10 Movies It's OK For Men To Cry At

2. Saving Private Ryan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r8zgU7wE8w The fact that Saving Private Ryan is a visceral, pulse-racing actioner about WW2 probably helps makes a lot of men feel better about crying during its final few scenes, because this is a film that doesn't shy away from the horrors of war, but doesn't allow this to stop Steven Spielberg - we said he'd be back - from crafting another extremely affecting tale. The film begins by detailing that a group of servicemen are being handed the fairly fanciful task of rescuing one soldier - the titular Pvt. Ryan (Matt Damon) - who is the sole survivor of four brothers, with the idea being that returning him home will mean that his mother isn't completely destroyed. Though the men aren't at all happy about this, they proceed, and eventually locate Ryan, and the film ends with the unit's Captain, John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) telling Ryan, "Earn it" before bleeding out from a gunshot. The final scene has an elderly Ryan standing over Miller's grave, asking his wife if he's led a good life worthy of their sacrifice, which she confirms. Ryan salutes Miller's grave and the film ends, leaving cinemas the world over awash in tears, and no doubt as many of these came from men as women. I mean, I'm choking up just thinking about the damn scene...
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.