Really Sad Movies

Really Sad Movies

Steel Magnolias

Release Date 1989
Rating : 7.3 Production Companies: Rastar Productions, TriStar Pictures Director: Herbert Ross, Robert Engelman, Martha Elcan Stars: Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine

Summary: A young beautician, newly arrived in a small Louisiana town, finds work at the local salon, where a small group of women share a close bond of friendship and welcome her into the fold.

Forrest Gump

Release Date 2014
Rating : 8.8 Production Companies: Paramount, Wendy Finerman Productions Director: Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey, Susan Malerstein Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise

Summary: A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

The Notebook

Release Date 2004
Rating : 7.8 Production Companies: New Line Cinema, Avery Pix Director: Nick Cassavetes, Melinda Taksen Stars: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Gena Rowlands

Summary: An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Release Date 1991
Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Act III Productions Director: Jon Avnet Stars: Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary-Louise Parker

Summary: Amidst her own personality crisis, southern housewife Evelyn Couch meets Ninny, an outgoing old woman who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, two young women who experienced hardships and love in Whistle Stop, Alabama in the 1920s.

Marley & Me

Release Date 2008
Rating : 7 Production Companies: Regency Enterprises, Fox 2000 Pictures Director: David Frankel, Sheila Waldron, Donald Dowd Stars: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Dane

Summary: A newly married couple, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life's important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one's own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

Release Date 2001
Rating : 7.2 Production Companies: DreamWorks SKG, Amblin Entertainment Director: Jason Patnode, Ana Maria Quintana, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan Stars: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor

Summary: David, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David.

The Sixth Sense

Release Date 1999
Rating : 8.2 Production Companies: Spyglass Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company Director: Claire Cowperthwaite, John Rusk, Scott Robertson Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette

Summary: Following an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.

Hotel Rwanda

Release Date 2004
Rating : 8.1 Production Companies: Lions Gate Films, United Artists Director: Lionel Steketee, Lisa Vick, Terry George Stars: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte

Summary: Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.

Titanic

Release Date 2017
Rating : 7.9 Production Companies: Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Director: Shelley Crawford, James Cameron, Josh McLaglen Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane

Summary: 101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

Brokeback Mountain

Release Date 2005
Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: River Road Entertainment, Alberta Film Entertainment Director: Ang Lee, Karen Bédard, Michael Hausman Stars: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams

Summary: Rodeo cowboy Jack and ranch hand Ennis are hired as sheepherders in 1963 Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, they spark a physical relationship. Though Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart and Jack marries a fellow rodeo rider, they keep up their tortured, sporadic love affair for 20 years.

The Blind Side

Release Date 2009
Rating : 7.6 Production Companies: Alcon Entertainment, Left Tackle Pictures Director: John Lee Hancock, Gail Hunter, K.C. Hodenfield Stars: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron

Summary: The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.

12 Years a Slave

Release Date 2013
Rating : 8.1 Production Companies: Plan B Entertainment, Regency Enterprises Director: Doug Torres, Eva Z. Cabrera, Steve McQueen Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o

Summary: In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

The Green Mile

Release Date 1999
Rating : 8.6 Production Companies: Castle Rock Entertainment, Darkwoods Productions Director: Susan Malerstein, Alan B. Curtiss, Frank Darabont Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse

Summary: A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

The Fault in Our Stars

Release Date 2014
Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: Fox 2000 Pictures, Temple Hill Entertainment Director: Josh Boone, Luca Kouimelis, H.H. Cooper Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff

Summary: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Philadelphia

Release Date 1993
Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: Clinica Estetico, TriStar Pictures Director: Ronald M. Bozman, Anne Gyory, Jonathan Demme Stars: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards

Summary: Two competing lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.

Captain Phillips

Release Date 2013
Rating : 7.8 Production Companies: Columbia Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions Director: Paul Greengrass, Annie Penn, Julia Chiavetta Stars: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman

Summary: The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

Toy Story 3

Release Date 2010
Rating : 8.3 Production Companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Director: Mark Sanford, Andrew Cadelago, Lee Unkrich Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack

Summary: Woody, Buzz, and the rest of Andy's toys haven't been played with in years. With Andy about to go to college, the gang find themselves accidentally left at a nefarious day care center. The toys must band together to escape and return home to Andy.

The Ice Storm

Release Date 1997
Rating : 7.3 Production Companies: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Good Machine Director: Mary Cybulski, Ang Lee, Linda Perkins Stars: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver

Summary: In the weekend after thanksgiving 1973 the Hood family is skidding out of control. Then an ice storm hits, the worst in a century.

Rabbit Hole

Release Date 2010
Rating : 7 Production Companies: Olympus Pictures, OddLot Entertainment Director: John Cameron Mitchell, Neil Daly, David McWhirter Stars: Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest

Summary: Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident.

Million Dollar Baby

Release Date 2004
Rating : 8.1 Production Companies: Lakeshore Entertainment, Malpaso Productions Director: Robert Lorenz, Donald Murphy, Mable Lawson-McCrary Stars: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman

Summary: Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.

Children of Men

Release Date 2006
Rating : 7.9 Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Strike Entertainment Director: Ceri Evans, Liz West, Beverly Winston Stars: Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Summary: In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

The Shawshank Redemption

Release Date 1994
Rating : 9.3 Production Companies: Castle Rock Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures Director: James Ellis Deakins, Robert Barnett, John R. Woodward Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton

Summary: Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

Good Will Hunting

Release Date 1997
Rating : 8.3 Production Companies: Miramax, Lawrence Bender Productions Director: Gus Van Sant, Kathryn Buck, Gus Van Sant Stars: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck

Summary: When professors discover that an aimless janitor is also a math genius, a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.

Life Is Beautiful

Release Date 1998
Rating : 8.6 Production Companies: Melampo Cinematografica, Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica Director: Roberto Benigni, Gianni Arduini, Gianni Arduini Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini

Summary: A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.

Precious

Release Date 2009
Rating : 7.3 Production Companies: Smokewood Entertainment Group Director: Lee Daniels Stars: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton

Summary: Set in Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret; She can't read.

The Deer Hunter

Release Date 1978
Rating : 8.1 Production Companies: Universal Pictures, EMI Films Director: June Samson, Michael Cimino Stars: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale

Summary: A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.

The Joy Luck Club

Release Date 1993
Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: Hollywood Pictures Director: Leslie Park, Wayne Wang Stars: Ming-Na Wen, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita

Summary: Through a series of flashbacks, four Chinese women born in America and their respective mothers born in feudal China explore their pasts.

The Pianist

Release Date 2002
Rating : 8.5 Production Companies: Canal+, Bac Films Director: Sylvette Baudrot, Weronika Migoń, Zbigniew Gruz Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay

Summary: The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

Terms of Endearment

Release Date 1983
Rating : 7.4 Production Companies: Paramount Director: James L. Brooks, Marty P. Ewing, Rosemary Dorsey Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson

Summary: Aurora, a finicky woman, is in search of true love while her daughter faces marital issues. Together, they help each other deal with problems and find reasons to live a joyful life.