A Good Cry

A friend and I were talking the other day about the cathartic benefits of watching a good schmaltzy movie.  But while her tastes run to the epic romances (Dr. Zhivago, Casablanca) I found my favorites (or least favorites, this crying bit is a love-hate relationship) are actually kids’ movies.  I think one reason for this is I like crying for happy.

My biggest surprise crying movie was Up.  Obviously the first surprise is it’s a kids cartoon, for heaven’s sake. It’s just a generation or three up from Road Runner and Daffy Duck.  The second surprise is that you need to have your Kleenex out in the early part of the movie. What’s with that? Who’s ready with Kleenex before the first popcorn break?

My other big surprise was Homeward Bound.  Admittedly this is not an all-purpose tearjerker. If you’re not a dog lover (or maybe a cat lover) you wont even be able to sit through the movie.  But not only did I bawl my eyes out on this one, but my dear husband whose name I wouldn’t mention here for fear of embarrassing him, bawled his eyes out too; AND I couldn’t stop crying for a day or two.  I do understand that maybe I just needed a good cry.  But geez, two days of soggy Kleenex from a movie about 2 dogs and a cat? Get a grip, Nina.

Of recent movies we’ve seen in the theater — it’s always interesting to watch grown men crying surreptitiously — The King’s Speech got to both of us, as well as a goodly portion of the audience. This is of the crying for happy movies.  Maybe we’ll watch it again tonight. If you haven’t seen it, do.

I tend not to like romantic movies in general, so I don’t have a good list of romantic tearjerkers, other than Casablanca.  But Casablanca, as much as I love it as a movie in general, is a wet-eyed sniffle movie, not a loud hiccup-snort, blow your nose, tears running down your face movie like Up and Homeward Bound.

To me, part of the joy of a good cry at a movie is that moment when you give up trying to hide that you’re crying, you look at your partner, and you both laugh with each other because you’re both such saps.  It’s a great moment in any relationship, from an old marriage to a first date.

So on the theory that everyone needs a good cry sometimes, maybe our lovely readers can suggest their favorite movies to cry to.