I don’t normally seek out tearjerker-type movies myself. Not that I hate them per se, I just generally don’t like films that are too obvious in their intentions. Tearjerkers can be pretty ingratiating.
That said, I love Ordinary People. It’s one of my all-time favorite films. Yes, it made me cry because it affected me in an honest, direct way, not in some typically fake, overwrought Hollywood manner. Like duchess says, the movie is at times painful to watch. The emotions get pretty raw. It takes guts to do the kind soul-baring acting required in this film, especially for Timothy Hutton’s character. I guess I don’t really want to tag Ordinary People as a tearjerker, just as I don’t want to label Unforgiven as merely a Western or 2001: A Space Odyssey as merely a science fiction film. They are all great dramas that happen to fit particular genres that we arbitrarily create.
The only other films on that Top 20 list I’ve watched through entirely are Ghost, Titanic and Steel Magnolias. (I assume Ghost is the 1990 Patrick Swayze film, because I’m not familiar with any movie from 1980 with the same title.)
As far as being a “good” tearjerker, I feel Steel Magnolias is clearly superior to both Ghost and Titanic. Again, because the emotional journey in Steel Magnolias feels genuine, whereas the other two films suffer from that Hollywood maudlin excessiveness. (It’s also about the only movie in which I can tolerate Julia Roberts.)
By the way, if there was a “None of the above” option in the poll, I’d take that. I’ve never seen Bambi and have only watched portions of the other four. But from what I’ve seen of It’s A Wonderful Life, I think it’s overrated. <i></i>
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