Tear-jerkers

I really have always loved a "good cry".  Just ask my mom:)

I am not so much in favor of the really obvious "tear-jerker" movies, like Terms of Endearment, Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes, or An Affair to Remember.  Don't get me wrong, I certainly have enjoyed those movies, and others of that ilk, but I prefer the kinds of movies that make you cry from happiness:)  I mean, I cry a lot, and during movies like Love Actually, Little Women, Babe, A Very Long Engagement, Roman Holiday, Il Postino and Four Weddings and a Funeral, all of which aren't inherently depressing or tragic movies.  (BTW.  I just listed a bunch of my all-time favorite flicks there, so go ahead and add them to your Queue... they are all winners:).  Here are two of my favorite tear-jerkers of all time, and I hope that you stock up on the Kleenexes before you get in too deep...

1) Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), directed by Robert Benton, and starring the incredible pairing of Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.  I mean, is that a dynamic duo, or what?  This movie is amazing, following a father and son, struggling to take care of each other, following the mother's sudden abandonment.  I can no longer enjoy french toast because of associations from this brilliant film.   Divorce issues are so scary, and this movie attacks the idea that mothers should always get first dibs on their children in a custody battle.  It is a total sob-fest, down to Hoffman defending the right of fathers to raise their children, and explaining why he is a good father to the court.   The conclusion is beautiful and mature, so definitely go for this one if you want to confuse your kids with sudden affection and enthusiasm about mundane daily activities:)  The crying over french toast must be really strange for my kiddo:)

2) Baby Boom (1987),

 directed by Charles Shyer, and starring the always-neurotic, mildly annoying Diane Keaton (sorry if I have deeply offended you on that one, but I can't like everybody!) and that studly Sam Shepard (btw. he writes wonderful plays... check them out!).   I really love this take on stay-at-home-mom-hood, as a SAHM myself, and I totally sympathize with the sudden isolation and need for creative outlets (making a huge homemade baby-food  corporation?  not quite... but I like to blog and make arts and crafts:).  So, the crying comes in for me as Keaton comes to love her life and her adopted daughter, despite the change in her ambitions.  When she comes home near the end, and the baby says, "Mama!", I lose it every time.  I also completely believe that any woman, given the chance, would fall in love with a veterinarian from Vermont as opposed to a Fortune-500 businessman.  So put that in your pipe and smoke it:)