We all know that most dudes either refuse to cry at movies or say they’ve never done so.
Guess what, y’all. We know you’re liars. We know this because there are plenty of dudes that do. I’m one of them. Give me a strong narrative and great casting and you will ruin me in the best of ways. I have no shame if a movie tells me a story that rips me in two without being trite or clichéd with its storyline.
The four movies below star two comedic actors that have done plenty in the drama genre. I’ve actually come to respect many of the roles they took on that weren’t based in comedy. It was nice to see them take on far more serious roles later on in their careers and I think they do a pretty marvelous job in each successive film. And here I’m talking about Robin Williams and Will Smith.
So for those men out there who say they never cry at movies, try these four and see where it gets you:
Good Will Hunting
I mean…c’mon. The story of an orphan genius (Matt Damon) who’s constantly in trouble with the law who finally gets out of trouble with the law through the work of an MIT professor of advanced mathematics and his old roommate (Robin Williams), now a psychologist at a local community college. Watching Damon and Williams onscreen is a fun tug-of-war until that epochal scene where Williams tells Damon about the contents of his personal file.
What Dreams May Come
This one was just beautiful from top to bottom. Robin Williams dies and ends up in a heaven of his own making – one of his wife’s paintings. Soon he learns she’s committed suicide and he enlists the help of several special heavenly bodies to hunt her down so he can save her from the purgatory she’s imprisoned inside. Obviously the emotional quotient is off the fucking charts with this one, but the scenery is done so beautifully, you almost forget it’s a movie.
Seven Pounds
Every time I talk about this movie, people seem to not remember it. Maybe it didn’t do well in the theaters or maybe it just wasn’t advertised well. Either way, there’s no great way to break this one down without ruining the end of the movie, which is both incredibly dark and incredibly beautiful in one fell swoop. You get flashbacks of a car wreck that was caused by Smith. His wife dies. Throughout the movie, he’s searching through names and addresses of people, trying to figure out if they’re good people. During his search he meets and falls in love with a woman (Rosario Dawson). What follows in the motel room he’s moved into is absolutely gut-wrenching as you watch the scene play out in almost slow motion. I was completely ruined by this movie and I watch it at least twice a year to remind myself that we actually have the capability to be greater than the sum of our parts.
Collateral Beauty
Another great tragedy starring Will Smith, the words behind a tech/marketing firm who loses his son and goes through a divorce. Over the two years that follow, he withdraws into himself and goes silent, setting up long stretches of dominos throughout his office. The company is about to be sold, but requires his signature in order to save all of his employee’s jobs. His coworkers, Ed Norton, Kate Winslet, and Michael Pena, hire actors to make him think he’s crazy in an effort bring him around to the truth. There are a couple other surprises scattered about, but I think those are best left to the viewer the first time they watch. One may be a little ridiculous, but the other is not only believable, but heart-rending.