What’s really impressive is when a seemingly straightforward drama or action flick sneaks up and clobbers you with its unexpected emotion. When you see something like The Notebeook or Steel Magnolias, you know what you’re getting into (even if their reputation hasn’t preceded them): this is going to be a tearjerker, so get ready for the inevitable heartbreak or death or what have you. But if it hadn’t been on here, we’d have never heard the end of it. Look, I’m not happy about it Beaches is maudlin and manipulative and downright brutal in its insistence on making viewers cry. But if you’re willing to go along with the picture’s silly premise and unapologetic romanticism, it has some genuinely beautiful moments - particularly in its final half-hour, as Death finally takes Bill Parrish (a wonderful Anthony Hopkins), his daughter realizes who she’s in love with and what he has to do, and love somehow finds a way.Ĭ’mon, like it wasn’t gonna be in here somewhere. Martin Brest’s 1998 remake of Death Takes a Holiday was a giant flop upon its release, its three-hour running time and unabashed sentimentality sneered at far and wide, the film becoming some sort of shorthand for bloated directorial hubris. All of these things are true! But when Forrest meets his and Jenny’s little boy for the first time, and he steps back and gets that worried look on his face and asks, “Is he smart, or is he, uh…” - well, maybe that doesn’t get to you, but if so, you’re trying awfully hard. Yes, yes, I know, Forrest Gump is a wildly overrated catchphrase factory that stole Pulp Fiction’s Oscars and whose political subtext is more troubling the more you think about it.
#MOVSR IN THE DEEP MOVIE MOVIE#
In the spirit of those pictures, here’s a rundown of the 50 most cry-worthy flicks in movie history - not the saddest, mind you (though many of them are really fucking sad), but those most likely to move us to tears, be it through tragedy, triumph, or the sheer goodness of their protagonists. Or maybe it isn’t just me every year, when prestige movie season begins, we find ourselves sniffling and dabbing through moving, heartstring-tugging pictures, though this year seems to already have a surplus of big-time weepies. Or I’m newly sensitive to hyper-emotional filmmaking. It’s fall, and there’s something in my eye.
![movsr in the deep movie movsr in the deep movie](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTc0NTg4NDg4Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzQwNzIwMjE@._V1_.jpg)
We’ve selected it as one of the posts we’re republishing for our 10th anniversary celebrations in May 2017. Editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2013.