[QUOTE=samarm]
Heres a curve ball one: The Majestic (don’t laugh, I know its cheesy)
[/QUOTE]
It wasn’t cheesy.
I cry at almost every movie I see. I cry at many TV shows and even some commercials. Hell, I even cried at the South Park movie when Kenny sacrifices himself at the end. Odd, because I very rarely cry at all at real things that happen in my life.
Two scenes from TV stand out in my mind. One of them was in the show The Practice. A shleb independent lawyer comes to The Practice firm and asks for help in defending a man he knows for a fact is innocent of indecent exposure, because he has photos of the mans naughty bits and they are huge, not at all like the description of the victim. THe man is ecstatic. He’s never won a case in his life, and he’s probably 45. He has no confidence, and for once he has an airtight case.
The case goes to jury, and the verdict is found guilty. It turns out that one of the jurors knew about plastic surgery and stated categorically during deliberation that the man’s equipment had been modified. When the guy from The Practice finds this out from questioning members of the jury, he immediate goes to the judge and it is declared a mistrial, because the jurors aren’t allowed to throw in additional evidence. THe jurors of course hadn’t known this.
The pathetic lawyer, however, is sitting on a bench just outside the courtroom with a Columbo style rain coat, a cheap suit, and his brief case on his lap clutched to his chest, with the most despondent look on his face you’ve ever seen. There’s suicide in his eyes; even with what seems to be an attorney’s dream case, he can’t win.
I hated Kelly for writing that. I cried for hours; The idea of someone trying his best for years upon end and never, ever succeeding is one that is intrinsically tearful for me.
The other scene was episode 6, season 4 of Babylon 5, when the Alliance finally kicks both the Vorlons and the Shadows out of the Galaxy. Now these guys have been running around like the lords of creation, not only killing sentient life forms, but destroying planets without the slightest hesitation. But when in negotiation, they finally realize that it’s their time to leave, they turn to Lorien, the uber Old One, who was old when they were young (as they were old when we were young). The Shadow, who were particularly ruthless, lifts his foreleg (a puppy gesture trying to win affection from an older dog) and asks with a teary catch of fear in his voice: “Will you come with us?” They were afraid without him. I cried for a few hours over that one too.
If you want a decent tear fest at the moment, try this bittersweet film that I saw today (about 6 and 1/2 minutes):
But as I said, I’ll tear up at virtually anything. I’d have to say my biggest single one is self-sacrifice to others or to duty.