ANDREW LIMBONG, HOST:
And finally today, the latest installment from our series where we talk about some of our favorite films. Today's topic - the movies that make us cry. Here's Scott Detrow.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
I believe it was Oscar-winning actress and unofficial patron saint of AMC Theaters, Nicole Kidman, who said it best.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NICOLE KIDMAN: Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this.
DETROW: The movies that can break our hearts tend to leave a mark. After dozens and dozens and dozens of viewings, I still choke up when Kevin Costner/Ray Kinsella gingerly approaches his dad on the ghostly baseball field.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FIELD OF DREAMS")
KEVIN COSTNER: (As Ray Kinsella) Hey, Dad?
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
COSTNER: (As Ray Kinsella) You want to have a catch?
DWIER BROWN: (As John Kinsella) I'd like that.
DETROW: Basic, I know - for others, a good cry might be "Titanic," when Rose tells Jack she'll never let go as the flutes of "My Heart Will Go On" softly waver.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TITANIC")
KATE WINSLET: (As Rose DeWitt Bukater) I'll never let go. I promise.
DETROW: On this Valentine's Day weekend, we are talking about the movies that make us cry with Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes and ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Marc Rivers. Hey to both of you.
MARC RIVERS, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Hello.
DETROW: I'm already emotional talking about this.
HOLMES: Yeah, me too.
RIVERS: Hold it in, guys.
DETROW: Let's start with the baseline here. Each of you, generally speaking - would you call yourself a crier at the movies, standard or not really? Linda, let's start with you.
HOLMES: I think I am a crier at the movies in appropriate circumstances, but, I mean, I also cry at certain things at home. I cry at certain things in the car. The car is really good for crying.
DETROW: Yeah.
HOLMES: So sometimes with certain music, singing along - so, you know, lots of things, lots of things.
RIVERS: The tears just flow for you, basically.
HOLMES: They do. They do. I'm very in touch with my feelings in that way. I'm proud of that.
RIVERS: That's healthy. Yeah. I would say historically, for myself, I am not much of a crier at the movies. Growing up, I kind of prided myself - like, I was kind of like Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Jerry McGuire" on the ESPN show where he's like, I'm not going to cry, Roy. That was kind of me going up.
DETROW: Yeah.
RIVERS: The first movie I cried at was probably the third "Lord Of The Rings" movie.
DETROW: At what part?
RIVERS: It's when Frodo and Gandalf and the rest of them are kind of going off into the Undying Lands leading behind the Shire.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING")
ELIJAH WOOD: (As Frodo Baggins) We set out to save the Shire, Sam, and it has been saved. But not for me.
SEAN ASTIN: (As Samwise Gamgee) You don't mean that.
RIVERS: That actually provoked legitimate tears. But otherwise, I would say not much of a crier in the past, but since the COVID shutdowns, honestly - which I think kind of made us all more emotional - I just never know what's going to hit me...
DETROW: Yeah.
RIVERS: ...These days. So, you know, I think, you can get a lump in my throat, but you got to earn it.
DETROW: I think, like, I'm definitely a crier at movies, and I have become more and more of a crier in recent years. I think there's certain genres that are always going make that happen. I'm sure we'll talk about this later. Like, Pixar - like 90% average, like...
RIVERS: Oh, yeah.
DETROW: ...When I'm seeing a Pixar movie for the first time, just...
RIVERS: It's like emotional terrorism from those guys.
DETROW: Yeah. So let's walk through some of the different genres of heartbreak movies 'cause I feel like there's lots of different veins. Like, I'm thinking about - the things that currently set me off are, like, the parent-child dynamics. Like, I mentioned "Field Of Dreams" up top. I feel like that is a traditional one. But there are many others. Linda, can you walk us through a few?
HOLMES: Yeah. I mean, I would say there's death. That's probably the biggest one for me. But as you say, Scott, it has a lot to do with what is going on in your own personal life. I think that when people are - you know, have little kids, they tend to cry at things that involve little kids. If you have aging parents, as I do, now that I am an older person myself, I think it becomes, you know, aging parent things that can make you cry.
I don't tend to cry at sort of romantic movies as much. I tend to cry from depictions of loss, especially, I'm going to say, pets. If you put a pet in a movie and something happens to the pet, even more than with people, it's a really reliable way to get me to cry.
RIVERS: I go the complete opposite direction. The easiest way for you to get me to skip a movie is if you tell me it's about a man and his dog. The pet thing does not do anything for me. But I do agree with Linda about it depending a lot on your kind of situation in life when you're watching a movie. Ithink loss is definitely a big factor when it comes to things that can get me emotional and not just like loss of life, but loss of childhood, right? I think about something like "Toy Story 3," which is all about that kind of loss and moving on. I think...
DETROW: Oh, my gosh.
RIVERS: ...That movie got a - I think got a number of us in the theater. Not only when these toys are kind of - you know, spoiler alert for this movie that's, like, over 10 years old - but, like, not only when they're kind of facing this inferno where they kind of - where there's - with this bravery.
DETROW: And they hold each other's hands.
RIVERS: There's not a dry eye in the theater when that's - that happens. But also when Andy is giving up his toys.
DETROW: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 3")
JOHN MORRIS: (As Andy) Now, Woody - he's been my pal for as long as I can remember. He's brave, like a cowboy should be.
RIVERS: I think we can all relate to leaving behind a chapter of ourselves. And yeah, I think those are the ones that can kind of, like, really connect.
DETROW: So it seems like neither of you are triggered by the happy tears as much 'cause that's one for me.
HOLMES: Yeah.
DETROW: Like, I'm thinking of the last time I really - there's a few examples in the last few months, but one was the annual "It's A Wonderful Life" rewatch where...
HOLMES: Sure.
DETROW: ...Everybody comes together, and the whole community is swooping into the room, and that's when I'm like, oh.
RIVERS: Movies like that feel almost booby-trapped to make you cry. Or I think about, like, Nicholas Sparks adaptations, where it feels like all the elements coming together are just designed right from the outset to make you cry. And I don't kind of like being blatantly worked around like that. I don't - I think when I'm going to cry a movie usually, I don't see it coming, where it takes this emotional turn or the way they handle it is kind of unexpected. But with something like a Nicholas Sparks adaptation or kind of - or maybe a classic weepie, you kind of have the signifiers, like, pretty clear. Like, oh, look, there's the woman who's full of joy. Oh, look, there's the innocent kid. And then look out. There's cancer. And those I just can't do 'cause...
DETROW: Yeah.
RIVERS: ...I feel like I'm being messed with at that point, you know?
HOLMES: Sure. I will say - I will add that the idea of sort of the classic weepie is a very gendered idea. And a lot of these ones that you're talking about are movies that are traditionally - have traditionally been marketed to women, when you talk about kind of epic romances and, you know, something like "Beaches," which is a great movie for crying. And I would argue that, in some cases, you know, "Saving Private Ryan" is trying just as hard to make you cry as...
RIVERS: Oh, sure.
HOLMES: ...As "Beaches" is, right?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN")
HARRISON YOUNG: (As James Ryan) Tell me I have led a good life.
KATHLEEN BYRON: (As Margaret Ryan) What?
YOUNG: (As James Ryan) Tell me I'm a good man.
HOLMES: And so I think when you talk about the classic weepie idea, it's important to note that it can include something like "The Notebook," but it also can include - I mean, this is a conversation they have during "Sleepless In Seattle," the way that, you know, things make people cry for many different genres. So...
RIVERS: Yeah, I think a weepie can include "Best Years Of Our Lives," the William Wyler film from 1946. This was about World War II veterans, you know, returning home and trying to reacclimate to life, and that's a weepie. They're following these three men and how they're adjusting and not adjusting to civilian life. And, yeah, that movie is supposed to make you cry.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES")
CATHY O'DONNELL: (As Wilma Cameron) You wrote me that when you got home, you and I were going to be married. If you wrote that once, you wrote it a hundred times, isn't that true?
HAROLD RUSSELL: (As Homer Parrish) Yes, but things are different now.
RIVERS: So yeah, I definitely think weepies can transcend gender for sure.
DETROW: So say somebody out there wants to test themselves, wants to well up this weekend. Marc, what's a movie you'd recommend?
RIVERS: So this movie is - and again, it's a movie that I did not really expect to have a big, emotional reaction to, but it kind of sneaks up on you, and it's called "The Taste Of Things." It's a 2023 film with Juliette Binoche, and she's this 19th-century cook and also partnered with her husband who owns this kind of fine dining restaurant. And it's about the love and even art that you can put into living, you know, and how important that is, you know, to live a life that is worth cherishing and to show the people in your life that you cherish them through however you want to do it. And it conveys this so elegantly, without speechifying, without, you know, the trickly, broad sentimental score.
And yeah, it's a quiet movie, but if you're involved in it, it'll sneak up on you. I think it'll really hit you. I was tearing up in the theater, and then I was tearing up in the lobby, as well, just thinking back on it. So yeah, for those who kind of want a quiet cry, you know, is - a kind of subtle cry, I would seek out "The Taste Of Things."
DETROW: Linda, what about you?
HOLMES: We've talked about some of my favorites, "Beaches" and "Inside Out." "Philadelphia" is another movie that made me cry a ton when I first saw it. I would also mention, for a more recent movie, "His Three Daughters," which is on Netflix and is about these three sisters who kind of get together to take care of their father as he's at the end of his life.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "HIS THREE DAUGHTERS")
RUDY GALVAN: (As Angel) We all want your father to transition as peaceful as possible.
ELIZABETH OLSEN: (As Christina) It's nice that it's us. This is the way it should be, the way he would want it.
HOLMES: I definitely sniffled my way through the end of that one. It has some wonderful performances. It has Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne and Carrie Coon, and there's nothing not to like about that combination of actors, and it definitely got got me in the gut.
DETROW: Can I say something about "Inside Out"?
HOLMES: Yes.
DETROW: I have this very specific memory of watching it in a theater for the first time, and, of course, just bawling and bawling and bawling.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "INSIDE OUT")
KAITLYN DIAS: (As Riley) I miss home. I miss Minnesota. You need me to be happy, but I want my old friends and my hockey team.
DETROW: And the lights came up, and people started to leave. And I remember this kid, who might have been, like, 11 or 10 walking by, giving me this weird look and looking at his mom and being like, Mom, this is a cartoon. Isn't this for kids? What's this adult - and I'm like...
HOLMES: (Laughter).
DETROW: ...You don't even know, kid. You have no idea.
RIVERS: He'll understand eventually.
HOLMES: That's true.
RIVERS: He'll get it.
HOLMES: It's true.
RIVERS: He'll get it.
DETROW: Really good movie - that is NPR's Linda Holmes and Marc Rivers. Thanks to you both.
RIVERS: My pleasure.
HOLMES: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WIND BENEATH MY WINGS")
BETTE MIDLER: (Singing) Did you ever know that you're my hero? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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