If there is one thing more subjective than an answer to the question “What is funny?”, it’s probably an answer to the question “What is worth weeping like a baby over?” Outside of, obviously, scenes were a beloved dog dies and/or an elderly person says goodbye to the love of their lives. Those things are a lock for tears and if you disagree you are potentially not actually human.

So, without further ado,  movie scenes that make everybody (by which I mean me) cry.

Feel free to add to the discussion in the comments because, as I said, this list is necessarily partial.

---

10. The Shawshank Redemption – Brooks’ Gets Parole

An old man is freed after a lifetime in prison only to find the outside world to be an unwelcoming place. Set your phasers to “tear-strewn”. Kicks in from about 3:00 or so.



9. Man on Wire – The Wire Walking

A majestic documentary about Phillipe Petit’s project to tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974 leads to an oddly emotional climax where the fact of his success, the fact of his performing an act so extreme and unnecessary merely so as to be doing something wondrous, moved me to tears. A curious entry.



8. The Notebook – All of It

Shameful secret: I have seen The Notebook.  More shameful secret: God, it made me cry. Not those heartfelt, authentic tears brought on in the presence of great art, but more the uncomfortably manipulated tears of someone who knows that the filmmaker is using every cynical tactic at their disposal to max out the misery quotient.  I mean, they gave her goddamn Alzheimer’s! I’m surprised they didn’t just kill their dog in front of him to round it out. With that said, this film could quite easily be used as a psychological tester for the question “Do you feel emotion?”



7. Gladiator – Maximus’ Final Homecoming

Now, this is dude tragedy right here. Kickass fight scene and THEN comes the final welcome return to his beloved, murdered family. Unfortunately, a rather strict attitude toward unlicensed YouTube content by the good folk at Universal means we’ll have to make do with this bastardised collection of images set to the final theme from the film, but hey, we’ve all seen it. We know what’s going on.



6. Life is Beautiful – Guido’s Death

As the Nazis come for him, Guido convinces his son that he needs to hide because this is all just another game, one more adventure between them, complete with wacky goosestepping as he heads off to die. Whew. Those Holocaust comedies really know how to tug at the heartstrings.