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

[PepSinger]

I sobbed uncontrollably at the end of "The Imitation Game." That movie was excellent.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Still Life, from 2013, is a British movie about a civil servant who locates relatives of those who have passed away and don't seem to have anyone around. A guy who spends most of his time looking for people to stand for those who don't have family or friends right there, but never takes the time to have a life of his own. At the end of the film, it's revealed that his life had meaning all along, but not at all in the way I thought. See it if you can. Seriously, see it.

[Zola]

Has probably been tagged here before, but I would certainly add "The Green Mile" and "Castaway" to my list of tear-jerkers. Both films starring Tom Hanks - not my favourite actor, but he has an uncanny ability to pull at the heart strings sometimes.

[SmithW6079]

On 4/16/2017 at 1:30 PM, amaranta said:

My Dog Skip.  I cried for three hours.  Then I started to cry again when I went to bed.

I have not watched a dog movie since.  I guess I can't handle them.

I don't watch dog movies period. 

Imitation of Life. I don't care if it's melodramatic or campy (which I don't think it is). Lana Turner and Juanita Moore as Lora and Annie, respectively, single mothers who join forces. Each has a daughter, but Annie's daughter can pass for white and desperately wants to. The last hour or so gets me every single time, and I'm a bawling mess at the end. There is a version with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, but I haven't seen that one yet. I'm currently reading "Born to Be Hurt" by Sam Stagg, which is the story behind the movie. 

[Irlandesa]

I am not a cryer, really.  At most, my eyes sting these days.  But I do have memories of crying at three movies.  (Well maybe Bambi but I don't recall that.) 

Two of the movies that made me cry were movies I saw as a kid--Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz.  Neither of movies are movies I particularly like now and I have a different reaction to the end of Casablanca as an adult than I did when I was a kid.  But for some reason, both of these made me bawl.

But I don't have the "being a kid" excuse for the third movie.

On 8/21/2014 at 5:39 PM, NumberCruncher said:

8 Seconds (don't judge--that final scene is a killer)

I was in my teens when I saw this. I already had a well developed sense of cynicism. I already knew I wasn't a cryer.  I certainly didn't expect a movie starring Luke Perry and Cynthia Geary (from Northern Exposure) to turn me into one but yes, that final scene is a killer.  It was like a car wreck.  I saw the blatant manipulation.  I could feel myself responding. I was powerless to stop it.  Legit tears poured down my cheeks.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Irlandesa

[jewel21]

Titanic

Life as a House

[Schweedie]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

It was like a car wreck.  I saw the blatant manipulation.  I could feel myself responding. I was powerless to stop it.  Legit tears poured down my cheeks.

Heh. Man, I hate it when that happens. Like, the only thing I hate more than knowing they're attempting to emotionally manipulate me is when it actually works. It's not often that it does, but goddamn did A Dog's Purpose do it. I was rolling my eyes at myself even while I sobbed.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Schweedie

[Zola]

"Still Alice" (2013)

Watched this last night, and OMG did I blub and blub! I think I had to put the film on pause about 10 times throughout because I just couldn't see a thing due to all the tears.

A 50 year old woman has to break the news to her children she has Alzheimer's. 

This has been done before, but the performances and direction here are exceptionally well done. Julianne Moore, thoroughly deserved on Best Actress Oscar.

[Zola]

"Crouching Tiger; Hidden Dragon" (2000)

despite the wonderful action scenes, the film is also incredibly moving at times, helped considerably by some outstanding music by composer, Dun Tan.

The ending especially, had me in floods of tears.

So even though this is by and large an action film rather than an out-and-out tearjerker, it does have its moments where a box of tissues come in handy.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Zola

[Silver Raven]

5 hours ago, Zola said:

"Crouching Tiger; Hidden Dragon" (2000)

despite the wonderful action scenes, the film is also incredibly moving at times, helped considerably by some outstanding music by composer, Dun Tan.

The ending especially, had me in floods of tears.

So even though this is by and large an action film rather than an out-and-out tearjerker, it does have its moments where a box of tissues come in handy.

Not to mention freaking beautiful to see.

[Zola]

The Intouchables (2011)

(and not to be confused with Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables"), this is a wonderfully moving French film concerning a millionaire quadriplegic white man (Francois Cluzet) and a happy-go-lucky but slightly shady West African black guy (Omar Sy), who applies and subsequently wins the position of becoming the millionaire's personal assistant. 

Of course for the more cynical out there, including the SJWs, this will be seen as a stereotypical racist film - i.e. slave and master etc. But I would like to think this film is far more worthy of such disparagement. What we have in fact is a very heart-warming, funny and brilliantly executed film; and yes, there are many sad moments that had me in floods of tears both in hope and despair - aided & abetted by some delightful music that sets the mood instantly.

I guess there's a lot of predictability throughout, but the lead actors are so engrossed/absorbed in their roles, that you simply don't care. Omar Sy especially, offers so much screen charisma that you can't help but fall in love with him and his positive outlook on life.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/combined

[JBC344]

On ‎9‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 4:55 AM, Zola said:

The Intouchables (2011)

(and not to be confused with Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables"), this is a wonderfully moving French film concerning a millionaire quadriplegic white man (Francois Cluzet) and a happy-go-lucky but slightly shady West African black guy (Omar Sy), who applies and subsequently wins the position of becoming the millionaire's personal assistant. 

Of course for the more cynical out there, including the SJWs, this will be seen as a stereotypical racist film - i.e. slave and master etc. But I would like to think this film is far more worthy of such disparagement. What we have in fact is a very heart-warming, funny and brilliantly executed film; and yes, there are many sad moments that had me in floods of tears both in hope and despair - aided & abetted by some delightful music that sets the mood instantly.

I guess there's a lot of predictability throughout, but the lead actors are so engrossed/absorbed in their roles, that you simply don't care. Omar Sy especially, offers so much screen charisma that you can't help but fall in love with him and his positive outlook on life.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1675434/combined

They have actually done an American remake of this with Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart soon to be released.  Still kept as a drama.

[amaranta]

Life is Beautiful

Roberto Benigni can indeed be an odd little man, and at times annoying, but I think he put together an incredible film with that one.  It's not a movie I watch often (seen it 4-5 times over the years); I can only take so much heartbreak. 

[Silver Raven]

51 minutes ago, amaranta said:

Life is Beautiful

Roberto Benigni can indeed be an odd little man, and at times annoying, but I think he put together an incredible film with that one.  It's not a movie I watch often (seen it 4-5 times over the years); I can only take so much heartbreak. 

Absolutely detest this movie.  Concentration camp movies are not lighthearted fun times.  And it really, really bugged me that Benigni's lips were repeating the kid's lines while the kid was saying them.

[amaranta]

Quote

Concentration camp movies are not lighthearted fun times.

Oh, that wasn't my interpretation of this at all.  Given that the viewpoint of the film was from the memory of the boy as narrator, the audience only knew a few things: 1) what the father wanted his son to see and know in order to protect him, his innocence and a child's natural love for life and 2) the beginning which was the courtship and marriage of his parents which was shot in dreamlike, fantasy colors, very saturated - the only way he would know that part of the story was through his mother's retelling, letting the memory of his father live on through her words.  It was told to the boy with love and gratitude for the life of her child.  The father's sacrifice was total and complete and allowed his son to continue to believe that life is beautiful, the only gift left he had to give during such a horrible time.

The film allowed the realism gaps to be filled in by audience knowledge, from what we all knew was the horror of the camps.  Geez, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

Anyway, that's what I saw.  I saw no lighthearted fun.  A loving deception, but no fun or comedy.  I put this movie in the tragedy category.

[Spartan Girl]

That wasn't my interpretation either. It wasn't trying to be funny, and it didn't undermined he tragedy and horror. The scene with him accidentally stumbling across the pile of emaciated corpses still chills me to the bone.

Some people complain that he shouldn't have shielded the little boy from everything that was going on, that it would only wind up traumatizing him more once he grew up and understood what really happened. Maybe I'm not qualified to give an opinion about this, but I disagree.  He was only five or six. What was his dad supposed to do, let him be exposed to all that horror when he was too young to understand anyway? I'm sure most of the real Holocaust survivors didn't have a say in that situation. 

And sometimes it's better to be too young to really comprehend that life as you knew it is over. Given how young he was, perhaps he wouldn't be able to remember much of it on his own, except for what his mother told him. Either way, the dad dies to save his son's life and innocence. 

[amaranta]

53 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

The scene with him accidentally stumbling across the pile of emaciated corpses still chills me to the bone.

That and the line "Children - it's time to take a shower."  It's a difficult movie to watch, the juxtaposition of parental love pitted against unspeakable inhumanity and unimaginable loss of life.  Now I must go and watch something light; my hands are shaking.

[Spartan Girl]

Avengers: Infinity War.  That is all.

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Avengers: Infinity War.  That is all.

Especially the scene that we just learned was improved.

[Spartan Girl]

The ending of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, when Chief smothers Randall to spare him the pain of living out the rest of his life as a labotimized zombie. The minute that ending music starts playing, I start bawling.

And as long as we are on the subject of the films of the late Milos Forman, Ragtime leaves me an emotional wreck. I don't condone anything Coalhouse did, but him getting shot by the cops was just felt like another pointless death. What a tragedy.

 I also can't watch the end of Amadeus without getting depressed.

[MaggieG]

The Impossible. Naomi Watts and Ewan Mcgregor play a couple who are visiting Thailand with their three sons when the 2004 tsunami hit. Naomi and the oldest son (played by current Spiderman Tom Holland) get seperated from Ewan and the two younger sons. I'm so glad I watched this alone because I was bawling. It's based on a true story.

Spoiler

They eventually reunite. The thing that got me was Tom Holland's character (his name was Lucas) saw his father walking on the grounds of the hospital and starts running after him but loses him. He then screams "Dad!" really loudly which is heard by the two younger sons who just happened to be on a bus nearby. They recognize his voice and start screaming "Lucas!" while running trying to find him. They reunite and then Dad of course hears the voices and comes running as well. I was a complete mess on the couch lol

It's not necesarily a sad scene but I was moved to tears by Wonder Woman with the whole No Man's Land sequence. It was that awesome.

[Jacqs]

Judith Barsi would have gone far. I was looking at one of the adverts she did, for the Bottle Time Baby doll, and they've dressed her very doll-like (and tried to make her seem younger than she was) in that yellow dress.  I feel for child actresses that have to play substantially younger than they are, given how very young female children are hyper-femmed and cutie pied in a way that boys ("little men" even when they are 4) are not.

[QQQQ]

On 4/11/2017 at 3:38 PM, Archery said:

I think it was a theatrical movie, but I saw it on TV when I was a kid:  Without a Trace, with Kate Nelligan and Judd Hirsch.  Nelligan's 6 year old son is kidnapped, and she never loses hope that he will be found, although everyone else does.  Hirsch is the NY detective, and following a tip from some whackadoo who keeps calling every few months, he goes to this apartment in NJ where he finds the kid. He realizes that they could have found him sooner, if they hadn't just dismissed the caller's tip.  He starts driving back to NY, escorted by NJ police.  When they cross into NY, he radios the NJ cops and says, "Okay, I can take it from here."  They radio back, "If you don't mind, we'd like to tag along."  They pull into Nelligan's neighborhood just as she's walking home from the grocery.  When the kid gets out of the car, she just drops her bags and RUNS to him.

I have a very clear memory of my mother and me both being wrecked by that ending.

Me too! I was actually just looking to see if this was streaming for free or on any of my subscriptions last week because I have such vivid memories of that last scene.

[JustHereForFood]

The ending of The Secret Life of Bees destroyed me. There were several sad and rage-inducing moments in the movie, but the scene when we see what really happened with Lily's mother... well, it's a great movie, but I'm probably never going to rewatch it because of that scene.

[AgathaC]

Against my better judgment, I agreed to watch E.T. tonight. My 12-year-old stepson had never seen it and Hubby felt like he needed to. And it’s a great movie, a must-see for kids. Fine. So I prepared and steeled myself for the ending, but I was not ready for some other things that snuck up on me: ET being left behind. ET dying…

I might have come up with some excuses to leave the room…

It didn’t help that Hubby and SS were dry-eyed and seemed to think it was funny that that movie consistently chokes me up.

Sometimes, I swear, I’m the only person I know who’s not missing an empathy chip.