September 17, 2007
Movies that make you cry
Written by Anne Mallory in Jaunty PostThere are a couple of movies that always make me cry. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen them, I always, always shed a tear at a certain moment. The three below are guarantees for me. Two of them are movies I’m sure most of you have seen, and the other I’ll leave as spoiler free as I can. Just browse the posters and the paragraphs that don’t begin with a bold word, if you want! All non bold beginning paragraphs are spoiler free (so just about every other paragraph). I cry equally for happy, meaningful moments as for sad ones - so that at least makes my recommendations ambiguous. 
ET - When Eliot believes ET is dead. Ok. I know he’s not. I know ET is going to be just fine. But that moment is spellbinding and I always cry. Seriously. I always cry. One of the best scenes in movie history for capturing a single moment of emotion.
Now, I’m not a cry on demand kind of girl. Just because the music swells or two people are reunited, it doesn’t mean I’m going to shed a tear. There has to be something there. Some synergy of connection and magic. A perfect moment of emotion.
Angus - When he knocks over the chess piece. For those who have seen it, you’ll know what I mean. That moment between the two actors is captured so perfectly. The music, their expressions, the statement of the actions. I’m getting teary thinking about it. Great movie, if you haven’t seen it.
Again, it’s about that perfect moment of emotional connection.
Braveheart - The end when he sees her in the crowd springs the waterworks every time. I have some friends who are rabid fans of this movie. I am not a rabid fan, but the ending is perfect.
Sure, if I’m in the weepy mood, I might be more apt to shed a tear or get choked up during any movie. But that’s not what I mean by the above movies. I can be angry, I can be happy, I can be content, and those moments will still get me!
There is a particular theme that has a good chance to move me to tears (if done well), but if I told you what it was, I would ruin a few of these recs for anyone browsing spoiler free. More than one of the five movies listed here have it. Again with the moment magic though. I’ve seen other movies with that theme and my eyes remain dry.
Pan’s Labyrinth and Big Fish - More recent movies that I’ve only seen one time, so they haven’t passed my “always make me cry” test. I bawled though at the end of Big Fish in the theater. I mean, cried hard enough that I was all blotchy afterwards. Sheesh. So we’ll see if it holds the next time I see it, or if it was a specific moment rather than a movie moment.
So what movies move you to tears? Happy tears, sad tears, or anything in between. Which movies can you watch over and over and still cry?
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brownone Says:
Don’t feel bad, I OWN “Big Fish” and its one of my favorites. I always cry at the end. Other movies that are a guaranteed cry fest but I STILL watch them: “Steel Magnolias”, “I am Sam”, “The Other Sister”, “Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea”…yeah..I’m a big ‘ol baby!
AndreaW Says:
The end of THE NOTEBOOK when Gena Rowlands “remembers” and James Garner cries, too. I bawl every time.
Robyn DeHart Says:
I cried in Big Fish too. I cried all the way through The Sixth Sense the first time I saw it, which always makes people scratch their heads. But that little boy just broke my heart. Other movies that always get me, Mulan, Where the Heart Is, Love Actually, Return to Me and really the list could go on for days. I’m such a sap. I’ve cried in peanut butter commercials, scary movies, action flicks, it really doesn’t take much to get me going.
Margo Maguire Says:
Finding Neverland.
In fact, ever since my mom died, I haven’t been able to re-watch it.
Shana Galen Says:
I haven’t seen Pan’s Labyrinth. Why did you cry?
I always cry at The English Patient, Braveheart (like you), West Side Story, and Dead Poet’s Society. The book that always makes me cry is the end of A Tale of Two Cities.
Margo Maguire Says:
Pan’s Labyrinth was a very disturbing film, but it was incredibly beautiful, too. I didn’t cry … The end was sad, but there was a very uplifting quality about it. Quite a haunting movie.
Jenna Petersen Says:
I threw up because I cried so hard watching ET. I have never been able to watch it since. Gag reflex.
Anyway… I always cry at the end of Sense and Sensibility. When Emma Thompson says, “So…. you are not married?”
What else… I cry at a LOT of movies. I cry at the end of While You Were Sleeping. Return to Me. I cry at romantic comedies. I probably need help.
ladydawgfan Says:
*Shyly raising my hand from the back of the room* Um, I’ve never seen ET. Yeah, that’s right, I’m the one person on the planet never to have seen the movie, E.T.!! Oh, well . . .
As for movies that make me cry, try “Somewhere in Time,” “Titanic,” and that part of “Cinderella Man,” where Russell Crowe’s character has to literally beg for money from his former friends so he can bring his kids home. I know that there are others in my DVD collection.
Robyn DeHart Says:
I cried so hard I had chest pains in ET, so I’ve also never seen it again. Tender hearts, Jesse. The movie I threw up after crying so hard was When a Man Loves a Woman.
Dorothy Says:
ladydawgfan…I am right there with you. I have never seen ET. Maybe that’s why I don’t understand what all the hubbub over the movie is about. *shrug*
The one movie that I always cry at is ‘An Affair To Remember’…at the end when he realizes why she wasn’t at the Empire State Building to meet him. Gets me every time! There are others but they’ve already been mentioned.
Lois Says:
Out of this list, I’ve only seen ET — but when I tear up, it isn’t when he dies, but when he wakes up again. It always gets me there, don’t know why.
Lois
brownone Says:
Oh!! How could I forget? “Terms of Endearment” and “An Officer and a Gentleman”……”Jerry Maguire” (You had me at hello…)
Clarisse Says:
There is a part in Lonesome Dove when Lori is holding the letter from Gus. She can’t read it but it is hers and it is precious and she won’t share it with anyone else to let them read it to her and it breaks my heart everytime I see that scene.
And the scene in Field of Dreams where his father comes out of the cornfield.
Gaa! Now I am all veklemped! I need to go lie down for a minute.
Anne Mallory Says:
Shana - as Margo said, Pan’s has an uplifting sad ending (wow, that probably makes no sense). Those are the ones that get me the most. The hopes and dreams that aren’t crushed. I don’t want to ruin it though.
Anne Mallory Says:
Ladydawgfan - no worries on not seeing ET! There are a few movies that everyone has seen but me, so I know the feeling.
Dorothy, ET came out at a time when I was around the same age as the characters, so some of it might be nostalgia talking.
But I do think there is something magical to ET. All of the movie forces were in alignment, or something. 
Anne Mallory Says:
Wow, all you ladies have some great ones listed! A few that I haven’t seen too. *writes down in notebook to check them out*
OMG, Clarisse. Field of Dreams. Yes, that is a great scene. That movie makes me weepy in a good way too.
And LOL on the veklemped. Always makes me think of that SNL skit.
catslady Says:
Definitely ET, Titantic and Braveheart. My favorite is “Forever Young” (Mel Gibson when he still was my favorite). Next would be Highlander. They both have music scores that help the tears flow.
Helen Says:
I too cry in Braveheart also Love Story, Titanic, An Affair To Remember,Beaches, Steel Magnolias I love all these movies and love re watching them.
Have Fun
Helen
Linda Says:
Braveheart is one that I always cry during also. As well as Titanic, A Walk To Remember (one of the most emotional movies I’ve ever seen),and the ending of Gladiator.
Jillian Says:
Pan’s Labyrinth didn’t make me cry, but it WAS a fantastic movie!
I don’t usually cry in movies, but Life Is Beautiful gets me every time. The same goes for Out of Africa and The English Patient.
JOYE Says:
I’m from the old school-one of the first movies I weeped in was LOVE STORY and of course, when they played taps in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and it was sad at the end of GLADIATOR. I remember laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes at the Inspector Clouseau movies when Peter Sellers was the actor..
Kathryn Smith Says:
Oh, Big Fish! Love that one. Another one for me was It’s My Party starring Eric Roberts and Gregory Harrison. Spent the last fifteen minutes sobbing. Forest Gump too. One of my all time faves.
Pat L. Says:
Steel Magnolias, Beaches.