comment #1

Gordie Lachance says ...

Loss, yes. But for me it's always when someone experiences a profound regret. Like when Oscar Schindler realized he could have saved a few dozen more people if he had sold his stupid car or watch.

That, and the very last scene of You Can Count On Me, for some reason, always gets me.

comment #2

rocco says ...

'Last Temptation...'...that moment is absolutely sublime...gets me every time.

'Ikiru' gets me once or twice, mainly during the scene when Watanabe first learns of his terminal cancer and is completely consumed by concern for his son...

There are more, of course, but I don't want to hog all of the good ones...

comment #3

Dirty Harry says ...

That Billy Bigelow moment is truly something. And the older I get, the more it works me.

I know it's cliche, but Rick giving up Ilsa does it every time.

Probably the one that hits hardest is that magnificent last scene in Cinema Paradiso with the montage of screen kisses. Just thinking about it...

Exquisite heartbreak; available only at the movies. Thank heaven for DVD and TCM.

comment #4

The Hoyk says ...

Most recently, Brian Cox's monologue at the end of 25TH HOUR reduced me to wails and choking breaths.

comment #5

MrThompson says ...

Many movies have choked me up, but the only to have gotten me to out and out cry was Ikiru... and twice at that.

comment #6

Dirty Harry says ...

Ikiru: The swing. Killer moment.

comment #7

christian says ...

IKIRU 4ever.

And THE IRON GIANT can do it everytime. But the tears become joyful!

comment #8

Edward Havens says ...

I guess I will never be a real film journalist or critic (shut the hell up, Douglas and Faraci), as there will never be an essay on why people cry at the movies with my byline attached to it.

comment #9

PerfectTommy says ...

Happy ending misty - "It's a Wonderful Life" richest man in town toast

Sad misty - "Tender Mercies" death of Mac Sledge's daughter

comment #10

Josh Massey says ...

Ben Stiller's "I've had a rough year, dad" line in The Royal Tenenbaums. The tears were so hard and unexpected, I practically heard them pop out.

I agree completely, though. I cried more in Children of Men or Big Fish than I did at one of my good friend's funerals earlier this year. We're wired weird, men.

comment #11

Mark says ...

I always tear up at standing ovations; like the one to conclude Babe, or Jon Favreau screaming "who's the wild man now?" during Rudy's ovation.

When good actresses cry, i sometimes join. Toni Collete in her car in the 6th Sense. Regina King's 3rd act meltdown in Jerry Maguire.

Oh, and the entire final baseball game in The Rookie.

comment #12

Spicer says ...

The movie I had the most sustained and almost cathartic emotional reaction to was Dead Man Walking. I have always been a sucker for stories of personal redemption and here was a story of spiritual redemption. I was in tears pretty much for the last 30 or 40 minutes of the film, from the point where Sean Penn is being led away for his execution and they won't let his mother touch him. It was very powerful stuff.

comment #13

Howlingman says ...

Recently, the ending of PAN'S LABYRINTH.

Oh, and THE GREAT ESCAPE. Damn Nazis MURDERED those prisoners.

comment #14

Conroy says ...

Regarding Jeff's last paragraph - there were words to that effect between Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving in THE COMPETITION. A bit TOO sensitive for my taste.

comment #15

pauly says ...

I was just thinking about this watching Frequency last weekend...I started to get choked up watching the scene where the father and son connect on the ham radio, I get chocked up everytime I see that scene...similar to the father/son scene in Field of Dreams. So I guess I'm a sucker for the father/son moments.

comment #16

cbuckie says ...

Sophie's Choice when you find out what she lived through. Also the Elephant Man when John Merrick dies.

comment #17

monetnj says ...

A recent movie that starts the tears for me is "Meet the Robinsons." It is just an ok animated movie, but for some reason, when the music swells into "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas at the end, the tears start to flow every time. A perfect marriage of movie thematic content and lyrics, at least for me. I can't even hear that song in the car without choking up.

comment #18

kadoogan says ...

I've got an animated movie that makes me well up -- THE IRON GIANT. When the giant is speeding through the clouds to head off the oncoming nuclear missile and says, "Superman..." Makes my eyes sting like a sumbitch.

comment #19

MickTravis says ...

Yeah, Gordie, "You Can Count on Me" kills me. The whole movie I was thinking, "Everything about this movie is great except the title." Then I got to the end and the title was the line that killed me.

I'm also a sucker for ....

The cemetery scene in "It's A Wonderful Life" when George finally realizes what's going on and that his wife has become a librarian.

The opening sausage-factory sequence in "Babe."

The ending of "Places in the Heart," when all the characters -- living and dead -- are together.

The ending of "Truly, Madly, Deeply," which is a cliche but which I'd never seen until last summer and which split me down the middle.

But the worst tear magnet of all time?

"Umberto D." Holy shit.

comment #20

colby says ...

There are about five different moments in Babe: Pig in the City that get the tears rolling for me.

comment #21

GKLondon says ...

The arabic women yodelling is called ululating.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION had a strange effect on me in that the ending is amongst the best excuted 'happy endings' of a film in recent years, and yet I cried uncontrolably.

comment #22

Intense Guy II says ...

Iron Giant all the way...

comment #23

Tim says ...

The ending of "Running on Empty" when the family (fronted by the outstanding Judd Hirsch) lets River Phoenix stay behind and live his life on his terms, knowing they'll probably never see him again.

"You're on your own kid."

Gets me every damn time.

comment #24

Dave says ...

Jeff, your stuff about loss and movies were some of the first columns that got me to become a loyal reader-- great stuff that also shares the benefit of being 100% true.

Ditto The 25th Hour-- Cox's line, "This life came so very close to never happening" gets me every single time. Makes you realize just how consequential some of life's moments and choices can be.

comment #25

ZacharyTF says ...

I've cried at the movies 5 times. I've been moved dozens of times, but only those 5 times were tears rolling down my face. Spoilers follow, so consider yourself warned! The list is in chronological order of when they happened.

1. Schindler's List - I still remember hurriedly wiping away the tears before the lights came up and my classmates saw me. I've only watched it 6 or 7 times since then, but as soon as the announcement comes over the radio about the surrender, the tears start and by the end when the survivors are coming down the hill, it looks like Niagra Falls on my face.

2. Saving Private Ryan - In this movie, its the beginning, the assault on Normandy, Captain Miller shooting the tank on the bridge and the end that moves me to tears every time.

3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - When Aragorn says to Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin "You bow to no one." the waterworks starts and continues until the end.

4. In America - When Mateo and Sarah are both in the hospital and Johnny finds out that Mateo paid the hospital bill for Johnny and Sara, the tear ducts are turned on. I still remember watching it clear eyed and then when that was revealed, the tears started flowing like rain right away. No buildup, jut instant water.

5. Million Dollar Baby - Here, it happens when Frankie tells Maggie what Mo Cuishle means and then proceeds to give her the shot of adrenaline. I can never make it to the end without crying.

comment #26

christian says ...

The final dance in RUSHMORE brings the water...

And when Pam Grier sings along to Across 110th Street at the end of JACKIE BROWN, I tear up every time. Whoda thunk?

comment #27

Jay T. says ...

My list...

- Good Will Hunting, the end seems to get me every time and a lot of other guys too, yet it's hard to explain precisely why (the song Miss Misery by Elliott Smith obviously plays a huge role). What I will say is the editing of that last sequence is brilliant. It's part sad, part uplifting, and even a little funny with the stole my line bit.

- Shawshank Redemption, no explanation needed.

- American Beauty, when his wife opens the closet and collapses into all of his clothes. I know this film has gathered a lot of backlash/haters over the past several years, but it still gets me.

- 25th Hour, the last 5 minutes with that monologue builds and builds and builds...

- A Simple Plan, Billy Bob asks his brother to end it for him. Despite the somber tone of the film, this one really blind-sided me in the theater.

- Rudy, duh.

comment #28

gnosis says ...

I never submit blog enries - but I have to publicly declare how happy I am to learn that I am not the only one that cries every time the IRON GIANT says 'Suuupermaaaaaaan'.
My wife things I am insane. Can't wait to make her read this blog.

comment #29

le corbeau says ...

Oh yeah, glad someone mentioned Umberto D, that's the Doomsday Device of tearjerker. I start crying just pulling my laserdisc from the shelf.

I can think of two moments when I choked up just at the sheer glory of cinema:

At the New Neon in Dayton, when the black and white 4:3 beginning of This is Cinerama gives way to the image expanding to its full widescreen size.

Master and Commander, that shot right at the beginning of the sailors sleeping like cocoons below decks. I just thought, wow, I'm really back in time, to the time I read all those Patrick O'Brian books about. Never had so vivid a feeling of being there in my life...

comment #30

Dave says ...

Okay, just for giggles: I teared up at the Pearl Harbor trailer.

Seriously, I'd get choked up during it. I thought, "My god, can Michael Bay make a movie as good as this is going to be?"

Of course, he didn't. I cried during Pearl Harbor, but for all the wrong reasons.

Still, for my money, that was perhaps the best trailer in history. Truly outstanding blend of imagery and music, it was a hundred times the movie the actual movie was, the gold standard.

comment #31

facls says ...

my favorites have already been mentioned, but I've always loved a dialogue at the end of Awakenings, between Robin Williams and Julie Kavner. Something like:

- He said I was a kind man. What kidness is there, in giving someone life, only to take it away?

- It's given and taken from all of us.

- And why doesn't that comfort me?

- Because you are a kind man.

comment #32

facls says ...

and the most moving moment for me from Field of Dreams is:

- Rookie! You were good.

comment #33

PerfectTommy says ...

One more from me, an embarrassing one.
I love Ikuru, but it doesn't make my eyes water. Same with Shawshank. But for some reason, probably because I watched it multiple times with my kids when they were small, in the remake of "The Incredible Journey" (Spoilers!)when Chance the dog comes over the hill and the music swells and he runs to his master...
There's no accounting for these things.

comment #34

monetnj says ...

I thought of another one that makes me cry. Two scenes in "Forest Gump" get me. The one where Forrest meets Jenny and she presents his son to him and Forest asks if he is slow too. Also, towards the end when Forrest is at Jenny's grave and breaks down as he tell her "He's so smart Jenny." I still remember the sniffles in the audience of the Meyerland theater in Houston, Texas when the titles started to roll on that one. Made me feel less foolish.

comment #35

York "Budd" Durden says ...

Good call on the Umberto D. The end of Nights of Cabiria is another.

comment #36

lipranzer says ...

Some spoilers here:

FEARLESS: When Rosie Perez confesses to Jeff Bridges that she thinks she may have been responsible for her baby's death during the plane crash.

LORENZO'S OIL: When Nick Nolte asks Susan Sarandon if they've making all this effort to save someone else's kid. Sarandon's reaction is absolutely heartbreaking.

CHILDREN OF MEN: When Clive Owen is carrying the baby downstairs, and first the rebels and then the soldiers stop fighting.

GONE BABY GONE: When the little girl is taken by the police from Morgan Freeman and his wife. No matter what you think of that decision, it's absolutely heartbreaking.

comment #37

p.Vice says ...

Crying? What's that?

comment #38

dixiedugan says ...

Bambi...every time.

comment #39

rocco says ...

Maybe this makes me a pussy, but I remember balling the first time I saw 'Ghost'...yes, Patrick Swayze made me cry...I must have been 13 at the time and had just lost an uncle...when Swayze says something to the effect of "the love you have inside; you take it with you" and he walks towards the silhouettes waiting to greet him...wow.

I remember getting slightly choked up over 'King Kong' until I told myself it was a big hairy collection of 1's and 0's...then Jack Black's "'twas beauty that killed the beast" just ruined it.

I agree on the '25th Hour' being a powerful film with an even more powerful ending. I didn't cry, but it's an awesome ending.

And oh, almost forgot...when the Japanese kid gets shot in 'Empire of the Sun' and Bale refuses to stop trying to revive him..."I can save anyone...anyone"...if only that were true.

comment #40

MarkVH says ...

"and the most moving moment for me from Field of Dreams is:

- Rookie! You were good."

facis, good on you for not going straight to "Dad - wanna have a catch?" - easily the most overly-discussed "weepy" moment in a movie filled with so many better ones. The look Lancaster gives upon hearing this line is flat-out devastating. Just pitch perfect casting.

For me the most moving moment does come in the final scene, but way before "wanna have a catch" line. It's just after Costner has been bitching to Shoeless Joe about how he hasn't gotten anything out of his travels throughout the film. Shoeless, naturally asks him if this is why he did it. Then he grins, and out comes the exchange:

Costner: "What? What are you grinnin' at, you ghost?"

Liotta: "If you build it..." ::nods to catcher undressing:: "...he will come."

Costner: "Oh my God."

Annie: "What?"

Costner (music swelling): "It's my father."

It's at this moment that you realize that everything in the entire film, from the first time he hears the voice in the cornfield, has been leading up to this. So freaking beautiful.

comment #41

Craig Kennedy says ...

The first thing I remember making me cry when I was a little kid (crying with sadness for a character, not because I was scared or whatever) was in Roots when Chicken George lost the cock fight. He just seemed so sad.

As an adult. Paths of Glory. The future Mrs. Kubrick singing that fucking song and everyone joining in. One of many Kubrick endings that grab me in one way or another.

Also, someone mentioned this the other day: Raising Arizona. It ends with a perfect cry and a prefect laugh. The double whammy.

comment #42

insidah says ...

The first movie I think I cried in was Empire of the Sun when I was ten.

The last movie I cried in was Into the Wild when William Hurt collapses in the street.

Other movies that got to me, some usual suspects, some not: Sixth Sense (car scene with toni c.), Good Will Hunting (it's not your fault), When a Man Loves a Woman (meg's AA confession scene), Rudy (letter of acceptance scene), Marvin's Room (Diane explaining loving versus being loved), Something's Gotta Give (Diane's city street breakdown to jack), the Twin Peaks movie (Laura Palmer walking into the sleazy bar, sad music on soundtrack), Lord of the Rings (during part III, the multiple endings)

comment #43

BurmaShave says ...

The biggest crying moment I've had in a long time has been from television, on the HBO show ROME. When Titus Pullo is condemned to die as a gladiator but fights for his life, inspiring his friend Vorenus to jump into the ring and save him. It really got to me.

THIRTEENTH!

comment #44

T. Holly says ...

Sex and crying. Memba when Gywnny cried after Jakey revived her in "Proof?"

comment #45

Bocephus says ...

I cry at movies quite often, so I'll just list the last three that I really remember:

Days Of Heaven, when The Farmer freaks out and torches his crops. It was such a sad situation, and there was no real bad guy to blame. This poor dying guy being swindled by the young grifters who were just doing what they could to survive.

Scenes From a Marriage, almost every section of the story gave me something different to weep over. The scene where Johan breaks up with Marianne devastated me. Just thinking about that film makes me cry.

As for recent stuff, Ratatouille gave me some tears of joy (especially the scene where the critic tastes the titular dish and gets a flashback from his childhood). Nothing else this year has really moved me to tears though.

The most I have ever cried during a movie would have to be Grave of the Fireflies, and that's another film that makes me tear up just by remembering it. War really gets me, and the thought of the death and sickness caused by our nuclear bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima really shook me up. I got the same reaction from Fog of War during the montage that showed the Japanese civilian death counts transposed upon the populations of US cities.

comment #46

Craig Kennedy says ...

Seriously, keep 300. Give me Rome.

comment #47

Jack Price says ...

Joe Pesci's "Froggy" monologue from Lethal Weapon 4

comment #48

dickembody says ...

Fearless - the last scene, the intercutting between the airline crash and Isabella Rosselini trying to bring back Jeff Bridges.

Men Don't Leave - the reconciliation between Jessica Lange and her kids, and the coda that follows. "And then, I was saved."

comment #49

dickembody says ...

Oh, and Jeff:

For a movie scene that conveys that "The sex was so good, I cried" feeling, see "Say Anything." Ione Skye doesn't know why John Cusack is crying in the back of the car after they've made love, but we do.

comment #50

televisiontears says ...

Ditto the pause in Battle in the Children of Men finale. Damned if that's not the quickest my reasons for crying have so abrubtly switched gears. Tears of hope in the possibility of good in mens hearts turn in to tears of utter fucking hopelessness when the fighting resumes. That film put me through a ringer, and I was better for it when I came out on the other side.

comment #51

christian says ...

This too will make you cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a37uqd5vTw

comment #52

Rich S. says ...

The first time I can remember tearing up, I was a kid watching The King & I with my parents. It's been a long time, but I believe it was the scene where Deborah Kerr goes to the young king after Yul Brynner's death and tells him that he's the man of the family.

The last time was about a week ago when I caught the end of Big Fish on cable during the scene where Crudup is telling Finney the story of how his life ends.

comment #53

square says ...

I would like to second Joe Pesci's "Froggy" speech.

And just one of my own, Kirk giving the eulogy at Spock's funeral aboard the Enterprise at the end of Trek II : "Of my friend, I can only say this... of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most - human." EVERY TIME.

The Terminator descending into the pool of molten metal, giving the final thumbs up.

I could go on, but I won't because I am getting emotional and I am a very, very strong man. Masculine even.

comment #54

Jean says ...

I second "Grave of the Fireflies" (I saw it at Ebert's film fest - not a dry eye in the house) & the end of "Boys on the Side" when Whoopi Goldberg & Mary Louise Parker sing Roy Orbison's "You Got it" to each other. Now I'll hear that song on the radio & it takes me back to that moment in the film - can't help but get misty-eyed...

comment #55

T. Holly says ...

Otis Eversole, you're on it. I'm sure there are so many more examples. I never cry because the sex is never that good. I think it's mainly a guy thing.

comment #56

Capsfan6 says ...

I'm a woman and have cried at very few movies.

Testament -- (had to see it for college) scenes of children dying from radiation poisoning.

Last Temptation -- when Christ is being nailed to the cross -- chilling.

Finally -- and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned before -- the scene toward the end of Whale Rider when Paikea makes her speech.

And really, I think that's it. Choked up at a few others, I guess, but only had tears fall at these.

comment #57

Jay T. says ...

Funny how almost a decade later and no one seems to have cried during Titanic, yet I remember hearing a lot of sobs in the theater. ;-)

comment #58

shanes says ...

the ending scene in Cinema Paradiso gets me every time (when he looks at the reel of all the cut-out kisses)

also Field of Dreams when he realized who his dad was and asked if he wanted to have a catch caught me totally off guard--it's the first time I'd ever looked around the theatre and seen ONLY men crying and the women looking at them like "I don't get it"