The other night I sat down with my wife to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button finally. I had been wanting to see it for awhile but hadn't gotten around to it. When it finally came from Netflix it got put in the drawer and we kept passing over it for whatever we could stream through the PS3 because of it's length. It's pretty close to three hours long. But finally we decided to watch it. It's an intriguing story about a child this is born old and grows younger as time goes on. What a great character. Brad Pitt plays the part well and it is quite funny at times but yes, there will be tears. It got me thinking about some of the movies over the years that have reduced me to a blubbering idiot in front of various people who now have just slightly less respect for me as a man. Oh well, who cares. Everyone needs a good cry now & then.
5. Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Okay, this one may seem silly but the only thing I remember about this movie is that when I was a 6 year old kid watching this in the movie theater, every single person in the theater, not just me, was crying when Spock died. Okay, everyone except my father.
4. Toy Story 3 (2010)
First of all, I just want to mention that Toy Story is one of my favorite movies of all time. I'm a sucker for a story like that. It's a pretty emotional movie, which I think speaks to how great it is, that a grown man can be moved by a story about a bunch of toys. The animation was amazing for the time but it's the story & the characters that make it worth watching again & again. I also liked Toy Story 2. It was a good sequel, which is more than you can say for most sequels that have Disney's name on the cover. So when I heard that number three was in the works I was pretty excited although I was a little concerned with a small matter of who would do the voice of Slinky and whether or not ANYONE should. But, I'm a huge fan of the series and a father so inevitably I ended up at the theater to watch it. Take my advice, if you go see it bring a box of tissues or at least wear an extra shirt to dry your tears on because they WILL be flowing. If they don't, you're a heartless bastard.
3. Any movie in which at some point Clare Danes cries
Here's the thing, when Claire Danes cries there's this little like twitch in her chin. You've seen it. You may not have noticed but you have seen it. It was in Romeo & Juliet. It probably happened multiple times in My So-Called Life. It was probably most prominent in 1996's To Gillian on her 37th Birthday. I don't know why it is but when her chin starts twitching I start crying.
2. What Dreams May Come
This may be the saddest movie ever. There is tear inducing content throughout. I don't even want to talk about it.
1. Forrest Gump
What Dreams May Come may be the saddest overall movie of all time but I don't think there has ever been a single scene in a movie that brought the tear deluge like the scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest (Tom Hanks in his most brilliant performance in a career full of brilliant performances) is at the grave of the love of his life. This scene makes me pause the movie and go into another room to pull myself together before watching the rest. It's absolutely heart-wrenching.
