It’s mid-January. It’s cold and wet, it’s still incredibly dark, you’re broke and the fun you spent all your cash on over Christmas and New Year is now feeling like a very distant memory. You don’t want to go out tonight even if you could afford to, and in a few weeks it will still only be February (ugh).My suggestion? Go with it – embrace the general gloom by hunkering down with some sad films. Finding your companion is key here and so I’ve put together a list of movies that, whilst having other merits to recommend them, also have that all-important wallowing quality – they are guaranteed to set me off crying. These are, in my opinion, the five best movies to cry to.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This takes top spot for the sheer number and length of sobs it supports. I’ll probably have the first one when they’re under the covers and she asks him if she’s ugly; there’ll be a couple more peppered throughout; then the final 15-20 minutes is just full-on weeping. I love this film and have watched it many times – an honour bestowed on only a small number from my collection. The simple premise of this film is wonderfully executed, and if you can’t cry at this story then I think you’re probably a robot.
One Day
I’d already read the book (which I also cried through, in case you were wondering), Anne Hathaway’s accent was annoying the hell out of me, and I was with my sister who I knew would laugh at me if I cried (she did). Yet when I went to see this at the cinema back in 2011, it still got me. There I was in Canada Water, quietly dabbing at my eyes with a discreet tissue while my sister squinted at my face in the dark ‘Are you….? Oh my God, you are! You’re crying! Hahahahahaha!’.
You’ve Got Mail
This movie will probably feature in any list of films I will ever make, and I’m not going to apologise for that. It’s my all-time favourite film and – barring childhood obsessions such as Grease, Mrs Doubtfire, and Cool Runnings (wait, why isn’t this on the list?!) – it’s the film I’ve re-watched the most. Now I know you’re probably wondering how a gentle romantic comedy can make you cry. It does, it does. You have to have a bit of patience with this one and wait until the end to get there – her clearing out the shop for the last time just doesn’t do it for me – but it should still deliver. By then she’s been messed around by this perfect man from the internet for a good while, she’s separately fallen in love with the man who ruthlessly and without apology put her bookshop up for sale (the one she inherited from her dead, perfect mother, no less) and she’s arrived in Riverside Park and realised they’re the same person! ‘I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.’ And off I go….
City of Angels
We’ve got some repetition on the list now (Meg Ryan, a devastating bicycle accident); this film also delivers some of Nicholas Cage’s worst/best acting. City of Angels is designed to make you weep, so don’t fight it – embrace the melodramatic soundtrack and just immerse yourself in the heartbreak without analysing it. I don’t own this movie and I’ve never sat down to watch it on purpose, but it’s one of those films that always seems to be on TV. If I’m ever flicking channels and happen to come across it, I’ll always stop and watch it for the sake of a good cry.
The Wrong Trousers
Bear with me on this one! Overall, it is undoubtedly a jolly romp with lovely animation that pleases the whole family. But that scene where the penguin moves in, covers the dog-bone wallpaper in Gromit’s bedroom with his fish one, and changes the radio station while Gromit is outside with his bindle and his big sad eyes? It gets me every time. Every single time.
What do you think of my list? Which films are guaranteed to activate your tear ducts? Let me know by leaving a comment!
20 Comments
This is such a great idea for a blog post! You have some great choices there, I think I’d have to go with (predictably) The Note Book, Love Story, ET, Beaches and the latest edition Frozen. I do love a movie post, I must do more myself.
#TheLis xx
Thanks for commenting! I actually nearly cried for the entire first 20 minutes of Frozen and definitely would have done if I wasn’t watching with a small child. Good choices too xo
I like your choices but as I have a teen boy I haven’t seen Frozen, am I the only one on the planet. After I watched ‘The Way We Were’ at the Cinema I cried all the way home & fell in love with Robert Redford : )
But do you have a sister? Frozen is the ultimate film for sister love! Haha! I watched The Way We Were a few years back and yes, a definitey weepy. Thanks for commenting xo
I love this!! Some great films and I love a good sob 🙂 Mind you, I can cry at most things! Thanks for linking up to #TheList – will share this on my FB page xx
Thanks! So glad I’m finding others who enjoy a quality weep – it’s not the norm in my family. And thank you SO MUCH for sharing, I really appreciate it xo
Fab post! I cry at everything… I’m so soppy. I really think Up is a good weepy at the beginning… And ET. Classic of course! #BrilliantBlogPosts
Thanks! I haven’t seen Up but a lot of people have recommended as a teary one so I might give it a try. Thanks so much for commenting xo
My Sister’s Keeper is just a sob fest for me. If I am going to watch it I need to have a box of tissue in the ready. #brilliantblogposts
Ooh haven’t seen that one though I know the premise. That one might be a bit too real for me though! xo
What? No Marley and me?
No I didnt cry either.
OK maybe a little bit.
Haha! I haven’t seen Marley and Me but I have heard plenty of people say it’s a tear-jerker. One for the list. Thanks for commenting!
Love those movies, I would add Bridesmaids-never fails to make me cry with laughter. Thanks for linking up to #brilliantblogposts x
I’ve never seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but I might have to give it a go! Films that always make me cry are E.T, Titanic, Marley and Me, Up, My Sister’s Keeper….I could go on!!
Watch it!!! Marley & Me, Up and My Sister’s Keeper are popular suggestions on this thread now so I’m going to have to give at least one of them a try I think! Thanks for commenting xo
I’d add Serendipity – I well-up everytime. Nothing like cuddling up in your pj’s with a glass of wine watching a soppy film. ☺️
Great post. x
LOVE Serendipity! Can’t always add wine though as the crying can get out of hand! Thanks for reading and commeting xo
Ah, I love Eternal Sunshine, I’ve not seen it for ages. You’ve inspired me to watch it again! x
Hahaha! I KNOW I shouldn’t be laughing, but HOW did ‘The Wrong Trousers’ end up on this list? 😉
I get the feeling you’re just a lovely person!
Hahahaha thanks! Have you seen it though?? Gromit’s little face – it kills me! xo