Movies that brought a tear to your eye

[LSN80]

It's a simple concept, I suppose, and that's in simply listing movies that made you choke up, your eyes water, or simply just lose it. It can be a particularly moving scene, or simply a line that resonated with you in some way. As for me, there are a couple of movies that spring to mind:

John Q(2002)
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In the exchange between Robert Duvall's hostage negotiator and Denzel Washington, or 'John Q', John is holding Duvall's sniper hostage. John repeatedly tells Duvall what he needs: Help for his sick and dying son.

When people are sick, they deserve a little help. Sick? Help. Sick? Help. I am not going to bury my son, my son is going to bury me.

While the movie is certainly not without its flaws, John Q is certainly poignant when it comes to playing on one's emotions. No better example of this is here. My parents have always told me that no parent should have to bury their child, yet it's something I've seen happen time and time again, both personally and professionally. While John may not have cracked Duvall's character, he certainly did me, as my eyes were quite most after watching.

That's one just off the top of my head. If I come up with more, I'll be sure to post them.

What movies, whether it be a poignant scene or an emotional charged line, has brought a tear to your eye?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

John Q! Jesus, I forgot all about that film.

I generally get a tear in my eye in Edward Scissorhands when Vincent Price dies. I'm not sure why. Dying is what old people do. Maybe its because I was about 6 when I saw it and I thought all people died in your scissorhands like that and I was concerned about the grandparents or something.

Also Titanic. Fuck you guys, I love it!

 

[Blue Chipper]

The Green Mile. The movie makes the viewer care about the characters; the viewer becomes emotionally invested in the good guys and abhors the bad guys. One of the main protagonists, John Coffey, captures sympathy from the audience and, while the movie elicits strong emotion in a number of scenes, it all culminates in the final moments of the movie. As we become invested in John Coffey and his circumstances, his impending death, and the way it's handled, is one of the most tear-jerking dynamics of cinema.

 

[Miko]

Lord Of The Rings, when Boromir dies, I always cry when Sean Bean dies in anything though, so I've actually never stopped.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Marley & Me

I was very close to my dogs that I grew up with. The entirety of this movie reminded me of my dogs and the experiences that came along the way. Both the happy and the sad times. All the way up until the end.... click the spoiler tag to see which scene I'm talking about and why it made me cry.

Spoiler

Marley becomes very sick in his old age and Owen Wilson's character is unable to save him. He makes a tough decision and puts him down, staying by his dog's side the whole time. It reminded me of something very similar I went through as a teenager. It was an extremely tough time in my life when all three of the dogs I grew up with died of old age during the same year, I had helped raise them for 10+ years, but just like Marley we were unable to save them when they got sick in their old age and they died.

I have never cried so hard in a movie before, I had only just recently gone through something similar and was not fully over it yet. By the time I got back home I lost it and was bawling. It was a very good movie, but I would probably never watch it again. It hits too close to home and even just writing this post is bringing a tear to my eye.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Daredevil made me cry. Why didn't Ben Affleck drop a couple pounds before filming a movie in which he had to wear latex? WHY??

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Two films have got to me to a larger extent than I would have thought; The Iron Giant and Tell No One.

The Iron Giant is the best non-Disney animated film ever made (in the west, because no doubt someone will put forth a Studio Ghibli film as a reprisal)

It blended humour about fear and the unknown into a palatable children's film where the nonsense of war and fighting was key to the big emotional payoff at the end. TIG had a fantastic voice cast that again is one of the best ever assembled for an animated film. Vin Diesel wasn't that big at the time, Christopher MacDonald has never been a big name, Harry Connick Jr's biggest roles were in Will and Grace, Memphis Belle (a favoured childhood film of mine) and Copycat. Only Jennifer Aniston could be considered a big "acting name" of the main cast, yet they all portrayed their roles pitch-perfect.

I hope a sequel never materialises, because the impact of the word "Superman" would lose a lot of meaning.



Tell No One is a film I bought in a short-lived DVD shop in Aberdeen that mainly catered to less mainstream films at bargain prices. It was never gonna last long.

Music is a massive part of the films main beats and it used Jeff Buckley's cover of Lilac Wine and U2's With or Without You to beautiful effect. The main plot revolves around a man whose wife is believed to be dead, until he begins receiving messages that say that she is actually alive. Is he mad? Is he being played for a fool? Is he so lost in grief that he is imagining a less painful fate for him and his wife?

The film blends thriller aspects with a lovely 'love conquers all' message and if you are not at least moved by one of the final shots of the film, then you can go fuck yourself.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I'm not doing this to pose as a manly man - it's already been established that I am the very personification of machismo - but I don't recall a single instance where I've cried at a film. A glum expression, maybe. A lump in the throat, perhaps. Moist eyelids, once in a blue moon.

Marley and Me is an unadulterated piece of shit but it does lead me into this:

I don't like seeing animals harmed or in peril in films. It makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable and distressed, even though I know it's just a film. This is likely because I'm a sociopath that can only empathise with animals and not fellow human beings.

I Am Legend, another huge piece of shit, has a decent five minutes in it.

Big I Am Legend spoilers!

It's terrible. Don't watch it - read the book instead.

Also, the dog dies and Will Smith has a breakdown. I was getting all quivery-lipped in the cinema until some cunt yelled out "No, mate!" and sent me back to reality with a thump.

Oh, and the one moment that felt genuinely earned - i.e. didn't have to metaphorically or literally put a gun to a puppy's head to get a reaction from me:

"So long, partner."

Hnngh, it hurts! It hurts so much.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Toy Story 3 is one of the very few films that I watched and then figured would only really affect me if I have kids, as I found it kinda boring the first 2 go-arounds.

A big part of this could be because I saw it a month after release when numerous 'OMG I cryed soooooo much at TS3 :-( </3' updates had been posted that I was prepared for a fucking massacre, and came out of the cinema instead thinking, well that was quite nice but I'd rather watch the first 2 again.

I'm actually going to add Brokeback Mountain to my list. "Derp gay cowboys LOL DERP DERP" is the usual reaction, but the film is so well directed, acted, presented, that it is hard not to feel a sense of horrible loss and unfortunate compromise come the end of of the film where Heath Ledgers character is left in an enclosed surrounding by a bittersweet memory of when he was happiest.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I know a lot of Star Wars fans hate the prequels, but the scene on Mustafar before Anakin and Obi-Wan go at it in the final duel got me, when I first saw Revenge Of The Sith in theaters. Portman did such a great job of selling the heartbreak and anguish of watching the love of her life turn into this vicious and cold-blooded monster before her eyes. As Anakin continued to push her away, Padame refused to give up on him, sending Anakin into a rage (after he saw Obi-Wan on the ship), where he eventually used the force choke on her. And the tragic moment comes full circle, as the The Chosen One turns on his mentor.

Of course, Hayden Christensen almost ruined the fucking moment with his overacting and scrunched facial expressions, but McGregor and Portman held everything together. Oh, and that score in the background! Such a perfect fit for this scene.

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Another one more recently would be M's swan song, as Bond was holding her in the church at the end of Skyfall. I always thought Judi Dench did a great job with the character, and it was only fitting for her to die in Bond's arms. And yeah, the moment in The Two Towers, where Gandalf breaks Theoden out of Saruman's spell. The look of overwhelming joy and relief on Miranda Otto's face as she watched Theoden stand up as himself again, and draw his sword is the best moment in the Two Towers for me.

 

[HBsam31]

I am not much of a crier, but Tom Hank's movies seem to do it for me. Philadelphia is a movie that pretty much makes me uncomfortable in every way, but I got drawn into it one night years after the first time I saw it. When they make him take off his shirt in the court room to show the lesions all over his upper body brought tears to my eyes. Forrest Gump also did it to me when he goes to visit Jenny's grave near the end, and he tells her how smart their son is. Castaway did it twice to me. Once when he loses Wilson, and again at the end where he goes back to see Helen Hunt, and she wants to run off with him, but they both realize that it can't and won't happen.

 

[Wolf Pac]

The ending to American History X. The whole movie had me emotional but the ending when Furlong gets shot in the school bathroom and Norton comes running in and breaks down, holding his brother, screaming "What have I done?" is what broke me into tears. Just shocking stuff, man.

Boromir's death in Lord Of The Rings. Even though he's kind of a jerk, he goes out valiantly and honorably. Really touching and powerful death scene especially with the way he delivers his last line to Aragorn, "I would have followed you, my brother; my captain; my king."

And Castaway for me aswell, when Hanks loses Wilson and when he stares into the camera at the end, even though it was supposed to be kind of a happy ending cause Hanks stares with a faint smile, but still it was hard for me to not to look at his face and cry because of everything he had gone through on the island.

 

[rocknrollchick5]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 when Severus dies. OMG I always cry like a baby. All he wanted was to be understood and loved.

 

[INDYjon22]

The scene in Moneyball where Billy and Petetalk about the catcher going for second. Baseball is a pure and beautiful sport. This scene proves why. Baseball is my favorite sport and seeing a guy who is not gifted as an athlete run his butt off really gets to me. It shows how important the sport is to these guys, and the fans.

Also, I hate the scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 where Snape dies and they show how his love is undying towards Lily. Even after all the years and bullshit he had to endure. It's human nature at its finest. A bummer, but human nature.

 

[Alex]

The Crow.

I mean its a badass movie and one of the best comic book adaptations out there, but its just the fact that Brandon Lee died while filming it and his character's exit from the film that just makes it really depressing

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(dubbed over music was the only one I could find unfortunately)


His character Eric Draven avenges his and his fiancee's deaths and then she arrives to take him to the afterlife. I still find it really emotional mainly because he was supposed to get married after the film finished and he never got to and never got to realise his full potential as an actor.

 

[Mac Attack]

Well I'm going to add my two cents and by that I mean the two movies that I can clearly recall making me teary eyed.

Rudy any sports fan can knows how powerful this movie is. He tries so hard to make the team works harder than anyone else and isn't going to get his name down in the season cause he never plays a minute until his team the stadium everyone shows him support except the coaches. Instead of taking a QB Kneel they go long for a touchdown and allow Rudy his one play. Then they put him on his shoulders and parade him around. It's such a feel good moment.

Shawshank Redemption

The scene where Brooks commits suicide. I can't help but to admit that some things he says in his letter I've said myself in my past. It touches a really personal part of me and that's all I'm saying on the subject.

 

[Danger Burger]

When I was a little younger I got a little wet under the flaps at Bridge to Terabithea. Anyone who's seen the film will know what point I'm talking about. I'm not sure why it gets me, beyond the obvious. Maybe its the (supposed) dashing of the guys escape into fantasy from his shitty life, or the simple loss of a friend... But it was well done, and wan't predictable. One of the finer moments of any kid's film I've seen.

One that got me moist more recently was the final round of the ending of Warrior. Going into the film I expected nothing much more than your standard MMA flic. Not sure why I expected that, given the high calibre acting talent involved but I did. The film took me for six anyway and the ending was beautiful. Maybe I get that from the awkwardness between my siblings and myself, maybe not, but it was moving. Totally worth a gawk for those who haven't seen it.

Good topic LSN, as always. And thank to the others for some inadvertant movie suggestions.

 

[LSN80]

The ending to American History X. The whole movie had me emotional but the ending when Furlong gets shot in the school bathroom and Norton comes running in and breaks down, holding his brother, screaming "What have I done?" is what broke me into tears. Just shocking stuff, man.

I've seen this movie maybe 5-7 times, and I can't believe I didn't think of this one. For those who don't know what he's talking about:
[YOUTUBE]B7jywhKldsI[/YOUTUBE]
"Hate is baggage". So true, and just incredible, moving stuff.

I am not much of a crier, but Tom Hank's movies seem to do it for me. Philadelphia is a movie that pretty much makes me uncomfortable in every way, but I got drawn into it one night years after the first time I saw it. When they make him take off his shirt in the court room to show the lesions all over his upper body brought tears to my eyes.

This is another one, because it's almost 20 years old, that people forget about. I didn't tear up at this one, per se, but it definitely stirred some serious emotions up within me. I didn't see it until the late 90's, because my parents found me too young, but at that point, it was the first movie that genuinely moved me, even if I didn't cry.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this one thusfar, but how about Schindler's list? Oscar Schindler risks his freedom and his life to help free the Jews from Nazi concentration camps, and how does he react when congratulated for his efforts, as altruistic as any man since perhaps Jesus?
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He cries and repeats over and again: "I could have got more. I could have saved more."

Simply awesome, tear-jerking stuff.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I haven't really cried at many films to be honest. I remember taking my ex-girlfriend to see Marley and Me at the cinema, and being warned by loads of people that it was a guaranteed "cryer" and although there were some sad scenes, I didn't think it was that sad of a film. Maybe as I don't have, and never had a dog I didn't grasp how emotional it was. I do know that people become extremely attached to their "best friend", so I suppose I can understand why it would make people cry.

But I do remember crying at the film "Forever Young", where Mel Gibson is cryogenically frozen for many years after willingly putting himself forward as a test subject after believing his girlfriend to be killed in a hit and run. He is unfrozen years later, still at his young age and finds out his girlfriend is still alive and attempts to track her down. However, he starts ageing rapidly and suffers a heart attack, nearly crippling him and eventually finds her as an old lady. He proposes to her and she accepts. I haven't seen it in years, but i remember seeing it and crying at the end. A real heart warming story.