Top 10 movies that made me cry (chicks version)

It is not a stretch for a chick to cry at a movie.  Hence “chick flick”.  Especially this chick, hell, I cried when David Hartman left Good Morning America.  So it’s safe to say I really had trouble narrowing this list to 10.  When I say this is the top 10 list of movies that made me cry, I’m not talking about tearing up, I’m talking gut wrenching sobbing that had me soiling my sleeve from shoulder to cuff.

Honorable Mentions: Ghost; I am Sam; The Blind Side; Radio

#10 An Affair to Remember-You guessed it, that scene you saw from Sleepless in Seattle when Rita Wilson talks about Cary Grant discovering that Deborah Kerr is crippled.  I’ve seen the movie no less than 25 times and every single time, at the exact same spot…I start.  When Cary Grant leans his head against the door and closes his eyes after seeing his painting in Kerr’s bedroom and he has that knowing…well, I lose it, faithfully, every time.

#9 Million Dollar Baby-The chemistry between Eastwood and Swank was incredible and the scenes leading up to her death are breathtaking.  When Eastwood decides to assist Swank in her death it was a reminder that Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank should be on everyone’s top ten list of Hollywood’s finest.

#8 Imitation of Life-Lana Turner befriends a homeless black woman, Annie, and takes her into her home to help her.  Both women have incorrigible daughters with Annie’s daughter having the most issues.  She is very light-skinned and hates being black.  She spends most of her time giving her mother hell, and trying to pass herself off as white.  She puts as much distance as possible between herself and her mother.  In the end, her mother passes away, and Sarah Jane comes to the realization that her mother was the only one who truly loved her.  As she throws herself on the casket and sobs her apologies to her mother, I sobbed with her.

#7 Cast Away-One word…”Wilson”.  Seriously, who knew you could sob over a volleyball.  I’ve sobbed over football (2011 Sugar Bowl), but never a volleyball, till this movie.

# 6 Men of Honor-Anytime a movie is based on a true story, I’m all about it.  This particular movie about Carl Brashear, the first African American, then also the first amputee, US Navy Diver puts me over the edge.  I’m an Air Force brat so all movies military put a lump in my throat.  The scene where Carl dons the huge, 200 lb. diving suit and walks towards the panel was riveting.  The lump in my throat weighed as much as his suit.  By the time he took his allotted number of steps, I was mush.

#5 Titanic-Again, true story and as gut wrenching as they come.  I don’t want to give away the ending here but when you have 1500+ people die, many of whom are hopelessly thrashing around in frigid water…you would have to have an iceberg in your veins not to be moved to tears.  I visited a Titanic museum in Branson, Missouri and was able to put my hand in a fountain that kept the water at the same temperature as the water they were in and I could only hold my hand in it for a few seconds before the pain was unbearable.  If you ever have a chance to visit one of the museums they are amazing and enlightening.

#4 Armageddon-I lost my father at an early age.  The scene in Armageddon, where Liv Tyler and Bruce Willis are saying their goodbyes kills me.  I’m filled with “if only’s”.  If only I had a chance to say goodbye to my father.  By the time this scene is over, I usually have the hiccups.  It’s a combination of longing for the chance to have said goodbye to my father and understanding her pain knowing she will never see him again.  Great!  There’s a lump in my throat.

#3 Schindler’s List-Seriously?  True story, thousands of innocent jews sent to slaughter at concentration camps, tortured, starved and murdered.  Schindler’s valiant efforts to save them and his pain in knowing he might have saved more.  I was born in Germany, and I remember my mother talking about visiting Auschwitz.  We can not even begin to fathom the hell on earth they went through.   If you haven’t seen the movie, buy stock in Kleenex first.   Enough said.

#2 The Notebook-The perfect example of the perfect chick flick.  By the end of the movie, when realization has hit I was doing this quiet sob thing that literally made my chest ache.  It was very painful.  I’d gone to see it by myself and the theater was packed.  I was sandwiched between two strangers (also sobbing) and for some stupid reason, I didn’t want them to know I was crying.  Okay, so everyone in the whole durn place was doing the exact same thing.  People were sniffing and dabbing all over the place.

#1 The Passion of the Christ-Whether you are religious or not, no matter your faith, the scene in the movie where Christ is beaten, literally to a bloody pulp, is in my mind, the goriest, most disturbing scene I have witnessed in a movie theater.   Watching the Son of God being brutally beaten for my sins, for the purpose of my entry into heaven, shames me to the core.  But for those who are not religious and perhaps believe the Holy Bible is a story book, the beating of this innocent man is no less disturbing.  I cried so hard my chest hurt…and for hours after the movie, I ached all over.  That makes this my number one movie.

I would love to hear about the movies that made you cry and the scenes that left you breathless and aching.

Comment with Facebook

63 thoughts on “Top 10 movies that made me cry (chicks version)

  1. Fab List! Rainy day off nothin to do and found this list with Google!

    Passion of Christ….his mother see’s him fall while dragging the cross…flash back to her little boy falling down….single mom with 1 son here…..I was crushed for days.

  2. i haven’t seen the movie, but just thinking about (movie#1) makes my eyes water. whether you’re religous or not, no innocent man should be punished that way. for me this is jesus, my hero.

  3. I sat here reading the comments & I embarrassingly admit to crying as I remember each movie and which scenes absolutely slaughtered me. That being said here is my list (in no particular order & shortened):

    1) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- There are several scenes, but the one that makes me SOB endlessly is where she reads her father’s letters to her. It wrenches my heart and leaves me emotionally drained.

    2) Lion King- When Simba sees Mufasa’s ghost in the sky. Enough said.

    3) Forrest Gump- Several times, but the scene where’s at Jenny’s grave or when he waits for Forrest Jr. to get off the bus from school. Oh wait… Also when he loses Bubba.

    4) Moulin Rouge- Definitely one of my favorite films so when Christian loses Satine I just bawl my eyes out.

    5) Schindler’s List- Need I say more?

  4. I am a younger member commenting on this, but Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: When Cedric Diggory comes back dead, and his Father is crying over him. “That’s my boy!” That scene is one of the most heart-wrenching that I have ever seen.

  5. I agree with Terry, A.I. got me every time.

    Passion of the Christ did nothing for me. I’m religious, but not Christian, so seeing a mythical figure get flayed… *shrug*.

  6. I’ve seen most of these movies I have to agree. They’re all very emotional. I also found Passion of the Christ hard to watch, those beating scenes were awful.
    Another very sad movie to add to the list is Atonement. I have that heartache when I watch it.

  7. We Were Soldiers

    When you see the wife of the Lt. Col. start getting the telegrams for all the men killed and she goes door-to-door in the housing area in order to notify the wives whose husbands aren’t coming home…

    1. Bras, your comment was actually posted on the top 5 list on the same subject, this is the top 10 list (chick version),if you meant to post it here, simply post it again and you will see it show up

  8. I understand if i am being invited to leave, but just say so! And i dont understand i used to post here all the time here and my comments would never dissapear. But from one year ago my comments started to dissapear. I just want to understand why.

  9. Why that all the messages that i post here dissapear? Yesterday i posted my list and now it isnt here. Whats happening? My opinions dont mather? I read this site for a long time but i think is disrespectfull to erase someone opinions. And i just said my favorite movies that makes me cry!! This is not the first time my comment dissapear, and i am not a troll, i just want to talk to my fellow movie maniacs. Are you guys choosing wich opinios fit your articles best?

  10. The loss of Wilson never chocked me up in Cast Away, it was the part after TH had been rescued and had gone to visit his wife in the middle of the night. The part where she says she knew he wasn’t dead and then a few minutes later they run to eachother and kiss, but he has to leave. That part is powerful to me! Also, the movie, What Dreams May Come, where Robin Williams goes to hell to find and save his wife…the end where she comes to but he loses his soul…or does he!

  11. No mention of Saving Private Ryan? When the soldier gets mowed down, and they start pumping him full of morphine and he starts crying for his mother? woof…powerful stuff.

  12. If anyone were to include any animated movie, you would have to put “UP” in this list, cried like a baby over the opening sequence. Haven’t found many movies that stirred such emotion as that one did.

  13. This post is one big Spoiler for dozens of movies! Sure, i’ve seen most of these movies. BUT still, i feel sorry for the person who hasn’t seen a movie in the past 30 years and has had all of these movies ruined for him in a single posting!! maybe should advertise potential spoilers next time ;) just saying….

  14. Ow yeah, a more recent movie: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows part 2 – Snape dying and seeing his memories….the music is so powerful and Alan Rickman delivers the performance of his career.

  15. I doubt if anyone here has heard of Stricken…it’s the English title for a Dutch movie called “Komt een vrouw bij de dokter” literally “A woman goes to the doctor”….I continuously cried during the last 20 minutes (!!!) of the film, I have never cried like that before during a movie. I was shaking, my eyes were all red, my cheeks were wet, my mascara was running, snot was coming out of my nose (I know, yuk) …… It’s an emotional heavy movie about a woman with terminal breast cancer. Her husband can’t deal with it and cheats on her. Dutch movies don’t hold back, they show everything.

  16. Great points all. I said I had trouble with narrowing the list down. It was an easy list to formulate, until I wrote it and all these others popped in my head.

    Wilson…damn ball….damn Sugar Bowl.

    1. Oh yeah, My Sassy Girl (Korean version), man that ending is so AWESOME. Just…man…I….I welled up. The worst part for me was that I was on the train with a bunch of commuters going home and kept having to try to kept the tears of joy from streaming down my face.

  17. W I L S O N !!!!! Yeah, we all cried at that, didn’t we. I like your list, you have given me a few to watch that I haven’t seen. You prompted me to think of my own top 10 chick flicks. I don’t think of Shindler’s List as a chick flick, but I sure did a lot of crying through it. Anyway, here’s my top ten in case anyone is interested.

    10. African Queen: Hepburn and Bogart in a jungle on a boat. Now there’s some romance.

    9. When Harry Met Sally: “I’ll have whatever she ordered.”

    8. Gone With the Wind: Frankly Scarlett, I do give a damn about this movie! People may think it’s a prejudiced movie, but African American artist, Kara Walker, says the novel was influential in her art. It’s a great story to use as a converstaion starter between cultures.

    7. Calender Girls: Old British chicks pose nude in a calender to raise funds for charity. Ya just gotta laugh!

    6. Cold Mountain: This is an historical fiction movie about the Civil War. But since it’s a love story I’m gonna count it as a chick flick. Lots of tears in the one.

    5. Mona Lisa Smile: Art saves women from modern domestic oblivian. What’s not to love?

    4. Fried Green Tomatoes: quote from Kathy Bates character to some young women bragging on their youth, “But I’m older and I have more insurance.” as she crashes into their car. Here’s another quote, this time from a waitress aT a cafe to an investigater about a murder, “Secret’s in the sauce.” Bahahahaha!

    3. Steal Magnolia’s: I went to see this movie 3 times at the theater when it came out. I have also visited where they filmed it.
    As Sally Field’s character character says, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”

    2. The Secrets of the Divine Ya-Ya Sisterhood: I love how these women stayed so close all their lives. “She had to join the Tripple A” LOL!

    1. Something’s Gotta Give: this movie is well written with developed plot that keeps you guessing. It has Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Middle aged folks find love! Yea! It’s really funny and an excellent movie.

    So thanks, Angela, for getting me thinking on this. And we’ll always have “WILSON!”.

    1. I didnt cry at Wilson, sorry didnt find it heart wrenching at all. I guess I couldnt connect with the loss he felt over a handpainted soccer ball.

      1. I suppose you’re right if you take the volleyball and paint a face on it and stop there. But if you take the fact that the volleyball was the only thing he communicated with for all those years while he was alone on the island, and couple that with the fact that it also probably kept him sane through it all…that’s tear jerker material.

    2. opps, sorry. I guess I had a blond moment. For some reason I got it in my head that the topic was chick flicks. But, all those chick flicks made me cry as well as laugh. just sayin.

  18. great list!

    now I have a few movies to rent later (I haven’t watched An Affair to Remember & The Notebook). I’ll be experimenting whether chick flicks can make man cry.

    and thank you so much. if you didn’t write it, it would’ve take me a long time to realize I actually cried because of a ball. a damn volley ball!

    WILSON!!!!

  19. Return of the King when the Rohirrim show up on the hill to save Gondor. The latest Star Trek, the first ten minutes when George was saving everybody on board, talking to his wife and hearing his son… every element of that scene made me well up with tears.

  20. Shoot, I just realized I left Rudy off the list. Geesh. When he finally got to play and was carried off the field by his teammates. (*sniff *sniff) I feel a sport themed list coming…has it been done yet?

    1. I definitely agree with having Rudy as at least an honourable mention – for the ending and for the scene where he finally gets his acceptance letter and can’t help but cry. It’s a scene that connects the viewer to the character and to the moment. You really get the feeling of just how happy he is, as it causes him to break down. It wouldn’t rouse the gut wrenching sobs in the viewer that you referred to above, but it’s worth a few tears. At one point in our lives we will experience that same feeling, when you work so hard to achieve something, and when you finally get it, it’s a spectacular feeling.

Leave a Reply