# Movies You Didn't Expect To Make You Cry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098 "2009-08-20T17:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/101 "2009-08-25T09:38:06Z")
For The Two Towers, I shed a few manly tears at the [Battle of Helm’s Deep](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpwsKRpKS_M)scene. “Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And the RED DAWN!” And then later the charge down that big old hill. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/102 "2009-08-25T14:20:56Z")
When Will finally breaks down in Seans office (“It’s not your fault … it’s not your fault …”) toward the end of \*Good Will Hunting \*… gets me ever time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/103 "2009-08-25T16:00:16Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > …Also, I know it’s not “cool” to admit to liking _Titanic_, but I did. And the two scenes that got to me were the one with the old couple who lay down on their bed, holding hands, waiting to die together as “Nearer My God to Thee” played over the scene, and the last scene after Rose died when she appeared on the Titanic with all the people she remembered “alive” again. Those both made me puddle up a little, I’ll admit. Also, when the Irish mom\* is reading a bedttime story to her little kids back in their cabin, as they wait to die. \*Same actress who played the tough-as-nails Vasquez in _Aliens_ and the white-trash foster mom in _Terminator 2: Judgment Day_. She can do _anything_: [Jenette Goldstein - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenette_Goldstein) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/104 "2009-08-25T16:19:15Z")
The scene at the end of “Home Alone,” where the old guy is reunited with his family. It’s such a blatantly manipulative scene it should piss me off, but it gets me every time. Will Ferrell singing “I’d Go the Whole Wide World” in “Stranger Than Fiction.” ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/105 "2009-08-25T16:35:02Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > :mad: > I still think this song should have won the Oscar instead of the Dylan song. “When She Loved Me” didn’t lose to Dylan’s “Things Have Changed” (which at least would’ve been a reasonable choice). It lost to Phil Collins’ “You’ll Be in My Heart” from _Tarzan_. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/106 "2009-08-25T19:49:27Z")
I didn’t think seeing “Cats” on Broadway would make me cry, but that song “Memory” becomes so personal. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/107 "2009-08-26T02:52:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Those both made me puddle up a little, I’ll admit. Also, when the Irish mom\* is reading a bedttime story to her little kids back in their cabin, as they wait to die. The one that always gets me is Benjamin Guggenheim, one of the richest men in the world, turning down a place in the lifeboats: _No, thank you. We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down as gentlemen._ ---
**Author:** ![Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blut_Aus_Nord)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/108 "2009-08-26T04:22:13Z")
Bunch of people mentioned Lord of the Rings, but not Return of the King? The ending to that one was easily the most emotional scene in the trilogy. I was little when I saw Dead Poets Society. First time I ever actually cried because of a movie. The second time was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button… Benjamin’s last few years were so strangely disturbing to me that it made me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/109 "2009-08-26T06:10:43Z")
Just got back from _District 9_. I remember someone mentioning the movie very early in this thread. I skipped over that post as best possible because I wanted zero percent spoilage of that movie. The movie was coming to an end and I thought “Okay, I can see where someone might have teared up during certain parts, but it’s ending soon so I’m waiting for the Big Moment.” It took until the _very end_ of the movie to get me teared up. You know, the metal flower that showed up on Tania’s doorstep and the ending scene directly after that. If you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean. If not, go see it, quite a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/110 "2009-08-27T01:44:59Z")
> [@DLuxN8R-13](#): > > _Miracle Mile_. When the credits rolled I burst out crying, as much to my surprise as my partner’s, and said "At least the old folks got to have that sandwich together…: I just watched this. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/111 "2009-08-27T02:08:53Z")
I’ll second what Covered in Bees said about “District 9”. Wow. I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that & teared up. I haven’t read the whole thread yet but I never expected to get teared up when I first saw “Iron Giant”, but I did, of course. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/112 "2009-08-27T02:31:25Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > **Sophie’s Choice** : I knew it involved the Nazis but I figured it was a love triangle thing. It uh, got a lot heavier than that. If you’ve never seen the movie, > > 1. you should. Today. > 2. you may not want to watch this, to avoid a major spoiler. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYQjsbn4KCM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYQjsbn4KCM) > > The Nazis are deciding to do with the people they have rounded up. Sophie and her two kids are among them. The little girl’s performance in this…wow. Why, \*why \*did I just watch that? Now I’m sorely tempted to go wake up my daughter just so I can give her a big hug and kiss and cuddle with her for a few hours. I won’t though, because then I’d be up all night trying to get her back to sleep. But damn. Someone upthread mentioned _Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants_. For me it’s the scene when America Ferrera is on the phone with her dad, finally able to tell him the truth…that she’s angry with him, and hurt by his leaving her and finding a new family. That girl can act. ---
**Author:** ![Kickback\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cdc98d/32.png) [@Kickback\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kickback_Joe)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/113 "2009-08-27T20:18:24Z")
For a guy movie _Saving Private Ryan_ did it for me. The very last scene where he asks his wife if he was a good man. I know it was about war and people had to die but that particular scene just tears me up everytime. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/114 "2009-08-27T21:28:36Z")
_Dances with Wolves_. I choked up when the soldiers shot Two Socks, but I really started crying when Wind in His Hair (who wanted to kill Dunbar initially) shouted down from the mountain, “Don’t you know that I will always be your friend?” ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/115 "2009-08-27T22:07:24Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > The Iron Giant. > > When he says “Superman”. QFT. I just teared up right now. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/116 "2009-08-27T23:06:48Z")
> [@Kickback\_Joe](#): > > For a guy movie _Saving Private Ryan_ did it for me. The very last scene where he asks his wife if he was a good man. I know it was about war and people had to die but that particular scene just tears me up everytime. Yeah, that one gets me every time, just as surely as the cabbie in We Were Soldiers ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/117 "2009-08-27T23:10:33Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > **Sophie’s Choice** : I knew it involved the Nazis but I figured it was a love triangle thing. It uh, got a lot heavier than that. If you’ve never seen the movie, > > 1. you should. Today. > 2. you may not want to watch this, to avoid a major spoiler. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYQjsbn4KCM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYQjsbn4KCM) > > The Nazis are deciding to do with the people they have rounded up. Sophie and her two kids are among them. The little girl’s performance in this…wow. I _can’t_ watch that. As a parent, it is simply too upsetting. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/118 "2009-08-28T00:52:42Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The one that always gets me is Benjamin Guggenheim, one of the richest men in the world, turning down a place in the lifeboats: _No, thank you. We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down as gentlemen._ That just struck me as weird, I have to say - and unkind to his servant. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/119 "2009-08-28T01:05:15Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That just struck me as weird, I have to say - and unkind to his servant. Knowingly sacrificing their lives so that that others would have a chance to take their seats in the lifeboats is weird? And its not like his servant was a slave–he could have escaped to look after his own skin, if he was that kind of man. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098/120 "2009-08-28T01:27:49Z")
**For #1** : Another vote for\* Up!\*, even when I’d been told it was a tear-jerker. I expected to tear up, but I’m pregnant, and the montage at the beginning just killed me: first, the loss of the pregnancy, which I very much fear; then, losing the love of your life and best friend–that’s my hubby, and geez, even NOW I’m tearing up thinking about ever facing life without him; finally, watching this sad, grieving, widower in a house full of memories and pain…that’s my mom, now, just 6mos after my father passed away. It triple-whammied me. ☹ I had to fight, and fight hard, not just breaking into loud sobs in the theater. **Another for #1** : _Awakenings_. I had been told it was an uplifting movie celebrating life (which, in the larger context of things I suppose it is), but that painted in my teenaged mind a very different ending. I didn’t expect to see everyone get sick _again_, and their slow, agonizing slide out of conscious reality was too much for me. I wept for hours after that. Now, since my father had advanced Parkinson’s when he passed away, there’s no way in hell I could watch that movie again. I couldn’t bear to watch people slip away when I’d already seen it far too up close, if not as severe as catatonic Leonard. **Drum God** , I’m so very sorry for your loss. I cannot even bear the fleeting thought of losing a child. I did a search of your posts to try and find the story, but it doesn’t go back that far. So be it. Warm hugs to you and yours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-didnt-expect-to-make-you-cry/507098.md?page=7)