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

[MrsRafaelBarba]

The Normal Heart....

Ruffalo's voiceover, during the montage of his character caring for his sick lover.

The flashback with Kitsch's voiceover, showing the shitty treatment Albert got after death.

[Shades of Red]

I have a "go to" roster of tearjerkers and at the top of the list is :  A Home at the End of the World.  I think this is Colin Farrell's finest work.  The two waltzing/slow dance scenes with Colin and Dallas Roberts bring tears every time I watch this ... and I've watched it many times.  There's something so tender and caring in both scenes although they happen at different parts of the characters' lives, that makes me weep.

 

Soldier's Girl - frightening and makes me cry for making me have to acknowledge how cruel people are.   The last part of the movie when Calpernia is lip synching on stage with the scenes in the barracks gets me ugly crying every time.

 

The Stone Angel and J'ai tué ma mère - something about mothers and sons can set me off at times.  I was holding on just fine watching J'ai tué ma mère until the the scene on the beach close to the end.  I was a volunteer at a film festival when I saw this and the other volunteers offered kleenex and kept checking to make sure I was okay because I was crying so hard. 

 

A Star is Born - the version with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.  Every time I watch this I expect the ending to change.  The music starts and I think, this time it'll be different.  No the outcome is always the same.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Dear Zachary. I don't want to get into detail, but I was a wreck. If you watch it, for God's sake have tissues handy. You will need them.

Edited November 20, 2014 by Wiendish Fitch

[Helena Dax]

-Shadowlands. That last scene when Lewis and Joy's kid start crying together... OMG. 

 

-Schindler's list. All of it.

 

-Toy Story 3. I can't with so much angst, I was a mess at the cinema.

 

-Cyrano de Bergerac.  The last scene, when he's dying but he still goes to visit Roxanne...

 

-The Normal Heart. I literally couldn't sleep that  night, the shower scene was killing me. 

 

-Casablanca. The Marseillaise scene. Every time. 

[Rick Kitchen]

A lot of the actors in the Marsellaise scene were actually French citizens who had fled the Nazis.  Their emotions were real.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Forgot about Soldier Girl, Lee Pace and Troy Garrity both were Amazing.

The latter has been reduced to playing thugs, in projects like Gangster Squad.

[88Keys]

I made the mistake of flipping back and forth between "The Notebook" and "8 Below" one night.  Not smart.  I was a wreck.

 

I also made the mistake of watching Dumbo right after my daughter was born.  I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.  I find I really hate Dumbo now as an adult- it's beyond sad.  More like downright cruel. 

 

 

Best first ten minutes of any movie, ever.

 

I can't watch Up because I can't get past that.  I watched the first 10 minutes and sobbed uncontrollably for 20 more.  I've also seen the scrapbook scene...yeah.  If that movie is on, I turn the channel.

 

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.

 

I actually saw this in the theater with several of my guy friends, and they were all about to cry.  And my husband got insanely upset when Percy killed the mouse.  Even more upset than when actual people died.
 

Savannah Smiles - Not many remember this one but the last few scenes in the movie where Savannah is found is a tearjerker.

 

 

OMG!  I totally remember that one.  We saw it when I was a kid and I was so upset at the end, my mom had to sit me down and explain why Savannah had to go back to her real parents.  I just couldn't wrap my mind around it.

 

 

[Nidratime]

A definite B movie, but I cry buckets at the end of the 1968 movie, Mayerling, co-starring Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve.

[avecsans]

Terms of Endearment just about kills me. The scene where Debra Winger is saying goodbye to her son - he's really young, pissed off that she's dying, and is therefore mad at her. She tells him that she loves him and when he's older not to feel bad about being mad at her, because she knows that he loves her. Tears in my eyes typing this. That shit kills me everytime....

Yes x 1,000. The part that really gets me is when Aurora starts screaming at the nurse that her daughter needs her pain meds. I cry huge ugly tears at that scene. I actually embarrassed my friends while were watching it in the theater way back when because I was sobbing. Loudly. Edited November 24, 2014 by avecsans

[Luckylyn]

I have a "go to" roster of tearjerkers and at the top of the list is :  A Home at the End of the World.  I think this is Colin Farrell's finest work.  The two waltzing/slow dance scenes with Colin and Dallas Roberts bring tears every time I watch this ... and I've watched it many times.  There's something so tender and caring in both scenes although they happen at different parts of the characters' lives, that makes me weep.

 

Soldier's Girl - frightening and makes me cry for making me have to acknowledge how cruel people are.   The last part of the movie when Calpernia is lip synching on stage with the scenes in the barracks gets me ugly crying every time.

Soldier's Girl in particular hurts because you know this horrible murder really happened.  I watched that movie in denial somehow hoping for a different outcome.

 

I love A Home At The End Of The World, and the ending breaks your heart.  It sucks that Bobby is forced to choose between Dallas Roberts and Robin Wright since he loves them both so much, and they love each other and that losing Dallas is inevitable no matter what Bobby does.  Both dances are lovely but the second one is so poignant because Bobby knows that things are going to get difficult, and he's trying so hard to stay positive for Dallas.  The way Robin plays that scene where she starts out amused and then heart broken at the realization that as much as they love her they have a stronger bond with each other.

 

The Green Mile is devastating.  I knew what I was getting into with the movie because I had read the book and still it hit me hard.

 

I just can't handle Dear Zachary.  That woman was a monster, and it hurts to know that if the legal system had not been so lenient towards her that things could have turned out so differently.  Zachary's grandparents are remarkably strong people.

 

I get teary eyed at the end of The Purple Rose of Cairo.  I just feel so badly for Mia Farrow.

 

Saving Private Ryan destroyed me and my cousins.  We just cried the whole way home.

[lottiedottie]

Yes x 1,000. The part that really gets me is when Aurora starts screaming at the nurse that her daughter needs her pain meds. I cry huge ugly tears at that scene. I actually embarrassed my friends while were watching it in the theater way back when because I was sobbing. Loudly.

I can't even think about Terms of Endearment without getting choked up. 

[Bastet]

The part that really gets me is when Aurora starts screaming at the nurse that her daughter needs her pain meds.

 

"Give my daughter the shot!"

 

And then everything about the death scene, from the way Emma does the little wave to let her mom know it's time to when Aurora tells Flap she's so stupid, because somehow she thought when it finally happened it would be a relief.

[Shades of Red]

I love A Home At The End Of The World, and the ending breaks your heart.  It sucks that Bobby is forced to choose between Dallas Roberts and Robin Wright since he loves them both so much, and they love each other and that losing Dallas is inevitable no matter what Bobby does.  Both dances are lovely but the second one is so poignant because Bobby knows that things are going to get difficult, and he's trying so hard to stay positive for Dallas.  The way Robin plays that scene where she starts out amused and then heart broken at the realization that as much as they love her they have a stronger bond with each other.

 

They really did have a strong bond.  The young man (Erik Smith) who plays a young Bobby as a teenager was terrific in the role.  He really sets up the emotional roller coaster and the "innocence" (for lack of a better word) that Bobby has.  One of my favourite scenes with him occurs when the boys are smoking up and he ends up waltzing with Alice (Sissy Spacek).  Another wonderful slow dance/waltz. 

 

As a side note, this role for Colin Farrell has to be his best - at least in my books.  The scene that convinced me of his acting abilities happens when he tells Clare "I've never done this before".  I believed him hook, line and sinker ... even knowing Colin's background in real life.  I had no doubt in my mind he hadn't "done it before".  The look on both their faces is priceless!  I know it's called "acting" for a reason but when you can truly believe what a character is saying and totally forget who is playing the character to me it's something special.

[Spartan Girl]

You want depressing war movies?  How about Casualties of War?  That was just horrific on so many levels.  It probably would have even been worse had I understood what the poor girl was screaming throughout her ordeal.  And I felt for Michael J. Fox's character too: even though he tried to help the girl escape and later reported her rape and murder to the authorities, it was never going to be enough to absolve his guilt that he didn't do more.  The part where he's urging the girl to go, and she won't because (presumably) she's scared and has no idea where she was and needed him to go with her just tore my heart out.

[auntiemel]

Wow, I actually came on this thread to see if anyone had mentioned Dear Zachary, because I thought it deserved a mention. I should have known you guys wouldn't let me down! :)

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Terms of Endearment just about kills me.  The scene where Debra Winger is saying goodbye to her son - he's really young, pissed off that she's dying, and is therefore mad at her.  She tells him that she loves him and when he's older not to feel bad about being mad at her, because she knows that he loves her.  Tears in my eyes typing this.  That shit kills me everytime....

 

In the book sequel to Terms of Endearment, The Evening Star, Aurora's grandson or great-grandson was a little boy when she passed away, and there's a scene at the end where he, as an adult, remembers sitting with her and playing with her bracelets while they listen to classical music. The same piece starts to play, and the guy becomes a crying wreck for reasons he can't define or articulate. It's painful.

 

When the horse died in Neverending Story, it messed me up so bad I could barely finish the movie.

 

What killed me most about that is that, just before the horse disappears beneath the mud, Atreyu screams "ARTAX!" as if his heart's about to break.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Cobalt Stargazer

[Princess Sparkle]

Dear Zachary. I don't want to get into detail, but I was a wreck. If you watch it, for God's sake have tissues handy. You will need them.

I don't really ugly cry alone at movies a lot, but man, this one ripped my heart out.  And the fact that all of it could've been prevented just makes it even worse.  My heart just breaks for that family, and his grandparents are stronger (and better) people than I could ever be in that situation.

[missbonnie]

My Girl with Anna Chlumsky and Macaulay Culkin. I saw this again recently and still cried like a baby. I'm such a soft heart my 21 year old daughter hates to go to sad movies with me because there have been a few times where I was flat out sobbing and just couldn't stop. LOL

[blackCatCollins]

in no particular order

 

Mr Holland's Opus
The Notebook
The Cure
Stepmom
Homeward Bound
Perks of being a wallflower
The Normal Heart
Remember Me
My girl

[missbonnie]

Step-mom kills me every single time, and since it's winter I have to add Jack Frost.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

The worst for me as a child were Bambi, and Old Yeller.  One never forgets that kind of pure, unadulterated, pain and loss.

 

As an adult, my worst worst moments in a theater were 1) The Last Temptation of Christ, when Mary saw her tortured son (corresponding with the 4th Station of the Cross).  The flashback to when he was a boy and skinned his knee and she rushed to him?  Those two vignettes just destroyed me in my seat.  2)  Toy Story 3.  I was within a couple of weeks when I was to move thousands of miles from a bunch of kids I was mentoring and had come to love.  The scene when the toys were being given to the girl had me crying more tears than I could ever remember crying in one instance.

[Dancingjaneway]

I was bawling through a lot of Wall-E. Watching that sweet robot rock himself to sleep was killer. 

[Schweedie]

Toy Story 3.  I was within a couple of weeks when I was to move thousands of miles from a bunch of kids I was mentoring and had come to love.  The scene when the toys were being given to the girl had me crying more tears than I could ever remember crying in one instance.

I was literally bawling during that scene. And, I mean - it's not a particularly sad scene in itself; I doubt children find it all that sad, but me? Just thinking about it can make me well up. I've never watched the film together with someone else, because I know I'll end up a wreck and it'll be embarrassing for everyone involved.

[scarynikki12]

I have to watch Pixar movies alone because I always turn into a complete wreck and it's less embarrassing to tell people about it than to have witnesses.

[Shannon L.]

I just got back from The Imitation Game and I cried during the next to last scene when

we found out that he was undergoing hormonal therapy as part of his punishment for being gay (after being arrested for indecency, his choice was that or prison time).

.  It was an outstanding movie and the performances made that scene just that much more powerful.

[Miss Dee]

How to Make an American Quilt - the montage near the end where all the ladies are putting the finishing touches on the details of the quilt for Finn, and each lady flashes back to the scene in her life that prompted the detail... causes ugly sobs for me.

A League of Their Own - the entire end with the ladies visiting their exhibit at the Hall of Fame. By the way, the casting of those ladies to match their younger counterparts was STELLAR.

The Joy Luck Club - "I see you."

Toy Story II - Jessie's story of love and abandonment to the tune of Sarah McLachlan's "When She Loved Me." Fucking destroyed me the first time I watched it.

Shall We Dance? - Richard Gere bringing his wife the rose to the tune of Peter Gabriel's "The Book of Love."

[hardy har]

Dear Zachary. I don't want to get into detail, but I was a wreck. If you watch it, for God's sake have tissues handy. You will need them.

I had no idea what Dear Zachary was about when I saw it. I just knew it was a documentary that was getting great reviews. I was a total mess during, like the last 45 minutes. So infuriating and tragic. My roommate at the time came home about an hour after I finished it and was like, "Oh, God. Have you been crying? What's wrong?" Speaking of documentaries. . . . Sex in A Cold Climate is the doc that inspired Peter Mulan to make The Magdalene Sisters. It was kind of hard to get ahold of so he even made the doc a special feature on the DVD for his movie, both of which had me fuming and in tears. 

 

As far as fictional stuff ....... The Broken Circle Breakdown pretty much destroyed me. I was audibly sobbing at one point. I know. Crazy thing is other parts of that movie filled me with so much joy that I had a big stupid smile on my face. Great music in that one too.

Edited March 9, 2015 by hardy har

[sweetcookieface]

I agree with a lot of movies referenced in this thread, but especially this:

 

When the horse died in Neverending Story, it messed me up so bad I could barely finish the movie.

 

Others that haven't been mentioned:

 

Dancer in the Dark: I remember being a mess during the last scene, and probably for a good half hour leading up to it.

 

The Dollmaker: Not sure how many remember this movie from the 80s (I think it might technically be a TV movie), but it's the quintessential tearjerker. Jane Fonda's character (Gertie) is forced to move her struggling family from Appalachia to urban Detroit, and a lot of the movie is about their difficulties adapting. There were several scenes that got to me, but the most traumatic was the one where Gertie witnesses her young daughter get hit by a train (the daughter, who was constantly bullied, was playing with her "imaginary friend" on the tracks; I think she may have also had some vision or hearing problems that prevented her from reacting to the train in time).  It was bad enough seeing Gertie carry her daughter's bloodied body to the hospital, but the worst part was when she started throwing money at the doctors, begging them to save her daughter. Just a really bleak and heart-wrenching movie.

 

Fiddler on the Roof: Lots of poignant scenes, but the one that immediately comes to mind is when Tevye finally reaches his breaking point and rejects his youngest daughter for falling for a Christian. The accompanying song ("Little Bird, Little Chavala") gets me every time. Actually, the song his middle daughter sings when she and her husband move to Siberia ("Far From the Home I Love") is pretty sad too.

[methodwriter85]

I totally remember the Dollmaker...I had no clue that was Jane Fonda.

[manbearpig]

I was a full on mess yesterday while watching Lilo & Stitch. It's a delightful movie, though, when it's not making me cry.

 

I never cried when Ash died in Pokémon the first movie as a child. But, when I watched it after my A-Levels and realised my childhood was over I full on bawled. Mess.  

[PrincessEnnui]

I never cried when Ash died in Pokémon the first movie as a child. But, when I watched it after my A-Levels and realised my childhood was over I full on bawled. Mess.  

 

I feel the same way every time I watch Spirited Away.

[raezen]

I don't think this film was a big blockbuster or anything when it came out but 'The Cure' with Joseph Mazzello and Brad Renfro is definitely on a list of films I can't watch without becoming a blubbering mess. Especially now since the passing of Brad Renfro.

[shang yiet]

The Land Before Time when the little dinosaur thinks he's found his lost mum and it's not her, just a shadow on the rock. And the ending when all the dino friends have made it safely to the end of their journey and the Diana Ross song comes on.

[Snipsa]

Furious 7 - the final tribute had me wiping away tears.

Dear Zachary - angry tears like never before

Taegukgi (Brotherhood of war) - manipulated tears that would not stop!

My girl - such manipulation but man, I cried so much. Although I Haven't watched it as an adult - don't want to ruin childhood memories.

Backdraft - I know it is through evil manipulation but man if I don't bawl my eyes out every single time!

Swimming Upstream - Lesser known Aussie movie. I can't remember the film well, only watched it once and can't find it anywhere! But I remember a scene between the father and son (Geoffrey Rush and Jesse Spencer) that had me crying ugly tears. It is actually an uplifting and motivational movie, but that one scene was so raw it had me crying for a while.

[ruby24]

Atonement is a good tearjerker.

Edited April 11, 2015 by ruby24

[Ivana Tinkle]

A few I haven't seen listed yet:

 

House of Sand and Fog - This movie DESTROYED me.  It was so unbelievably tragic, with amazing performances by Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly.  I basically ugly cried for the last half hour.

 

Gran Torino - I honestly didn't expect the ending so I was literally on floor sobbing.  My now ex husband was like "We have to GO.  This movie is due back to Red Box in like ten minutes.  GET UP."

 

The Fox and the Hound - When she has to leave Tod in the woods I about lost it.

 

All Dogs Go to Heaven - I don't know why I didn't expect Charlie to die in a movie that basically spoiled the ending with its title.  But I didn't.  And I was wreck when he did.

 

And of course, many others that have already been mentioned: My Girl, Forrest Gump, Up, Schindler's List, Big Hero 6...man, I cry at movies a lot. 

[Spartan Girl]

All Dogs Go to Heaven - I don't know why I didn't expect Charlie to die in a movie that basically spoiled the ending with its title.  But I didn't.  And I was wreck when he did.

 

 

Oh Jesus, that movie destroyed me, and it was ten times worse when I found out what happened to Judith Barsi (the voice of the little girl Anne Marie).  It was nice when they dedicated the film and the "Love Survives" ending theme to her, but it still destroyed me.

[BatmanBeatles]

 

The Fox and the Hound - When she has to leave Tod in the woods I about lost it.

The song doesn't help.

[Archery]

Not depressing, really, but so beautiful and so, so sad:  Taking Chance. 

(As in - need a cold wash cloth and a Tylenol afterward sad.)

[topanga]

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

Which version?

[redlaces]

The end of Mask.. When Cher is putting in the pins and tears the house up. 

[Schweedie]

My girl - such manipulation but man, I cried so much. Although I Haven't watched it as an adult - don't want to ruin childhood memories.

...

Swimming Upstream - Lesser known Aussie movie. I can't remember the film well, only watched it once and can't find it anywhere! But I remember a scene between the father and son (Geoffrey Rush and Jesse Spencer) that had me crying ugly tears. It is actually an uplifting and motivational movie, but that one scene was so raw it had me crying for a while.

 

Same with My Girl. I remember seeing it with my mother when I was - maybe ten? something like that, and both of us sitting there sobbing. Like you I haven't watched it since.

 

And oh, someone else who's seen Swimming Upstream! That's genuinely the first thing I think of when I think of Geoffrey Rush, because he's so bloody good in that. And the thing is, although technically it's a movie about triumph, it's exactly a completely happy ending. The way

the dad turns the brothers against each other to the point where they never quite repaired their relationship

broke my heart.

 

And god, All Dogs Go to Heaven and The Land Before Time. Sure, Disney was the top dog, but when I grew up I was all about the Don Bluth films, as sad as they are. I'm glad I was just the right age when Bluth made all those movies, because they shaped my childhood.

[BatmanBeatles]

What about An American Tale? I felt like this film put me through the ringer. Every time Fivel missed his family by mere seconds just killed me.

Edited April 16, 2015 by BatmanBeatles

[Schweedie]

What about An American Tale? I felt like this film put me through the ringer. Every time Fivel missed his family by mere seconds just killed me.

 

When all those other orphaned mice kids tell Fievel to forget about his family because they don't care about him, and he cries and decides to give up? My six-year-old heart couldn't take it. (My thirty-year-old heart still can't.)

[Spartan Girl]

The "Someone's Waiting For You" sequence in The Rescuers made my heart ache.

[Ankai]

I just watched a movie called Departures, about a man who takes a job preparing the deceased for their coffins. Given its subject matter, this movie could have been a tearjerker out of the gate, but the movie was quite deliberate in easing the audience in at the beginning with a bit of mild humor. It wasn't really until nearly halfway through that the weight of the sadness became prominent, but even then, it was not some despairing misery. It was less a movie that makes its audience cry and more one that lets its audience cry. I really liked it.

[Spartan Girl]

I'd like to add Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. A strange choice, but it makes me emotional to watch Hogwarts being destroyed, the Quidditch field being burned, and most of my favorite characters in the series dying!

Don't even get me started on the Forbidden Forest scene. When Harry reaches out to touch the ghost of his mother and their hands pass right through each other...gah. And "You've been so brave" always gets me sobbing, both in the book and the movie.

[spaceytraci1208]

I've intentionally avoided any movie centered around 9/11, but today I watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . It was much lighter than I'd expected, but I shed many a tear during the last 20-30 minutes. Not all tears were sad, but they were plentiful lol. When it was over, I was glad to have watched it.

[Rick Kitchen]

I've intentionally avoided any movie centered around 9/11, but today I watched Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . It was much lighter than I'd expected, but I shed many a tear during the last 20-30 minutes. Not all tears were sad, but they were plentiful lol. When it was over, I was glad to have watched it.

 

I love that movie.

[ChromaKelly]

I'd like to add Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. A strange choice, but it makes me emotional to watch Hogwarts being destroyed, the Quidditch field being burned, and most of my favorite characters in the series dying!

Don't even get me started on the Forbidden Forest scene. When Harry reaches out to touch the ghost of his mother and their hands pass right through each other...gah. And "You've been so brave" always gets me sobbing, both in the book and the movie.

Yes, this. I can't get through Snape's death and The Prince's Tale sequence without crying and I've seen the movie 100 times. Also seeing the Weasleys discover Fred is dead, especially since George has to live without his twin (I have twins, so it always makes me think about this happening to my girls), and that Mrs. Weasley's biggest fear is losing one of her children.