9 movies that made me sob like a neglected toddler

I don’t consider myself a movie weeper. I’ll tear up often but don’t break down and sob at very many movies. So I’ve pulled together the list of the movies that made me fall apart and bawl.

Warning, partial spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution.


Copland
I don’t think I’ve ever sobbed as hard in a theatre as I did watching this movie. The loss that Freddy suffers at the climax of the film and the sensory way that it is portrayed to the audience just about killed me. It’s not a sad tragic movie, but something in that moment really hit me.

Titanic
Yes, yes, I cried at Titanic. Probably both times I saw it in the theatre. But my tears were dry in time that I really hoped old Rose would slip off the ship and follow the Heart of the Ocean to the depths.

Ed Wood
Okay, this is a weird one, I admit. Bela Lugosi’s death came at a time when he was really alone in the world and something about seeing a life end in such isolation was heart-wrenching. See also: The Killer

Dancer in the Dark
Here’s an example of a movie that ended and left me sobbing in the dark for many minutes before I could move. This is a very powerful movie that somehow doesn’t feel as dark as it logically should. Maybe it’s the musical aspect that makes it feel more hopeful than it really is.

American History X
This is another movie that left me sobbing in the dark after it had ended. Seeing tragedy strike wasn’t the hard part, it was seeing the person left behind and the guilt he would have on his head for the rest of his life.

Sophie’s Choice
This movie should be its own category of sad. Like a Level 5 hurricane or something. We got this from Netflix and it sat for ages before we watched it, in no small part because we both knew what was in store for us. We finally half-heartedly watched it one night just for the sake of getting it back in the mail. My husband was doing work on the computer and I was folding laundry. Neither of us was paying very much attention to the movie. But at the crux of the film we both stopped dead in our tracks and gave Meryl Streep our full attention. It wasn’t even a sobbing moment; the tears just started streaming down my face. That situation was about the saddest thing I could ever imagine, and Meryl’s portrayal of that moment was so realistic that I felt the horror along with her.

Big Fish
This is a rare example of a movie that made me cry happy tears. The ending was so perfect and poetic that I was moved to tears while still smiling.

The Piano
I haven’t seen this movie since the first time I watched it, so it very well may have little to no affect on me now. When I watched it I was in my late teens and it was probably three o’clock in the morning, so exhaustion and hormones may have had a role in how much I cried at this movie. This is similar to my Cop Land bawl fest, being strongly affected by a character experiencing a loss of something very crucial to his or her life or personal identity. And in both cases, it all turns out fine in the end.

The Killer
This is another atypical movie to make a person cry. The climax fight in this movie is filled with the usual John Woo symbols and fighting style, but we see the desolation of two characters as the fight is at its close and it is heartbreaking.


Honorable Mention: Tears of Endearment, The Remains of the Day, Il Postino, Splendor in the Grass


Do the movies on my list makes me certifiably weepy? Which tearjerkers have moved you?