Because Comedy And Tragedy Go Hand In Hand, Here Are 8 Comedies Sure To Make You Cry
A good movie can bring out a range of emotions in its audience - but every now and again, you think you're watching one genre and BOOM, out of nowhere, the film takes you in a totally different direction entirely.
That's what makes the art of storytelling so wonderful, the ability to balance the light with the dark. Remembering the fact that, often, comedy comes from a place of sadness, and having the willingness to embrace the uncomfortable moments by injecting levity into the situation is how we deal with our pain.
And sometimes...well, sometimes we all just need a good cry.
Over the years, a select few comedies have had this rare ability to make us laugh one minute, and just like that, have us crying into our popcorn the next. Enstarz would like to share a few of our favorite comedies that made us shed a tear - so grab some tissues as we take you on an emotional roller-coaster through some of Hollywood's best examples of emotional comedies.
The Big Sick (2017)
Based on their actual relationship, comedian Kumail Nanjiani, and his wife Emily V. Gordon wrote a poignant and realistic comedy about everything from their meet-cute, family issues, career disappointments, religious differences, and Emily's real-life battle with cancer.
The Big Sick is not only a fun and humorous look at interracial relationships, but a powerful narrative about what it means to find the one you truly love. As playful as it is painful, this is a must-watch that will bring on all the feels.
The Big Sick is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.
The Best Man Holiday (2013)
This follow-up to The Best Man (1999) reunites the cast for a Christmas sequel. The film takes place 14 years after the first film, and the gang has found success, had children, and are settling into their new situations since seeing one another last.
But like every friendship around the holidays, tensions mount when Harper (Taye Diggs) and Lance (Morris Chestnut) find themselves at odds, so much so that Harper is convinced to write a book about their strained relationship.
The story hits a turning point when a character reveals her own struggle with cancer while trying her best to patch things up between the two feuding men. What follows is message about the foolishness of being angry when life can be so short. Guaranteed to have you rolling a tear by the finale, The Best Man Holiday is a bitter-sweet look at friends and family.
The Best Man Holiday is available on TNT and TBS.
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Considered by some to be the best in the saga, Toy Story 3 is a masterwork in long-form emotional manipulation. The toys Andy grew up with are coming to grips with the fact that their owner is reaching adulthood and on his way to college. While cleaning out some old childhood things, Andy's mom accidentally takes the toys to a daycare center, and Woody, being the optimistic leader, tries to convince the others that they must get back home to Andy. This begins a cathartic journey of coming to grips with moving on, when all you want is to live in the past.
The third act of this amazing animated feature has one of the most cry-inducing - and terrifying - moments in the franchise, where Woody, Buzz and the other toys are about to be burned in an incinerator. After a hard-fought struggle, they finally accept their fate, hold hands, and wait for the inevitable (but, don't worry, there is a Part 4, remember).
If this nail-bitingly beautiful scene doesn't have you balling your eyes out, then we don't know what will. (Actually, we do, and it's the very last scene of the film.)
Toy Story 3 is streaming now on Disney+.
Fatherhood (2021)
Known for his comedic brilliance, Kevin Hart shows us a softer side with the Netflix Original Fatherhood. Based on the true-life book by Matt Logelin, Hart plays Matt, a new father of a beautiful baby girl, Maddy, who is forced to raise the child on his own after his wife unexpectedly dies a day after giving birth.
To see Hart truly engulf himself in the role of a grieving husband and a struggling dad is a sight to behold. Factor in the realness of the man he is portraying, and it only solidifies the tenderness and heartache of his excellent performance.
Fatherhood is streaming on Netflix.
The Truman Show (1998)
Say what you will about Jim Carrey, the rubber-faced comedian is so much more than his frantic antics from The Mask or Ace Ventura. The man can act, and The Truman Show is a prime example of his capabilities as a dramatic actor.
The film tells the story of Truman Burbank, a normal, everyday insurance salesman who one day finds out that his entire life has been a television show. Adopted by a network as a baby, they built a fake world around Truman, complete with multiple hidden cameras and actors portraying his family and friends. Although the film starts off as a comedic farce, where actors and producers scramble to keep Truman entertaining for the cameras, he eventually figures out the ruse, and the film takes a serious turn.
Carrey is great at playing the everyman role in what eventually becomes a melancholy drama about being manipulated, not knowing who to trust, and having one's privacy stripped away from birth. This was one of the early hits which proved Jim Carrey to be more than the sum of his parts. It also points a mirror at society's obsession with reality shows, and the detriment they do to both the audience and the subject on screen.
The Truman Show is available to stream on HBO Max.
Up (2009)
We dare you not to cry during the first ten minutes: This animated film was made famous by the gut-punch of an intro to characters.
In a vignette of photographs of the main character Carl Fredrickson (the late, great Ed Asner) and his wife, we are given a life lived between a happy couple in the mid 20th century, from childhood, to courtship, to struggles with fertility and money, and eventually her passing (we're welling up just thinking about it).
What follows is an elderly version of Carl, now attempting to move his house, with the help of thousands of balloons, away from the big city developing around him. Unaware that an overzealous scout has tagged along for the ride, the two get into the adventure of a lifetime, which helps Carl come to grips with the loss of his wife, and to open up to allow other people who care about him.
Up won two Oscars, including Best Animated Feature of the Year, and for good reason. Cute, playful, and heartfelt, this animated gem is a good cry for the whole family.
Up is available now on Disney+.
My Girl (1991)
This cute coming of age story stars Anna Chlumsky as Vada, a tween who is coming into her own as a young woman while being raised by a single dad (Dan Aykroyd). She befriends Thomas (Macaulay Culkin) and the two try to figure out what it means to be an adult. With no mother to help her through the female side of things, her dad's new co-worker and love interest, Shelly (Jamie Lee Curtis), helps her along the way.
For all of the adolescent hijinks, My Girl takes a serious turn towards the end, though; if memes existed in 1991, the death by bee sting of Vada's best friend Thomas would have definitely been made into a GIF (pretty sure it is by now). This painful scene is the pivotal moment of the film where childhood ends for Vada. A sweet, oft-forgotten flick from the early 90s, My Girl deserves to be seen more often.
My Girl is streaming now on Netflix.
Groundhog Day (1993)
This comedy classic starring Bill Murray as Phil, a grouchy weatherman forced to relive the same day over and over again, isn't what one might think of as a SAD movie per se, but the fact that it's a story of redemption gives this genius-level comedy a well-rounded base for some heartfelt moments.
Throughout the film, as Phil is trying to figure out how to get out of his time-looping situation, we see a homeless man begging for change. Played as an afterthought for most of the movie, there is a moment of revelation when Phil realized the old man is going to die at the end of the day. Phil takes him to eat at the local diner and make sure he survives the night, but to no avail.
In the most real scene of the film, there is a jump-cut to Phil performing CPR on the doomed old-timer. The cut is visceral and rough compared to the comedy seen previously in the movie. This turning point for an almost irredeemable character plays so well as a catalyst for Phil to reevaluate his life and be a better man.
It is also one of the best comedies of all time.
Groundhog Day is available on Starz.
