he shakes his head ‘yes’ and has tears in his eyes.
posted by Kara on 10-13-2009 at 11:41 am
Oh, and I couldn’t care less about the Kate-Leo storyline in “Titanic”…but the image of that old couple lying on the bed, holding each other as their cabin fills with water…COME ON!!!
And in “Forest Gump” my teary moment is when Forest realizes little Forest is his son, then gets that terrified look on his face and asks Jenny, “Is he like me?” That concern, and the relief afterward, is devastating.
posted by Derek on 10-13-2009 at 11:47 am
No Benjamin Button? I think I cried for the last 45 minutes of that movie.
posted by CL on 10-13-2009 at 12:01 pm
The Color Purple–from when Shug hugs her father all the way until Celie & Nettie are reunited.
Homeward Bound–when the Golden retriever comes over the hill–waterworks!
And I’m glad someone mentioned Dumbo–the scene where his mother is locked up. My 3 year old niece wanted me to watch the movie with here and I couldn’t even explain why I couln’t do it. Okay, I’m starting to cry and I’m at work–better quit this.
posted by Kathy on 10-13-2009 at 12:09 pm
Watched “Big Fish” last night. I sobbed. And laughed. And cried.
posted by Nicole on 10-13-2009 at 12:17 pm
So many good comments!
Love Actually – at the beginning and end showing real people at the arrivals gate at Heathrow
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King – after the victory at Minas Tirith when the armies march on the Black Gate to buy Frodo and Sam some more time.. Merry and Pippin being the first to run to battle shouting “Frodo!!” Kills me just thinking about it!
I can’t watch It’s a Wonderful Life with other people anymore since I sob for the last 15 minutes or so.
And the cemetery scene in Steel Magnolias – “HIT WEEZER!!!” Best funeral scene ever.
posted by Crovenpaver on 10-13-2009 at 12:18 pm
Gorillas in the Mist
posted by sms on 10-13-2009 at 12:25 pm
I don’t want to repeat any movies already mentioned, but one I didn’t see was Gladiator–the scene in the end when the guys buries the figure in the blood soaked earth? I cry buckets. Several of those already mentioned are tearjerkers for me, as well.
posted by Angela on 10-13-2009 at 12:26 pm
Good pick on Dumbo, Alex. Any forced separation will make me cry every time.
Pan’s Labyrinth was also mentioned and is one of my favorite movies.
One of the saddest Asian films is Curse of the Golden Flower, at the end when they are sitting at the table eating together as a ‘family’
I’m surprised ‘Hotel Rwanda’ wasn’t mentioned. Here are a few more: Apocalypto, American Beauty, American History X, Se7en, Wall-E, V for Vendetta, Gladiator(many times throughout), Crash. I agree with most of the ones above as well, but I wanted to add some to the list that I didn’t think had been mentioned.
posted by shelleykaye on 10-13-2009 at 12:27 pm
When I was in 6th grade they showed “Where the Red Fern Grows” to the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. After the movie every student was crammed into the bathrooms–the 4th and 5th grade girls were hysterical, and the grown up 6th graders (like me) were too, but trying not to show it. The boys were trying to be macho but not succeeding. Ground the day to a halt. They never did that again. ;)
posted by 13bodies on 10-13-2009 at 12:28 pm
Braveheart – During William’s father and brother’s funeral. A young Murron gives him the flower.
Also later when William gives the pressed flower back to Murron.
Forrest Gump – When Forrest talks to Jenny’s gravestone.
posted by Mark on 10-13-2009 at 12:31 pm
Good pick on Dumbo, Alex. Any forced separation will make me cry every time.
Pan’s Labyrinth was also mentioned and is one of my favorite movies.
One of the saddest Asian films is Curse of the Golden Flower, at the end when they are sitting at the table eating together as a ‘family’
I’m surprised ‘Hotel Rwanda’ wasn’t mentioned. Here are a few more: Apocalypto, American Beauty, American History X, Se7en, Wall-E, V for Vendetta, Gladiator(many times throughout), Crash. I agree with most of the ones above as well, but I wanted to add some to the list that I didn’t think had been mentioned.
EDIT: Steel Magnolias is too good not to throw in with. All the men I know don’t get it but the women do.
posted by shelleykaye on 10-13-2009 at 12:36 pm
Radio, Steel Magnolias, Mr. Hollands Opus, and….A Little Princess. And not even during the sad part. It’s the part when the girls wake up to all the food and the beautiful room. Something about the magic of it all gets me.
posted by Shash on 10-13-2009 at 12:44 pm
All of the above and My Dog Skip. Help me Rhonda that one really gets me.
posted by Amy S on 10-13-2009 at 12:47 pm
ALSO! August Rush and Martian Child.
posted by Shash on 10-13-2009 at 12:53 pm
I have never been one to cry at movies. So when it happens it memorable.
Baby of Mine in Dumbo
and the Schreck’s Christmas Party Scene in Batman Returns when they realize who each other are.
posted by lewen on 10-13-2009 at 12:58 pm
John Q. My husband bawled right along with me. He got so upset he won’t even watch the movie again!
posted by Liz on 10-13-2009 at 1:02 pm
Braveheart
“You’ve bled with William Wallace, now bleed with me.” (I don’t know why).
Return of the King
When Sam picks up Frodo to carry him into the cave of the volcano.
And the scene in which Gandalf and Merry are talking about death. It doesn’t help that the music from the main song is played during both of those scenes as well.
posted by ThunderMonkey on 10-13-2009 at 1:20 pm
FINALLY someone mentions Benjamin Button! The last scene with Cate Blanchett’s character and what’s become of Benjamin…I lost it. Total, blubbering mess.
It’s not a movie, but the episode of “Futurama” where they find the fossilized remains of Fry’s loyal dog from 1999. At the very end, Fry finds out the dog lived years after he was frozen, so he decides that the dog had a happy, long life after he was gone and decides not to reanimate him. It then flashes back to 1999, showing the dog waiting, and waiting, and waiting in front of the pizza parlor for Fry to return, until eventually he lies down and you know he never woke up again…never left that spot for over a decade, waiting for Fry to come back from a pizza run he’d never return from…then there’s this song playing in the background, something like “if it takes a thousand years, I will wait for you!”…criminy, I’m tearing up now! My co-workers probably think I’m mental!
posted by MarMar on 10-13-2009 at 1:25 pm
Mario, good to see someone else has some love for Ordinary People too. It’s probably my favorite movie of all time. When Conrad has his revelation near the end, that’s when I lose it. When I’d first seen it, when it got to that point in the film, I realized that I wasn’t sure if I remembered breathing up until then.
Many of the others that were mentioned get me too, but one I don’t think I saw was We Are Marshall. When Annie gives back the ring – that’s all for me.
posted by crocostimpy on 10-13-2009 at 1:27 pm
Apollo 13: The scene when Lovell’s wife goes to tell the son about the accident and he asks “was it the door?”
Kills me every time
posted by Marv Hoffmeier on 10-13-2009 at 1:30 pm
Patch Adams? When Robin Willimas (Patch) is at her gravesite, apologizing because he thinks it’s all his fault that she was killed. That gets me EVERY time.
posted by Melanie on 10-13-2009 at 1:48 pm
@ Robin ps i love you – complete tearjerker – but the book is even better i actually cried while reading it in many parts.
posted by Jennifer on 10-13-2009 at 1:50 pm
Seabiscuit! The final race …
posted by Chrisvita on 10-13-2009 at 2:03 pm
The Scene in Apollo 13 where the Wife tells the son that there was an accident on the ship and he asks “Was it the door?”
Kills me everytime.
posted by Marvhoffmeier on 10-13-2009 at 2:53 pm
One of the first scenes of Disney’s Aladdin when he sings the song “riff raff, street rat, I don’t buy that…” etc.
The scene in Lion King when Mufasa’s face is in the clouds and he says to Simba: “remember who you are.”
and the scene in Rent when Angel dies and they sing the song “Without You”
posted by Shayla on 10-13-2009 at 2:56 pm
“Grave of the Fireflies”
I’m not a big crier when it comes to movies. I watched this one afternoon and found myself not just crying, but practically bawling. Afterall, it is a movie about children starving to death. One of them even says in the opening line of the movie, “September 14th, 1945. That was the day I died.”
It may be animation, which makes some believe it can’t be a serious drama… but if you can watch this movie without tearing up, you’re probably not human.
(Confidential to MarMar – that Futurama episode absolutely kills me every time too.)
posted by Susanna on 10-13-2009 at 3:09 pm
I was getting teary eyed just reading this list.
Here are a few of mine.
- What Dreams May Come
- The Time Traveler’s Wife
- Steel Magnolias
- The Baby of Mine section in Dumbo
(that’s almost makes me cry now)
- When they play Somewhere Out There – in American Tales
- Titanic
- City of Angels. even just Angel from Sarah McLachlan.
- A Walk to Remember. Something about Shane West crying and hugging his father.
- Boys Don’t Cry
- P.S. I love you
- Brokeback Mountain
- Romeo and Juliet
there are probably tons more. I get pretty emotional sometimes :)
posted by Kathleen on 10-13-2009 at 3:50 pm
I cried at the end of the Dirty Dozen…Jim Brown was throwing these hand grenades down these airshafts. And Richard Jaeckel and Lee Marvin were sitting on top of this armored personnel carrier, dressed up like Nazis…
And Trini Lopez…
He busted his neck while they were parachuting down behind the Nazi lines…
And Richard Jaeckel – at the beginning he had on this shiny helmet…
———-
nah, but seriously, Sleepless in Seattle makes me bawl everytime.
posted by Lainey on 10-13-2009 at 4:00 pm
“Hope Floats” just kills me so many times, maybe because I can relate so much to Sandra Bullock’s character, the relationship between her and her daughter, and the heartbreak her daughter endures. I’m choking up just writing this, remembering. :P
“Terms of Endearment” is another one where the relationship between mother and daughter is strained, but the clock is ticking to get it resolved to a point where everyone can live with it before Debra Winger’s character dies. And the tears just pour!
And, finally, “Away From Her”. Because my own mum is far too young to be suffering from Alzheimer’s but is, I can no longer see this movie. Its impact is one that will leaving you thinking for quite some time.
posted by Beth on 10-13-2009 at 4:17 pm
Derek, those scenes in “Titanic” did both my husband and I in, especially the one with the mum tucking the children in. I can’t imagine making a choice like that.
Oh, “Sophie’s Choice”! Heart-wrenching, start to finish.
posted by Beth on 10-13-2009 at 4:34 pm
The Secret Life of Bees made me sob!
posted by Amy S on 10-13-2009 at 4:34 pm
@ shelleykaye – Crash makes me sob every single time I watch it. Can’t believe no one mentioned it earlier.
Others include John Q, Hearts in Atlantis, Big Fish, The Notebook, Eternal Sunshine, Moulin Rouge, A Little Princess…pretty much any movie can make me cry but those are for-sure tearjerkers.
posted by Caitlin on 10-13-2009 at 5:26 pm
I have to add a couple now that other people have mentioned tv shows. The episode of Lost in which Sun had her baby and Jin wasn’t there…I’m tearing up just thinking about it. I’d also like to mention Rome because I can no longer watch that miniseries. Husband was watching it and one particular episode had both a rape/torture scene and a scene where one of the main characters finds his very young daughter at a brothel. I don’t handle rape scenes well, and I cried so much that Husband agreed to never make me watch Rome ever again.
posted by Fruppi on 10-13-2009 at 5:36 pm
“Up” – The first fifteen minutes, documenting a couple’s life jouney together. I could not stop the tears through that entire section (oddly enough, john, only got misty at the parts you were talking about).
“Cider House Rules” – When Homer takes over and continues the “Goodnight, you princes…” ritual.
“Shawshank Redemption” – Morgan Freeman’s “Hope” speech/narration near the end.
“Dead Poet’s Society” – “O Captain”…
posted by dagnabbit on 10-13-2009 at 6:16 pm
Just adding my $0.02:
PS I Love You
Titanic
Ghost
The Lakehouse
Mrs Winterbourne
Love Actually
Up
Sweet November
Forrest Gump
I’m a total sap for tear-jerker movies…
posted by PrincessKessie on 10-14-2009 at 4:01 am
The Rookie: When Jimmy Morris (Dennis Quaid) finds out he’s being called up and also when he tells his son.
Armageddon: When Bruce Willis tells his daughter he won’t be coming back.
Seven Pounds: For those of you who haven’t seen this, well worth it. The entire movie was an emotional roller coaster as you put together Will Smith’s turmoil.
Definitely though Rudy is the biggest tear-jerker for me.
posted by Gregg C on 10-14-2009 at 8:00 am
Dancer in the dark saddest movie i’ve ever watched
posted by anon on 10-14-2009 at 2:25 pm
A Star is Born (The 1954 version) – I can usually hold it together until James Mason is eavesdropping as Judy Garland plans to give up her career. Then I’m just in floods of tears until the end.
posted by Jen - The Alien Spouse on 10-14-2009 at 7:43 pm
slow movie, but if you get into it, bridges of madison county.
and when clint is driving away forever, and meryl streep is holding onto her husband’s car door deciding if she should run away with clint…you can so feel her pain
posted by raspy on 10-15-2009 at 12:02 am
This is only a fraction of the ones I can remember:
Titanic
Color Purple
Up
Legends of the Fall
Armageddon
Lion King (Even the beginning song gets me, it’s so beautiful and powerful)
E.T.
Toy Story 2 (Jesse’s Song)
Radio
Seven Pounds
Star Wars VI (at the very end when Luke looks and sees Obi Wan, Yoda, and Anakin)
August Rush
Yeah I cried reading this list too!!
posted by Holly on 10-15-2009 at 5:02 pm
There’s quite a few for me too. Some major ones would have to be:
The Notebook
If Only (gets me everytime…)
Five People You Meet In Heaven
The Green Mile
What Dreams May Come
Broken Bridges
Flicka
Schindler’s List
Beyond Borders
Just way too many to count, but all amazing films.
posted by AJ on 10-17-2009 at 1:51 pm
I’m not a crier, and I normally don’t care for tear-jerker movies (I thought Titanic was stupid), but there are a few movies that have just killed me.
The end of “Man on Fire.”
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (I started bawling when the doctor was shot and didn’t stop until about 30 minutes after the movie was over).
The place in “Return of the King” where Sam says, “Don’t leave me here alone. Don’t go where I can’t follow.”
I cried most of the way through “Hotel Rwanda.”
In “Frequency,” it always makes me a little misty-eyed when the son tears up while talking to his dad on the radio.
As others have said, when Wash died in “Serenity”… I didn’t actually cry, but I felt like someone had punched me in the heart.
“3:10 to Yuma” absolutely wrecked me. I’ll never watch it again.
posted by Kessie on 10-17-2009 at 3:23 pm
I cannot believe ‘An officer and a Gentleman’ has not been mentioned, I cry everytime. i also agree with 98% of the ones already listed, other 2% i haven’t seen yet.
posted by Leesue on 10-18-2009 at 12:35 am
Pretty much every movie ever.
My lowest point was “Rugrats in Paris” when Chuckie doesn’t have a mommy.
I think the saddest movie on the planet has to be one called “Water” by Deepa Mehta. It’s about a young girl whose husband just died and she was then forced to live in a widows’ temple. Bawl, bawl, bawl, bawl some more, repeat.
posted by Rhiannon on 10-18-2009 at 11:47 pm
i’m a sap and most of the movies listed have pulled a tear or twelve from me. another movie to add to the list…prefontaine, the herse making the last lap on the track and the crowd saying Go Pre! omg i lose it every time!
posted by laura on 10-19-2009 at 12:23 pm
@Liz- my lord. I remember watching John Q for the first time and sobbing so violently I almost passed out. From the second that little boy hits the field until the end, just bawling incessantly. It came on tv a few weeks ago, and I had to change the channel- I just couldn’t take it again.
posted by Heather on 10-19-2009 at 12:50 pm
@MarMar & Susanna: That episode of Futurama led directly to me not watching that show anymore!
As for Wash in “Serenity,” I can watch the movie (and go to “Can’t Stop the Serenity” every year), but I cower and hide when I know it’s coming.
posted by Day on 10-20-2009 at 6:20 pm
How about Meet Joe Black & Somewhere in Time??
posted by Mark on 10-26-2009 at 1:47 am
I’ve got to agree with anyone who said Marley and Me, Homeward Bound, Where the Red Fern Grows, and other animal movies where the animal dies. Everyone knows to expect it, but why does everyone put in a death scene? I had to read Where the Red Fern Grows in fourth grade (against my will), and when I broke out crying in class, everyone thought that I was crazy! Then in fifth grade my teacher read it outloud and I cried throughout the entire times she read it! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I had to stop in the middle of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Eporium when he sat on the chair in the middle of the room, and even in Kungfu Panda when the turtle died. My family all laughed at me when I started sobbing when the little rodent-ish animal “died”, even though he was faking!
posted by puppylover4ever on 10-27-2009 at 5:49 pm
Optimus Prime was a SAINT!
“Champ, wake up, Champ! Hey, don’t sleep now. We got to go home.”
The 1985 Transformers movie and the 1979 version of “The Champ”.
“Gardens of Stone” – the life of the guards of the Arlington Cemetary
“Taking Chance” – honor guard escorts the body of a Marine home. Just the original article detailing a brief outline made me cry.
“Courage Under Fire” – being presented with her mother’s medal
Pretty much any scene where a child is told “Remember that your parent was a hero. They died a hero.” There are way too many of those for me to list here.
posted by Lex on 10-31-2009 at 12:30 pm
The Lion King. The whole movie is amazing but when Simba tries to wake up his dead father,tugging on his ear,snuggling under his paw to cry, I am reduced to a blubbering mess.
posted by Tara on 6-1-2010 at 11:45 pm
Ok, i know it’s a bit off the subject, but I ALWAYS cry coming off the Star Tours ride at disneyland in Anaheim. Such an awesome adventure then I’m walking out and the music is playing walking down the hallway. I have never been dry eyed in that hallway. To this day if I bring a date to disney i avoid star tours like the plague lol.
posted by xanderjones on 6-10-2010 at 4:28 pm
Disney movies get me every time.
Cue the music and I’m done.
Hell, I even let a tear go in the Great Mouse Detective when Basil went off of Big Ben. How about Lady and the Tramp when Jock tells Trusty he can’t smell any more!!
Oh and every single movie mentioned here.
posted by Donald on 8-12-2010 at 10:54 am
then for me for the last year ……….my choice will then be Hachiko: a Dog story…..it was based in a real story about a dog with the same name from japan………………..a moral of a strong OBIDIENCE of a dog to his master
posted by Lorenzo on 11-4-2010 at 11:33 pm
Charlie St Cloud made me cry alot
posted by kerry on 11-27-2010 at 6:47 pm
Antwone Fisher is a huge tear jerker. When all the food is on the table including pancakes…forget it. The other is It’s a Wonderful Life. Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.
posted by Jim on 12-9-2011 at 11:19 pm