An Easy Crier's Ten Saddest Movies

If making a tear-jerker movie was a science, I would say the folks who produce and make the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies have learned the discipline well! I, for one, could hardly make it through some of the Hallmark card commercials without reaching for a box of tissues!

So, what about these movies make us cry? And why does something that make one person bawl leaves another person with hardly a tear traced down a cheek?

If you think about it, a good story makes you invested in the characters and what is happening to them within the context of the story, whether it's a well-written newspaper feature or a larger-than-life movie. For me, and I am assuming for most people, the stories that stay with you are the ones that touch you on some level and to which you may relate. Some stories will make you cry simply because of the subject matter (particularly the death of a character) and others will make you cry harder, simply because you weren't expecting it or you hoped against hoped that there was a different outcome experienced by the characters in the story.

So, when I think about the saddest movies I have ever watched, I thought about ones that just made me bawl and still will make me bawl, particularly if I watch the movie from beginning to end. There are many more sad movies out there that are sad in their own right. For example, Schindler's List is a movie that leaves a viewer numb (and if you read the book, that could leave you feeling even more numb). There's no question about the tragedy that happens in Schindler's List or the humanity that is experienced in small actions taken by the main characters. However, movies like Schindler's List leave me feeling more numb than just wanting to have a good cry.

Coincidentally, almost all of the movies in this list do have one common aspect in common that will bring on the tears - death. Death of a friend, a husband, a main character. And these deaths are usually ones that affect us after we invest ourselves in getting to know the characters, the people of the story. What could make someone cry harder? The unexpected death like in "Remember the Titans." You knew someone had died from the beginning of the movie but you hoped it was one of the coaches who might have died of cancer or something. Not Gerry Bertier.

So, if you are looking for a good cry, check out these movies:

Brian's Song

I watched the remake of this movie on television. The remake stars Mekhi Phifer and Sean Maher as Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo, respectively. The story is about two pro football players who compete for the same position and turn the competition into a trustworthy friendship. The moment for me where the tears came is toward the end when Brian has died and Gale is trying to make a tribute to his friend at an awards dinner.

Fried Green Tomatoes

I remember watching this movie with my best friend for my birthday. Within minutes of the movie starting, I'm bawling my eyes out as the handsome love interest is killed off by a train! There are many more moments that bring tears to your eyes as you learn about the unlikely friendship of Idgie and Ruth and the trials and triumphs that they share and the blossoming friendship between Evelyn and Ninny Threadgoode.

My Girl

I remember watching this movie in the theater the summer it came out. I wasn't much older than the two main characters, Vada and Thomas. It seems to be an innocent enough movie with golden oldies music about this girl coming into maturity. I should have known something sad was going to happen when the movie focuses on Vada asking her dad why there are small caskets made. Of course the tears just started coming as soon as the movie shows Thomas being stung by a swarm of bees.

Steel Magnolias

The movie is poignant and sad as it is silly and funny. In trying situations, sometimes you have two choices - laugh or cry. So, we get to share both laughter and tears as we watch this group of women rally around a mother and daughter who try to come to understand each other as the daughter becomes pregnant despite the health risks. Ultimately, the daughter's body shuts down after fighting diabetes and the health risks that came with it. Now having my own daughter, I'm sure I'll be more apt to cry even harder the next time I see this movie!

Pursuit of Happyness

This movie featuring Will Smith tugs at your heart strings. It is the only movie on the list that doesn't involve death. However, there is a lot in this story to make you cry. The story is about a father's love for his child, doing all that he can to deal with homelessness and at the same time work hard to gain a position that will give him and his child a better life. The scene in which father and son spend the night in the bathroom is one of the most touching scenes in the movie. And if that scene doesn't start you crying, then you'll cry tears of joy as Chris Gardner triumphs and wins the coveted position for which he's worked so hard.

My Life

I watched this movie in college on a girls' night. We had two movies to watch - a scary thriller called "Copy Cat," with Sigourney Weaver and Harry Connick Jr., and this movie. We watched this movie with Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman to help distract us from the nightmares "Copy Cat" might have given to us. The story follows a couple who is expecting a child when they learn that the husband has terminal cancer. I'm not sure when I started crying but I do remember being touched by two scenes - one where his father is shaving his face for him and another where his pregnant wife is feeding and soothing him with ice chips, just as he would have done during labor. What made this movie even more of a tear-jerker is the fact I was crying at the same scenes as my friends.

Remember the Titans

This movie follows what happens to a team, school, and community when desegregation occurs in Alexandria, VA. A new head coach, who happens to be African-American, must unify his coaching staff and his team. Through that end, many of the football players learn and understand how to get along, set examples for other students, and to work as a team. The movie focuses on Gerry Bertier and his growth and change through these experiences and circumstances. I remember feeling shocked but relieved when Gerry was in the accident. Expecting a happy Hollywood ending, I don't remember crying. But the tears came when it was announced that all these team members had come back for his funeral ten years later.

Beaches

This movie follows the unlikely friendship of Hillary and CC, two girls who happen to meet in Atlantic City one summer's day out on the boardwalk. Hillary has known the life of luxury and CC has had a much more colorful life. As adult women, they are there as they start to make their mark on the world and then through relationships and fights, forgiveness and motherhood. In the end, Hillary dies from heart failure, leaving her daughter to the one person she trusts and knows her best, CC. When I first watched this movie, I was about twelve or thirteen. I must have related most to the little girl and felt sad, knowing her mother had died.

Titanic

I purposely watched this movie by myself in the movie theater, well after many people had seen it. I knew enough about the movie to know it was inevitable that I would cry and for whatever reasons, I wanted no one else to see my tears. This long, epic movie follows the love story of Rose and Jack on the ill-fated ship, The Titanic. The tears begin as the ship is starting to sink and the viewer is treated to immense detail of what happened to this mighty ship - dishes falling; doors bursting open; a couple lying in bed, holding hands; and the captain and architect staying on the ship. The death of Jack is almost anti-climatic after seeing so many others lose their lives and the ship sinking beneath the waters.

A League of Their Own

This is the number one movie that makes me cry every time I watch. The movie follows two sisters who take a chance and try out for the All-American Girls Baseball League during World War II. I have found if I watch the movie in pieces or start the movie well after the beginning, I'm not as apt to cry. While the movie focuses on a sister-to-sister relationship, I cry, on cue, when a military official has come to deliver the bad news that one of these women's husbands has died overseas. I think I cry the moment I see the messenger and it doesn't matter how many times I tell myself I am not going to cry or how many times I've seen the movie and know exactly what's going to happen. Anymore, I just prepare myself for a good cry and have the tissue ready!

For more information about these movies, please go to Internet Movie Database (IMDB) at www.imdb.com. And if you are trying to come up with a new movie to make you cry, you may always go to the Hallmark Movie Channel and see what's playing.