# Best tear-jerking line(s) in a modern movie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971 "2005-06-20T00:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/1 "2005-06-20T00:58:26Z")
Post the line or lines that have made you well up and have inspired strong emotions in you. My vote goes for this scene… [spoiler] “Come on Mr Frodo, I can’t carry it for you. _But I can carry you!_” The music changes gear at just the right moment, and the sense of loyalty and friendship that Sam has in frodo is, in that moment, expressed beautifully. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has many many emotional scenes. You’ve got to hand it to Peter Jackson. I hope he can do the same in movies he makes in the future[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/2 "2005-06-20T01:48:52Z")
Agreed. _Return of the King_ played my emotions like Paganini on a Stradivarius. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/3 "2005-06-20T02:14:40Z")
It wasn’t so much a line, but in _Big Fish_, when the son carried his dying father into the lake, and he swam away as the fish, my allergies acted up all of a sudden, and my eyes began to water. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/4 "2005-06-20T02:16:55Z")
**Lobsang** , that was the one I had in mind. Barring that I have to go with “I want my father back, you sonofabitch.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/5 "2005-06-20T02:19:32Z")
Toward the very end of Barry Levinson’s “Avalon,” elderly Sam Krchinsky is in a nursing home, talking to his now-grown grandson. He tells his grandson how, not long ago, he’d tried going back to the old neighborhood in Baltimore, trying to find some of the old spots he used to know… but all of them were gone. His heartbreaking last words were, “If I had known that things would no longer be, I would have tried to remember them better.” ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/6 "2005-06-20T02:28:18Z")
Babe from the movie of the same name “I want my moooooom” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/7 "2005-06-20T02:45:19Z")
**Spock** : I have been and always shall be your friend. Once a geek, always a geek. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/8 "2005-06-20T02:50:38Z")
Hogarth: You are what you choose to be. The Iron Giant: Superman. What? These aren’t tears. I just got something in my eye is all. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/9 "2005-06-20T02:51:05Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I hope he can do the same in movies he makes in the future I think he’s working on King Kong now…I dunno, pal. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/10 "2005-06-20T02:55:50Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > It wasn’t so much a line, but in _Big Fish_, > > when the son carried his dying father into the lake, and he swam away as the fish, my allergies acted up all of a sudden, and my eyes began to water. Same movie, different line. "Sometimes, the only way to catch and uncatchable woman is to offer her a wedding ring. " Then again, I have big father issues, so that movie really hits home. ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/11 "2005-06-20T04:00:55Z")
_Field of Dreams_: “If you build it, HE (pointing to Ray’s father) will come.” Puts a lump in my throat every time. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/12 "2005-06-20T04:11:30Z")
I get a lump every time I see the mother/son resolution scene of _The Sixth Sense_ where Haley Joel Osment tells his mom he can see the dead bicycle lady. She of course doesn’t believe him, and shuts down as part of the normal, ongoing, tension between the two. But his new confidence allows him to tell his mom about her mother, grandma, and how she’s sorry about moving the pendant, and how she saw the mom dancing, and that when the mom came to her grave and asked her a question, the answer was “Every Day.” In that one scene, we see that now Haley Joel Osment is going to be OK, that his mother believes that he has this power, that his relationship with his mother is going to be OK, that his power can truly be a force for healing, and that all of the issues that ever happened between the mother and grandmother have all dissolved away.Much more powerful than the final ending (which is still fun though). ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/13 "2005-06-20T04:15:14Z")
And the line is (courtesy IMDb) Cole Sear: She wanted me to tell you she saw you dance. She said when you were little you and she had a fight, right before your dance recital. You thought she didn’t come see you dance. She did. She hid in the back so you wouldn’t see. She said you were like an angel. She said you came to the place where they buried her. Asked her a question? She said the answer is… everyday. What did you ask? Lynn Sear: Do… Do I make her proud?Do we really still need to be spoiler boxing that movie? ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/14 "2005-06-20T05:00:26Z")
The showdown in Kill Bill 2. BILL Pai-Mei taught you the ten point palm exploding heart technique? THE BRIDE Of course he did. BILL Why didn’t you tell me? She doesn’t have an answer. She looks at him apologetically; THE BRIDE I don’t know…Because - I’m a…bad person. He smiles at her duplicitly, and says with blood on his lips; BILL No. You’re not a bad person. You’re a terrific person. You’re my favorite person. But every once in a while…you can be a real cunt. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/15 "2005-06-20T05:37:43Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Then again, I have big father issues, so that movie really hits home. I must have father issues too. An exchange that always gets me is from **Mr. and Mrs. Bridge** : Mrs. Bridge (Joanne Woodward), upset: You are \*exactly \*like your father! _Exactly!_ Douglas Bridge (Robert Sean Leonard), gently: Who else would I be like, if not my father? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/16 "2005-06-20T05:47:42Z")
“My friends…You bow to no one.” ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/17 "2005-06-20T05:48:15Z")
In Unforgiven, when William Munnny (Eastwood) is looking down on Little Bill (Hackman) from the easy end of a shotgun: LB: I don’t deserve this. I was building a house! WM: Deserves got nothing to do with it. _BLAM_ Gives me chills every time. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/18 "2005-06-20T05:49:35Z")
Hm…I guess that wasn’t a real tear-jerker. Sorry. Still an awesome line, though. ---
**Author:** ![DarRRva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/53a042/32.png) [@DarRRva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarRRva)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/19 "2005-06-20T06:49:58Z")
I can’t remember the exact lines, but the part in Big Fish when they are in the bath. That whole scene makes my eyes water. Same goes for the “Superman” line in The Iron Giant. And the conversation Ellen has with Vlad about asking her dad about acting lessons in Camp: “If just one tenth of one percent of the world want to be actors, that’s still 6 million people. You really think you’re prettier than six million people? You’re not even the prettiest one in your class…” That one probably has a lot to do with the aspiring actor in me though, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971/20 "2005-06-20T07:26:45Z")
Good Will Hunting: “It’s not your fault, Will. It’s not your fault.” Gets me every time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-tear-jerking-line-s-in-a-modern-movie/308971.md?page=2)