Need a Good Cry? Put Your Recommendations For Tear Jerkers Here!

[lottiedottie]

I don't tend to seek out tear-jerkers, but sometimes you can be in a mood and you just want to wallow. Let this thread serve as the go to place for the weepiest movies!

Also welcome: movies that make you cry that aren't usually thought of as cry movies.

 

To get us started:

Terms of Endearment--this movie makes me so emotional, that a few months ago that when the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast discussed cry-inducing pop culture, the mere mention of this movie produced a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes and my heart to pound. I could barely handle the segment of them just talking about it!

 

My Girl--When I saw this movie in the theaters, I had no idea what it was about beyond what I saw in the trailers. I thought it was going to be a cute friendship movie. Yeah. It was that. But I had no idea what was going to happen. I was stunned and bawling in the theater, to the point that my friends were like "Uh, yeah it's sad but get a hold of yourself, woman!" I don't think it would have the same affect on me were I to watch it again, but I'm also not going to test that theory.

 

Bridge to Terabithia--I watched this one with my kids and I just wanted to die with sadness. Josh Hutcherson is so good in this, and kids dying is probably the worst thing ever for a parent to watch, even if the kids are fictitious and it's a movie.

 

 

[Spartan Girl]

Oh my God, the funeral scene in My Girl destroys me every time I watch it.  "Put on his glasses!" *wails*

[spaceytraci1208]

I've seen My Girl one time...I can't do that to myself again. \

 

Same with My Sister's Keeper. I knew that one was going to be sad, but DAMN! I had that real ugly, snotty cry going on

[RedKoolAide]

"My Girl" was the first tearjerker for me, too. I also cried like an idiot when watching "Forever Young". The music plus the reunion at the end killed me.

"Bridges of Madison County" gets me every time. The scene near the end when Francesca's hand is on the car door handle...I always, ALWAYS weep.

"Cast Away" is another one. It's stupid but I turn into a puddle of feelings when he loses Wilson and sees his former flame again. When she tells him, "You're the love of my life!", I die every time.

"Project X" made me realize how sensitive I was to the mistreatment of animals. Those poor chimpanzees...

[CaughtOnTape]

This is a weird one.  But I cried SO SO SO hard during Lincoln after they passed the amendment.  

 

I also cried during Gettysburg when Richard Jordan's character finds out his friend from the North was shot during the battle and says "No, not one of us....not all of us."

[Shannon L.]

Terms of Endearment was the first one that popped into my mind.  My Girl is a good one, too.

 

About Time had most of the theater, including me and my friend, sniffing pretty loud. 

 

Mr. Holland's Opus was a happy/bittersweet cry for me at the end when they surprised him with a retirement party. 

 

Champ, with Ricky Schroeder. Enough said.

 

E.T.

[Princess Sparkle]

The Notebook. I don't care how sappy it is, I cry like a freaking baby by the end of it.

[Mrs. P.]

Marley and Me. I sobbed like a baby.

[AltLivia]

The Green Mile. I cried so much throughout the film that my family were concerned. And  it was in no way dignified crying, either. Like, wracked-with-tears sobbing.

[Crs97]

In the span of about 4 months I read Marley and Me, Mr. Crs97 and I had to put my beloved dog down, and we went to see the movie. Guess who forgot how the book ended until Marley got sick and my husband looked at me incredulously and asked if this was going to end badly? Never cried so hard during a movie in my life.

Brian's Song and Something for Joey-My dad hated when my sisters and I watched these movies; he said he could hear the sobs from the driveway.

[xls]

TV movies count? When I was a kid "Lassie the Odyssey" part 3 where Timmy buries Lassies toys, then....

 

 

OMG I remember being curled up in chair crying my eyes out.

[scarynikki12]

I get choked up whenever I get to the Marseillaise scene in Casablanca.  I used to be able to watch the movie without getting emotional, but then I made the mistake of reading about how it was made.  In particular, the part about how the men and women used in that scene were all refugees from Europe, including France, and didn't know if they'd ever return home.  That one woman they show the close up crying while she sings her national anthem?  Refugee and it kills me.  Hopefully the all got to return when the war was over.

[GaT]

Imitation of Life poor Annie dying of a broken heart & Sarah Jane throwing herself on the coffin.

[ybrik]

The end of Field of Dreams. I don't care how old I'll get it or how often I see it, it still gets to me.

[spaceytraci1208]

Imitation of Life poor Annie dying of a broken heart & Sarah Jane throwing herself on the coffin.

I saw the 1959 version...when Mahalia Jackson began to sing "Trouble of the World" at Annie's funeral is where I fell apart.

For a happy cry, the ending of The Color Purple when Celie is reunited with Nettie and her children gets to me every time.

[GaT]

I saw the 1959 version...when Mahalia Jackson began to sing "Trouble of the World" at Annie's funeral is where I fell apart.

For a happy cry, the ending of The Color Purple when Celie is reunited with Nettie and her children gets to me every time.

Yes, the 1959 version is the one I'm talking about, the ending just kills me.

 

***SPOILERY IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN WEST SIDE STORY***

 

And speaking of endings, how could I forget West Side Story? You're expecting a HEA ending, & WHAM, Tony es muerto.

[GreekGeek]

I don't know if anyone ever expected a happy ending to West Side Story, seeing that it was based on Romeo and Juliet. And it isn't as if musicals hadn't had good-guy deaths before.

 

As for some weepies that haven't been mentioned yet...

 

Million Dollar Baby. It looks like a distaff Rocky, until...ooof. Its finale reminded me a lot of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, another good sad movie.

 

For a good child-loses-animal story, there's The Yearling. I haven't seen Old Yeller, but I know that's another example. (That Friends episode where Phoebe watched the whole thing for the first time!)

 

A Christmas Carol, pretty much any version, where the Cratchetts grieve for Tiny Tim. I know Dickens tells us in the end that it didn't happen, but it's still sad. I won't see movies about sick or dying children or teens. 

 

Dark Victory. It prettifies death quite a lot, but it's still affecting.

[xls]

Imitation of Life poor Annie dying of a broken heart & Sarah Jane throwing herself on the coffin.

Thats a good one! I love both versions of that movie.

 

Penny Serenade! 1941 The whole thing wrecks me.

The Little Princess and Heidi with Shirley Temple.

[Rick Kitchen]

The end of Field of Dreams. I don't care how old I'll get it or how often I see it, it still gets to me.

 

This.  My favorite movie, and I cry every time.

[bosawks]

Old Yeller those assholes....

[Shannon L.]

Steel Magnolias: When M'lynn held Shelby's hand until she died, then weeped while watching her grandson toddle happily down the front walk into her arms and the entire funeral scene.

[BizBuzz]

As most said already, Terms of Endearment will make me well up every single time.  And it's surprising that it's one that I will watch over and over because usually I don't with tearjerkers, once is enough for me.

 

Brian's Song:  I love Brian Piccolo. And I'd like all of you to love him, too. And tonight when you hit your knees, please ask God to love him.

 

Don't hate me but the scene in Sleepless in Seattle where they are talking about an Affair to Remember?  OMG, I tear up more at that scene than I do in the original movie!

 

And although I vowed I wouldn't talk about it because I am super angry about how they handled this, but I balled like a baby in How to Train Your Dragon 2 when

they killed off the Dad

.

[wallflower75]

And speaking of endings, how could I forget West Side Story?

 

Oh my God, THIS.  I started crying the minute Tony went looking for Chino, because I knew what was going to happen.  That it happened right as he saw Maria made it even worse.

 

The scene in Titanic where Mr. and Mrs. Strauss are holding each other in bed as the water's rushing underneath them...it gets me every damn time.

 

I know everyone talks about the beginning of Up, but I always cry when Carl goes through Ellie's scrapbook of their life together and realizes that even if they didn't have the adventure they wanted as children, what they had was something even more.

[Shannon L.]

 

I know everyone talks about the beginning of Up, but I always cry when Carl goes through Ellie's scrapbook of their life together and realizes that even if they didn't have the adventure they wanted as children, what they had was something even more.

I cried more at this than I did in the beginning, too.  My mom was with me and when he went through it the first time, but closed it instead of going on, my mother sniffed and said quietly "Oh, turn the page..." because she knew what was there.  And damn it, now I'm tearing up again.

[lottiedottie]

Steel Magnolias: When M'lynn held Shelby's hand until she died, then weeped while watching her grandson toddle happily down the front walk into her arms and the entire funeral scene.

This was just on the other day and I turned it on right was she was talking to the ladies after the funeral...walking back looking at her hair and crying because it really did look like a brown football helmet...and then the line that stabs you in the heart, when she just screams "I could jog to texas and back, but my daughter can't...she never could" and "I want to know WHY!!!!!" Sally Field is SO good in that scene.

[Shannon L.]

 

This was just on the other day and I turned it on right was she was talking to the ladies after the funeral...walking back looking at her hair and crying because it really did look like a brown football helmet...and then the line that stabs you in the heart, when she just screams "I could jog to texas and back, but my daughter can't...she never could" and "I want to know WHY!!!!!" Sally Field is SO good in that scene.

Interesting side note here, it's said that Sally was able to get the emotions from herself and the rest of the cast by rehearsing it immediately before filming it and using her son's name instead of Shelby.  Sounds a bit morbid, but, if it's true, it worked. 

 

I'm a happy crier, too, and last night, I ran into Miracle while channel surfing and when they beat the Russian team, I always tear up. 

Edited July 13, 2014 by Shannon L.

[BooBear]

Life of Pi (because I didn't read the book) when it becomes obvious what really happened out there on the ocean and who Richard Parker really was.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Shadowlands: C.S. Lewis mourning the loss of his wife, Joy. It kills me just thinking about it.

 

The final scene in A Patch of Blue: A little context for those who haven't seen it, it's about a blind girl named Selina (Elizabeth Hartman, who had a sad life story of her own), who befriends a black man named Gordon (Sidney Poitier), who is probably the only person alive who treats her with anything resembling respect. Gordon, knowing that even being friends with Selina is taboo (the movie takes place, and was released, in 1965), and doesn't tell her he's black. Gordon is able to enroll Selina in a school for the blind to help her escape her abusive mother (Shelley Winters).  

Selina finds out about Gordon, but doesn't care, and confesses her love for him (the extent of Gordon's feelings are left ambiguous). Gordon tells her about the school, and a taxi has arrived to take her there. Selina is heartbroken, but agrees to go. When Gordon offers to escort Selina downstairs along with the driver, Selina says, "I have to say good-bye twice?". Then he sees she forgot the music box he had given her earlier, runs out to give it to her, but the taxi is already far in the distance. He just sadly watches, then goes back inside.

I kid you not, I was a wreck. My day was ruined. But it is probably Sidney Poitier's finest acting, and A Patch of Blue is my all-time favorite score by Jerry Goldsmith.

 

Charlotte's Web: Dammit, don't make me tell you why! And the 2006 version can take a long dive in a shallow lake; Debbie Reynolds was, is, and always will be Charlotte!

 

The ending of Random Harvest gets me every time. No kidding, every. Single. Time.

[Mindymoo]

Midnight Cowboy makes me cry at the end every time I see it. I love the movie, I love the character of Ratso Rizzo so much, and when Joe Buck puts his arm around his dead friend as the bus continues to drive, I just lose it.

[Crs97]

I only saw about 5 minutes of Bang the Drum Slowly and couldn't stop crying. I can only imagine how hard I would sob if I saw the whole movie.

[Rick Kitchen]

I only saw about 5 minutes of Bang the Drum Slowly and couldn't stop crying. I can only imagine how hard I would sob if I saw the whole movie.

 

Awesome movie.  Just superb.

[Sweet Tee]

Grave of the Fireflies destroyed me. Destroyed me. Those poor kids. Especially that little girl. I almost couldn't finish it. That's got to be the hardest I've ever cried during (and long after, believe me) a movie.

[midge]

Finding Neverland.   Just one look from Freddy Highmore at that age can reduce you to a blubbering mess in about 2 seconds. 

 

I saw this movie on a plane coming from Munich to Chicago, the entire plane was sniffling. 

Edited July 15, 2014 by midge

[topanga]

 

Steel Magnolias: When M'lynn held Shelby's hand until she died, then weeped while watching her grandson toddle happily down the front walk into her arms and the entire funeral scene.

This was just on the other day and I turned it on right was she was talking to the ladies after the funeral...walking back looking at her hair and crying because it really did look like a brown football helmet...and then the line that stabs you in the heart, when she just screams "I could jog to texas and back, but my daughter can't...she never could" and "I want to know WHY!!!!!" Sally Field is SO good in that scene.

 

Oh, Man. I cry throughout the entire second half of this movie.

 

And I cry every time I watch Dirty Dancing, during the scene where Baby confronts her dad: "I know I disappointed you, but you disappointed me, too, Daddy. You disappointed me, too."

[Rick Kitchen]

The ending of Field of Dreams makes me cry every time.  Just watching this clip did me in.

 

[Babalu]

I almost never cry at movies; unfortunately, I seem to have a heart of stone. There are three, however, which caused me to SOB. They're all old, so maybe my heart has become even stonier as I've aged.

The King and I - saw this a few times on TV when I was a kid and started bawling uncontrollably when Yul Brynner dies.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - when the dog dies. When the people die? Heart of stone.

Schindler's List - at the very end/postscript when people were putting stones on Oskar Schindler's grave. (I'm sure the copious weeping was due not just to that scene but a culmination of everything leading up to it, as well.)

[Snowprince]

I only saw about 5 minutes of Bang the Drum Slowly and couldn't stop crying. I can only imagine how hard I would sob if I saw the whole movie.

"From here on in, I rag nobody"

[RadiantAerynSun]

Dear Zachary. Enough said.

[jah1986]

For me it was Radio Flyer. I have only seen it once but the scene when you realize how badly the younger brother has been beaten by the mom's boyfriend and he even tried to kill the dog just got me. I don't know if I would still get so emotional watching again but I was a sobbing mess the first time I saw it.

 

Never seen Marley and Me. I was visiting my sister and my cat had just died and she wouldn't let  me watch it, so I figured how the story would end.

[AltLivia]

 

Dear Zachary. Enough said.

I couldn't sleep after watching this documentary. To think people that evil exist in the world. And that woman had other children. And the complete carelessness of the justice system, attending to her instead of putting her away. It was one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen.

[Spartan Girl]

Oh Jesus I saw that Dear Zachary documentary.  It made me physically ill.

[RubyWoo72]

I saw the 1959 version...when Mahalia Jackson began to sing "Trouble of the World" at Annie's funeral is where I fell apart.

For a happy cry, the ending of The Color Purple when Celie is reunited with Nettie and her children gets to me every time.

Yes indeed. I was coming here to post about that very same scene. My mom and I would bawl over that every time. And I always remember the horse-drawn carriage and Mahalia Jackson.

"Up" gets me every dang time, too.

[annzeepark914]

As soon as the piano starts playing at the beginning of On Golden Pond, and I see the loons, I start to get a bit verklempt.  I've always tried to avoid very sad movies (especially the ones with animals) but this one just pulls me in.  I've been to Squam Lake in NH where it was filmed and it's so beautiful (and one does have to hang over the side of the boat to watch for huge boulders just under the surface!).  Great movie...worth the tears and sniffles.

Edited July 18, 2014 by annzeepark914

[Athena]

I rarely cry watching movies or TV shows, at most my eyes will water. I do remember that me and other people I know cried during The Hours. For me, it was the scene with Julianne Moore's son screaming for her. It was just an incredibly emotional movie all around though.

[Rick Kitchen]

Prayers for Bobby - Sigourney Weaver as a real-life mother whose son commits suicide because his family can't deal with his being gay.  OMG.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=266q7aRCfFg

[Jeebus Cripes]

"Cast Away" is another one. It's stupid but I turn into a puddle of feelings when he loses Wilson and sees his former flame again. When she tells him, "You're the love of my life!", I die every time.

 

I cried huge, foolish tears for that damned volleyball! 

 

The Green Mile. I cried so much throughout the film that my family were concerned. And  it was in no way dignified crying, either. Like, wracked-with-tears sobbing.

 

That film destroyed me. I can't even watch it again.

 

This was just on the other day and I turned it on right was she was talking to the ladies after the funeral...walking back looking at her hair and crying because it really did look like a brown football helmet...and then the line that stabs you in the heart, when she just screams "I could jog to texas and back, but my daughter can't...she never could" and "I want to know WHY!!!!!" Sally Field is SO good in that scene.

 

I've seen it a million times, I've cried a million times.

[screamin]

The final scene in A Patch of Blue: ... I kid you not, I was a wreck. My day was ruined. But it is probably Sidney Poitier's finest acting, and A Patch of Blue is my all-time favorite score by Jerry Goldsmith.

 

This. I saw it when I was about thirteen, and I swear fanfic would have been written if I were aware that the concept existed at the time.

[psychoticstate]

I cry during any sports movie, animal movie and/or Michael Landon program.  (The Ingalls family pulls together in times of crisis?  I cry.  Someone dies?  I cry.  Mary loses her sight?  I cry.  Michael Landon cries?  I cry.)

 

Outside of that, despite having seen it probably close to 100 times and owning the DVD, I cry like a fool EVERY time I watch Somewhere in Time.  Seeing Christopher Reeve with that gut wrenching cry and the end . . . gets me every damn time.

[BatmanBeatles]

Dumbo - I don't know who I hated more, the circus people or the snooty elephants.

 

The Lion King - Simba trying to wake up his dad. I would be surprised if that scen wasn't inspired by The Champ.

 

Little Women - When Beth dies.

 

Rabbit Proof Fence - What the government did to Aborigine children was horrible.

[RubyWoo72]

There was an episode of Garfield in which Odie was being sent to the pound and he didn't realize it. He was happy and goofy while he was getting in the little truck, and that slayed me, as a kid. He was on his way out, and was too stupid to notice, and I cried for a good half-hour.