The Help. Sob...

I went to see The Help this weekend. Oh, such a moving film. There are parts where you laugh and parts where you feel your heart is being ripped out of your chest. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'll say these few things. The cast was amazing. Amazing. Viola Davis turns in a performance of a lifetime in my opinion. And that's not just because she's from my home state of Rhode Island. The last scene left me leaving the theatre fighting back tears, my throat was scratchy from stopping myself from sobbing. Octavia Spencer is a scene stealer. Her eyes are so expressive. Emma Stone is a great Skeeter. I didn't read the book until I had seen the trailer, so I didn't go into it with another vision of Skeeter in my head. Skeeter will always be Emma Stone. The chemistry among this cast was palpable. Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek...all perfect. So if you've read the book you should see the movie. If you haven't read the book, you should see the movie.

Leaving the theatre ready to burst into tears left me thinking about other movies that make me sob. So I've come up with a list. There are scenes in movies that make me tear, others that make me feel emotion. These scenes make me sob until my eyes are red and puffy and I have a headache. Warning - there be spoilers ahead

1. The Man in the Moon (1991) - One of Reese Witherspoon's earliest performances and it's stellar. Some people say the graveyard scene is what makes them lose it. For me, it's the moments immediately after Cort and the tractor accident. Dani (Reese Witherspoon) is running for home and starts screaming for her father. "Daddy! Daddy! Cort...the tractor...help". She can't even get the words out. Start watching at the 1:40 mark. Just remembering her crying for her father makes me tear up. She can't even stand up and her father (Sam Waterson) picks her up like she's nothing more than a feather and leaves her on the front steps. Sadness abounds.



2. Hope Floats (1998) - It's the end of the movie. Why are these scenes always at the end? Bernice (Mae Whitman) overhears her mother (Sandra Bullock) and father talking about a divorce. She decides she wants to go back to Chicago with her father. Dad has other plans. Watch from the 2:30 mark. Sigh. She is so heartbroken.



3. Steel Magnolias - 1989. Oh Lordy, you know what I'm going to say next. "I want to know how that baby will ever know how wonderful his mother was? What she gave up for him?" Sob...sob...sob...



4. Beaches - (1988) The grandaddy of them all, in my opinion. The first notes of "Wind Beneath My Wings" starts and the tears start streaming down my face. Only to turn into great big heaving sobs at the funeral. It's Victoria that gets me started.



Please pass me the kleenex...so what are your go to movies when you feel the need for a good cry?