1. My Girl
Thomas J’s funeral in Vada’s house is the scene that sticks in everyone’s memory from My Girl. After trying so hard to be a grown up, Vada is in a grown up situation watching her best friend’s funeral and wants nothing more than to go back to climbing trees and being a kid.
2. Brokeback Mountain
When Ennis’ daughter leaves his trailer he finds that she’s left her sweater there. He shows his love for her by taking the sweater and putting it in the closet with Jack’s blood stained shirt, the only thing he has left to show from their epic romance. Beside it is a photo of the mountain where they met pinned up. “Jack, I swear…” — Go ahead, try not to cry.
3. The Color Purple
After being raped and impregnated by her father and sent to live with Mister, her abusive “husband” who treats her like a slave, Cellie finds her only small comfort when her sister Nettie comes to live with them and begins to teach her how to read. After Nettie refuses to be raped by Mister once too often he throws her out of the house and attempts to break the bond of sisterhood between the two women. You won’t be able to hold back your tears when Nettie says “nothing but death can keep me from it” letting her sister know that she will love her until the day she dies.
4. The Fox and the Hound
Widow Tweed leaves the fox Tod in the forest. The look of confusion and feeling of abandonment on the animal’s face says more than words ever could.
5. Philadelphia
After winning his legal battle against his former employers Andrew Beckett has lost his battle against AIDS. This heart wrenching scene shows all of his family and loved ones coming to his wake. The laughter of children, hugs and smiles, and old family video of Andrew as a child with the saddest Neil Young song ever can leave the toughest person sobbing.
