10 Hilariously Awful Cry-Faces That Ruined Moving Scenes

1. Liam Neeson - Schindler's List

Ever the bleeding heart sentimentalist, it was a great surprise in 1993 when Steven Spielberg released Schindler's List. Finally, Mr. Peter Pan was going to broach difficult subject matter without the crutch of melodrama. For the most part this proved to be the case, but one of the film's final sequences showcases Spielberg indulging in his most fundamental instincts as a filmmaker, and features Liam Neeson's Schindler crumbling into a pitiful bucket of syrupy slop. The scene of course starts strong, with Schindler saying goodbye to his Jews while appearing somewhat shaken due to the sheer emotional weight of the situation. Then everything goes straight to hell, with Spielberg having Neeson collapse into the stoic, supportive arms of Ben Kingsley and then become mobbed by the comforting bodies of the Jews surrounding him. The problem here is two-fold: first, this scene undercuts the rest of the film, which largely refrained from this type of hero worship or emotional manipulation. Second, the way that Neeson plays this moment amplifies its preexisting, problematic nature. Up until this point Neeson had essentially offered a staggering portrait of complex humanism, a highly effective and restrained depiction of an intriguing historical figure. His face and body movements here deflate this. His uncontrollable crying, and especially his huge facial expressions, don't really tell us anything interesting about Schindler's post-war relationship to his actions. They instead speak to Spielberg's proclivity for easy emotional accessibility, which, try as he might, just couldn't be avoided. Do you agree or disagree with the problems with these cry-faces? What do you think should have made the list? Let us know in the comments section below.