10 Hilariously Awful Cry-Faces That Ruined Moving Scenes

8. Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

To some it may seem crazy to criticize Anne Hathaway's lauded rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" considering how showered with praise she was in its wake. But this isn't intended to denigrate Hathaway per se; the actress clearly went all out to capture the nadir of her character Fantine's existence with the song. But while Anne gets an A for effort, her cry-face is still problematic. Filmed unmercifully by director Tom Hooper in a series of bruising close-ups, Anne's waterfalls of tears, uncontrollable gasping, and the stuttered belting she does to hit all of the requisite notes becomes gradually overwhelming - and not in a good way. The paean inexorably slides from being a shattering depiction of grief and regret to a shattering depiction of an actor's exertions. Essentially, due to the severity of her cry-face, Fantine's emotional journey becomes lost in the bombast of Hathaway's technique.