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Top Ten Tearjerker Movies For Guys

Movies that make even repressed men cry like little girls. The movies where your dry-eyed wife and girlfriend looks at you and says, "Is something wrong with you?"

That old crybaby Scott McCullar helped out with this list. Thanks and a wave of my tear soaked sleeve, Scott.

(And as ever, if you're interested in checking out the flicks for yourself, and soaking up the tears, just click on the title to be whisked away to Amazon...)

October Sky (1999)
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Dern, and Chris Cooper
A father and son movie about a coal miner's boy looking to escape the coal fields of West Virginia by studying rocket science. This one hits every major tearduct-emptying opportunity.

Uncommon Valor (1983)
Starring Gene Hackman and Patrick Swayze
This one came out during the Rambo craze. It looks like standard actioner, the rescue-the-POWS type movie that was a subgenre in the 80s. It has Gene Hackman and a stellar cast looking for his son in a Laotian prison camp. It has real emotional depth and the final moments reduced an audience of men in flannel shirts to blubbering weinies.

Empire of the Sun (1987)
Starring Christian Bale and John Malkovich
Spielberg's charms never worked on me with the exception of this story of a British boy interred by the Japanese when they occupiied China during WWII. The ending of the film reaches an emotional pitch that is excruciating.

Hamburger Hill (1987)
Starring Anthony Barrile and Michael Boatman
Perhaps the most realistic of the Vietnam films of the 80s. It deals with the intense suffering and dogged courage of the Army units in the Au Shua Valley. But it's strongest emotional pull is its
sense of loss felt by the survivors and the audience. The guys I saw this with were nearly psychotically depressed by the time the end credits rolled.

She's Having a Baby (1988)
Starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern

John Hughes schmaltz that always ends with me weeping like a…well, a baby.

My Dog Skip (2000)
Starring Frankie Muniz and Kevin Bacon

A boy and his dog. Need I say more? Plus lots more stuff like guys sacrificing everything for their country and all that. This one rivals October Sky for pulling out all the stops in the last ten minutes. There's even a brilliant revelation from the very beginning of the film, a moment that didn't seem relevant at all until it's meaning hits you like a ton of peeled Bermuda onions. Copious tears here.

Frequency (2000)
Starring Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel

Another story about fathers and sons. But it's a complex time paradox tale that reaches a crushing emotional finale. But long before that anyone who's a son (especially if you're a dad now with sons of your own) has gotten misty at several story points. Back to the Future meets a Hallmark Card commercial. Tell everyone the stains on your t-shirt came from a spilled soda.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Starring Steve Martin and John Candy

John Hughes again. Perhaps his funniest movie. But John Candy's story takes a painfully poignant turn that we should have seen coming but we didn't. Hey, guys suffer loss too, man!

The Champ (1931)
Starring Jackie Cooper and Wallace Beery

Not the remake with Ricky Schroeder. The original with Wallace Beery (was there ever a guy more aptly named?) and Jackie Coogan. A boxer and an orphan. Man…If the waterworks aren't flowing at the overwrought ending of this one then you're suffering from terminal dehydration.

Only available on VHS.

Nobody's Fool (1995)
Starring Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith, and Bruce Willis (in an uncredited role)

Father and son stories are guaranteed to make a guy bawl like a toddler. But this one's a grandfather/father/son flick! You don't stand a chance! This movie is SO aimed at guys that women don't even understand it. You'll weep tears of testosterone as Paul Newman stars as a smalltown handyman trying to reconcile himself with the mistakes of his past. Solid cast with Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith and Bruce Willis (in an great uncredited role)..

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