Creating genuine emotion is a difficult thing to do in film. A truly harrowing scene is one that expertly coordinates the talents of all those involved, where the writing, direction, acting and continuity work together as one to achieve the desired emotional response. There are many films out there that have perfected this formula, E.T., Philadelphia, Toy Story 3 (and 2, for that matter) to name just a few. But then there are examples of when films get this horribly, horribly wrong. Sometimes a film will try and bring you to the absolute edge of your feelings and just ends up being downright funny for whatever reason, whether it's hammy acting, terrible dialogue, unlikable characters or all of the above. So, it's time to remind ourselves of some of the greatest blunders in "serious" filmmaking with a list of 10 Emotional Movie Scenes That Were Unintentionally Hilarious. I'd just like to point out that not everything on this list is "bad" though, sometimes scenes in some of my favourite films just make me laugh due to my wicked sense of humour. Warning, contains spoilers.
10. American Beauty - "The Plastic Bag Scene"
What happens? School weirdo Ricky shows his girlfriend Jane a video he made. It depicts a plastic bag dancing in the wind, Ricky sees this as the embodiment of the beauty that the world has to offer.
Why is it hilarious? American Beauty is a fantastic film but this has to be its weakest moment for me. Often parodied, Ricky's lines are so unbelievably cheesy that I find it impossible to take this scene seriously. Wes Bentley's delivery wasn't exactly top notch but how do you make a gem like "sometimes, there's so much...beauty...in the world *deep breath* I feel like I can't take it" sound like it wasn't written by a child? Brilliant film, but this scene drags it down in my mind. At least it has provided much laughter for me as I quote it mercilessly whenever I see some rubbish caught in a draft.