Movies That Made Me Cry Like a Little Girl

Okay, I admit it. I’ve been slacking badly this week. I’m sorry; I just haven’t been feeling it lately. I just haven’t been inspired. However, I’m prepared to make it up to you through a little self-humiliation. Well, maybe not humiliation. Admitting this doesn’t really bother me that much. Technically, I’m just manning up. I’m going to list ten movies that have made me cry, tear up, or get emotional during the viewing or afterwards. I really don’t cry that much in general, so it’s mostly going to be tearing up or getting emotion. However, there are a few films that really got to me and just made me break down like a little girl. Hey, it happens. So now, I’m going to honor the talent that it takes to do this. You might be surprised at some of the films that made the list. They aren’t all your typical emotional fair.

And yes, I do plan on explaining why these movies get me all emotional. So, if you haven’t seen the film in question, there may be some story details discussed.

10. Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation is just one of those movies that puts me in an extremely relaxed state of mind. I’m usually pretty good and relaxed until the final embrace between Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) and Bob (Bill Murray) on the crowded streets of Tokyo. I don’t know if it’s the pause beforehand, the inaudible whisper that Bob makes, or Charlotte’s heart broken facial expression, but this is a tough scene to get through without feeling your heart strings getting tugged just a little bit. I think it works so well just because it’s so simple. And simple usually works the best. Watch the scene here. 

9. Chasing Amy

A lot of my friends (mostly Caleb) give me a lot of crap for owning and liking this movie. I really don’t get it. This is not only one of Kevin Smith’s most well received and critically acclaimed films, it’s honestly one of his most enjoyable and personal films. Plus, the ending of the film is so out of nowhere and surprising. I’m just into it. I’m sorry that I actually like the Kevin Smith movie with a little bit of emotion and drama thrown in for once. Still, most of this movie doesn’t really get to me. However, the very raw verbal argument that Holden (Ben Affleck) and Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams) have in the parking lot of the Ice Rink is pretty hard to watch. I don’t know what it is about this scene but, with Smith’s simple framing and straight forward shooting techniques, it feels very real and very intense to watch. It still gets to me today. I wouldn’t say that I’ve ever cried after this scene but I definitely have felt like I’ve wanted to.

8. Saving Private Ryan

Let’s face it; there are a lot of really emotional sequences in Saving Private Ryan. Whether it’s Medic Wade’s (Giovanni Ribisi) story about his mother, Captain Miller’s (Tom Hanks) very realistic emotional breakdown, the brutal warfare displayed, or the emotionally draining ending, Spielberg’s WWII film is filled with scenes that will make you want to cry like a little girl. However, the scene that kills me every time is the scene where Pvt. Mellish (Adam Goldberg) slowly has a knife driven into his chest by a soft-talking and cooing Nazi. Never has a death scene felt so personal, frustrating, realistic, and devastating as this one. I literary cannot sit down and watch this scene. It’s just too much. To make things worse, the cowardly Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davies) stands in the stairway just outside the room with a huge gun, listening to his friend being slowly killed and does nothing. You ever bring up Upham with any group of people that have seen this film and the amount of rage you will get for this character due to this scene is unbelievable. What’s scary though is that, if any of us were in his boots, would we have gone in that room? You would think the answer would be an easy “yes,” but we weren’t in that war so it’s hard to really say. Still, this scene bothers and upsets me in ways I truly cannot describe. You can see it here, but I wouldn’t advise it.

7. The Land Before Time

Everyone has a childhood movie that made him or her cry a waterfall when they were little. For most, it is something like Bambi or Old Yeller. For me, it is the original (yes, before they made eighteen sequels) The Land Before Time. For those not familiar with this dinosaur children’s cartoon, it features a heart wrenching sequence early on where Little Foot’s mother defends her baby from Sharptooth, a killer Tyrannosaurs Rex. In the process, she takes a huge bite from the attacking T-Rex and a big fall from a cliff. Then, the heart-breaking scene you see pictured above takes place. Little Foot’s mother dies, leaving him alone to find the Great Valley by himself. I remember watching this in first grade in a hallway screening with a bunch of other little kids. I almost remember completely losing my shit during this scene and breaking down like a little girl. This is just too painful for a kid’s movie. Watch the scene here. I swear you can hear the crying of a thousand little kids in the background. 

6. Raging Bull

I know that this may seem like a strange choice but hear me out. I am still under the strong belief that this is Martin Scorsese’s most depressing and draining film ever made, more so than Taxi Driver. Watching boxer Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) completely self-destruct and drive all the people that love him away is truly hard to watch. I know that the guy is so unlikable by the end of the film that it is hard to feel pity for him but, for some reason, I still really feel for the guy when he hits rock bottom. There are two scenes that really drain me emotionally. The first is the scene where La Motta is put in jail for getting involved with an underaged girl. In this scene, La Motta screams that he’s “not an animal” and proceeds to smash his fists and head into the concrete wall of his cell until his hands are broken. Then, he breaks down and cries. I got to this scene while watching this movie with my dad and he proceeded to walk out afterwards. It was just too much for him. If you want, you can view the scene here. The second scene that really gets to me occurs when La Motta sees Joey (Joe Pesci), his then estranged brother on the streets one night. La Motta tries to catch up with and make plans with Joey, but his brother ignores him, simply walking back to his car. As Joey starts to get back into the car, La Motta embraces him, kissing him on the forehead and telling him that he loves him. Joey still tries to give him no attention while this occurs. And I was devastated watching it.

5. Ed Wood

This is another weird choice at first glance, but I can back it up. For me, the strongest part of Tim Burton’s Ed Wood biopic is the strong friendship between hack (though well-meaning) director Wood (Johnny Depp) and then struggling actor Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau). It is truly painful to watch Lugosi go from being the famous movie star in Dracula to a morphine addict in crappy Sci-Fi B-movies created by Wood. Still, the friendship between the two is so genuinely displayed that you can’t help but get choked up in a few sequences. Wood really is trying to not only make good films but also get Lugosi back into stardom. He even helps the man get into rehab for his morphine addiction. The scene that usually gets to me is the one that takes place between Lugosi and Wood after a long night of filming in a swamp with a fake giant squid. Lugosi tells Wood how grateful he is for getting the chance to act again and how much he appreciates Ed trying to help out. Ed then offers Lugosi a freshly written monologue to end the picture with. Lugosi says that he already knows it by heart. The scene is very simple but it truly speaks volumes of the strong relationship the two men had.

4. In the Bedroom

My film teacher introduced me to this movie and I got say, it is one of the most depressing movies I’ve ever seen in my entire life. When a jealous ex-husband murders an old New England couple’s son in cold blood, they must go through a terrible grieving process while their son’s murderer walks the streets. This movie displays one of the most realistic portrayals of two older people going through the process of grieving while also trying to figure out how to get justice for their murdered son. The film is full of truly draining moments. The first one that really got to me consists of Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) breaking down after his son’s funeral. The man stands alone in his son’s room, looking around. Finally, he opens the boy’s tackle box, touching the lone piece inside. Once his fingers touch it, he breaks down, slowly putting his upper body on a nearby sketching table. It is not loud or dramatic. It is very simple, restrained, and subdued. It feels so real that I could help but feel my eyes filling up. The other scene that really gets to me is when Matt and Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek) both break down and begin to blame each other for their son’s murder. The scene is very intense and is realistic to the point that it is even interrupted by a girl selling candy bars door to door. It is a truly powerful scene that is nearly impossible to not get worked up over.

3. Leon: The Professional

First off, if you haven’t seen Leon: The Professional, do not read this explanation. I am doing you a favor by saying this. Yeah, there are some spoilers in the other explanations, but please, don’t read this if you haven’t seen the movie.

Leon dies. The coolest, childlike hit man ever created and played brilliantly by the great Jean Reno dies. He is shot in the back of the head at the end of the movie by Stansfield (Gary Oldman). I love Gary Oldman and all, but man, I truly wanted to kill the guy after seeing the end of this movie. Not only is Leon one of the coolest and most badass characters ever created but he also finally has a loving platonic relationship with his twelve-year old protégé Mathilda (Natalie Portman). Just when it’s looking like they’re going to live happily ever after together, Stansfield has the entire NYC police force attack Leon’s apartment. Of course Leon kills most of them, but Stansfield is sneaky and manages to get one round right in the back of the hit man’s skull. The scene right before this where Leon lowers Mathilda down into the air conditioning unit to safety pretty much reduces me to tears every time. They both know that they’re probably never going to see each other ever again and it’s pretty heart wrenching to witness as Leon promises her that every thing is going to be all right. I’m usually okay until I hear him say, “I’m gonna be happy… sleep in the bed.” Then, I just can’t take it anymore. Watch the draining scene here.

At least Leon taught Stansfield the ring trick as he died. If not, his death would be completely unforgivable.

2. Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream is the most devastating movie I’ve ever seen in my entire life. After I watched this movie for the first time, I never ever wanted to try drugs and I kind of wanted to kill myself. I have only been able to watch the movie a total of three times. Each time, it feels like a part of me is dying in the process. It’s kind of hard to describe one scene that makes this film so tear inducing. It’s just the whole thing. It’s just absolutely devastating. It is basically about the destruction of dreams of four ambitious people due to drug addictions. The ending of this film feels like a climax of awfulness for each of the main characters. This sequence is one of the most effective and overwhelming pieces of cinema I’ve ever seen. I think the part that truly destroys me is when the older friends of Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) see her after she has pretty much lost her mind on weigh-loss pills and has been operated on. As she walks up to them, she looks like a shell of her former self and they completely break down in front of her. And I did too.

1. Stand by Me

It may be unfair to put this at number one since I just saw this movie for the first time just the other night, but I feel strongly about this one. Based on the short story “The Body” by Stephen King, Stand by Me is a coming of age story about four boys who go off to find the dead body of a local boy who has gone missing. Now, I’m a sucker for these coming of age stories. And nothing else hits my tear ducts faster than a story about a loss of innocence. And that’s what Stand by Me is all about: the loss of innocence and the coming into manhood. The film manages to have a lot of fun and humorous scenes while also having some more serious, heart wrenching moments. I was watching this pretty late the other night and I was all good until I got to Chris’s (River Phoenix) story about the teacher and the milk money. When the poor kid started to break down and cry after his story of being betrayed by an adult, I just couldn’t help it. I don’t know if it was the kid’s perfect delivery, the lateness of the night, or the foreknowledge of River Phoenix’s tragic overdose and death in 1993, but I suddenly felt warm tears running down my face. Yeah, it happened. I’m sorry. I’m only human. You can see the scene here, though I'd advise seeing it in the context of the whole film. The scene where Gordie (Wil Wheaton) breaks down at the end of the film after finding the body was equally as hard to get through. Good job, Stephen King. Good job, Rob Reiner. You both win. You broke me.

Okay, I’ve done my part. I’ve manned up as much as I possibly could. Now, it’s your turn. I manned up last week with my guilty pleasures post and didn’t get any replies. I don’t want to see that happen with this one too. What films made you choke up, get emotional, or shed the dreaded tear?