A Real Tear Jerker

I've been moving slow today because I stayed up late last night watching Lord of the Rings and the sun woke me up early and I couldn't fall back to sleep. It was part three, Return of the King, which I hadn't seen yet, so now I've seen the whole thing, albeit out of order. I saw part two first, not that it matters, since I've read the books at least ten times in the last forty years and know the plot and most dialogue by heart.

I really liked the movies. I thought the casting was great, and they recreated Tolkien's world pretty much as I had envisioned it, but still, they have to cut out so much of the backstory that even with the rich imagery, a fan of the series like me is left feeling just a little unsatisfied. I wanted Bombadil and the Barrow Downs and the Scouring of the Shire.

As I said, I've read the books at least ten times, maybe more, and I cry at the end when Bilbo and Frodo leave on the ship - every single time. And I'm talking major sobbing. It doesn't matter that I know what's going to happen. By then I'm so caught up in Middle Earth that my heart breaks for the Fellowship all over again. I was wondering if the movie would make me cry or not, since I wasn't as invested in it, but sure enough, the tears started rolling as soon as they reached the dock and lasted long after the closing credits.

That got me to thinking about other movies that have moved me to tears. Old Yeller of course. I don't know anybody who doesn't cry at the end of that one. There was a lesser known one done around the same time called The Yearling. Cried when they had to shoot the deer. I came out of the theater sniffling at the end of Midnight Cowboy. I was still wiping my eyes when I walked out of ET. And the last scene in It's a Wonderful Life? Hand me a box of kleenex as soon as George finds ZuZu's petals back in his pocket and starts running home through the snow.

So how about you folks? What movies make you cry?