Tearjerkers on Netflix
Last updated April 28, 2024
The Notebook
2004 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsTwo young lovers (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) are torn apart by war and class differences in the 1940s in this adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's best-selling novel. Their story is told by a man (James Garner) who, years later, reads from a notebook while he visits a woman in a nursing home (Gena Rowlands). Nick Cassavetes directs this heart-tugging romance about the sacrifices people will make to hang on to their one true love.
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Mao's Last Dancer
2010 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsA delegation from Madame Mao's Beijing Dance Academy selects 11-year-old peasant villager Li Cunxin to study ballet in far-off Beijing, where he trains for seven grueling years to become one of China's greatest dancers. His efforts win him the opportunity to dance in America, opening his eyes to a new love and the possibility of a dramatic defection from China in this remarkable true story based on Cunxin's autobiography.
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The Pursuit of Happyness
2006 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWill Smith earned an Oscar nomination for an inspiring performance opposite his real-life son Jaden in this tearjerker about a struggling single parent who's determined to build a better life for his family. Chris Gardner (Smith) is smart and talented, but his dead-end salesman job barely pays the bills. When he and his son are evicted, they face trying times as a desperate Chris accepts an unpaid internship at a stock brokerage firm.
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We Bought a Zoo
2011 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsIn this adaptation of Benjamin Mee's memoir about buying and saving a run-down zoo, the locale shifts from Britain to southern California. However, the wacky spirit of the original is retained, complete with escaped tigers and a zoo crew of misfits.
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Titanic
1997 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThis cinematic spectacle -- winner of 11 Oscars -- follows society girl Rose and penniless artist Jack as they fall in love just as tragedy strikes. Rereleased for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, the stirring romance remains timeless.
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Finding Neverland
2004 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsPeter Pan and the denizens of Neverland have captured the hearts and minds of J.M. Barrie's readers. But this Oscar-winning film reveals how the imaginative author envisioned a world that was at once so wondrous and perilous.
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Miracle on 34th Street
1955 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsThe holiday spirit is alive and well in this televised take on the 1947 film that earned Edmund Gwenn an Oscar for his portrayal of Kris Kringle. In this version, Thomas Mitchell dons Santa's suit to play a man who could be capable of miracles. Sandy Descher stars as the little girl who hangs on to her skepticism, with Teresa Wright co-starring as her mother, a hardworking woman with no time in her schedule to believe.
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The Cider House Rules
1999 | NR | 3.8 out of 5 StarsA surrogate son and protégé to a kindly physician who runs an orphanage in rural Maine, itchy Homer Wells sets off wide-eyed to see the world -- but cold reality soon intrudes on his youthful idealism and moral certitude.
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A Separation
2011 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAn Iranian husband and wife split up over his decision to stay and care for his aging father instead of leaving the country with his family. But his fateful choice to hire a stranger to do most of the caretaking breeds unexpected consequences.
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Extraordinary Measures
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAfter their two young children are diagnosed with a rare genetic disease for which conventional medicine has no cure, John and Aileen pin their hopes on the work of unconventional scientist Dr. Robert Stonehill and form a company to develop a drug.
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Remember Me
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsIn the summer of 2001, New York college student Tyler is still feeling lost from the tragedy that has strained his relationship with his father when he meets Ally, a girl who understands his pain.
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Conviction
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsConvinced that her brother, Kenneth (Sam Rockwell), has been unjustly convicted of murder and incompetently defended by court-ordered attorneys, high school dropout Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) puts herself through law school in order to represent him in his appeal. Inspired by a true story, director Tony Goldwyn's stirring drama also stars Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher and Clea DuVall.
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Dear John
2010 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsA U.S. soldier falls for a Southern but their love is put on hold when terrorist attacks prompt him to reenlist. Now, handwritten letters hold the lovers together in this modern romance based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.
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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
2011 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsNoted director Wayne Wang helms this adaptation of Lisa See's best-selling novel about two young girls in 19th-century China who are pledged as lifelong companions through an ancient ritual, although their friendship is sorely tested as they mature.
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Reign Over Me
2007 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsConsumed with grief after losing his family in the World Trade Center attacks, a widower (Adam Sandler) runs into his former college roommate (Don Cheadle) -- a married man with two daughters and a dental practice -- and eventually starts down the road to recovery. Mike Binder directs this thought-provoking look at friendship and post-Sept. 11 society, co-starring Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland, Saffron Burrows and Jada Pinkett Smith.
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
2011 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsBelieving that his father left him a message before dying in the September 11 attacks, young Oskar Schell embarks on an emotional odyssey through New York City to find the lock that matches a key he found among his father's belongings.
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Waiting to Exhale
1995 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsHolding their breath waiting for the elusive "good man," four female friends and confidants -- each one cheated on, mistreated and stepped on by less-than-stellar lovers -- talk it all out, determined to find a better way to breathe.
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Amour
2012 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsIn this 2012 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner, Georges and Anne, retired music teachers in their eighties, have a time-tested love. But as Anne's health fails, Georges becomes her caregiver, and the couple's bond is tested like never before.
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Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
1955 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsTragedy is in the offing when widowed Eurasian doctor Han Suyin falls for dashing American war correspondent Mark Elliot. Despite insurmountable obstacles, Han and Mark's love deepens till he's sent to cover the "police action" in Korea.
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Stepmom
1998 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsDivorcée Jackie Harrison opposes the presence of her ex-husband's new girlfriend -- career-woman Isabel Kelly -- in the lives of her two children. But the chasm between the two women disappears when Jackie is diagnosed with cancer.
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The Greatest
2009 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsThree months after Allen and Grace Brewer's teenage son Bennett dies in a car accident, his girlfriend Rose shows up on their doorstep, pregnant with his child and seeking shelter and support.
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Everybody's Fine
2009 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsRecent widower Frank Goode goes on a road trip -- against his doctor's orders -- to connect with his grown children after all four blow off a planned visit. Along the way, he learns some truths about himself and his kids.
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Rabbit Hole
2010 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsIn this raw drama based on David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, Becca and Howie grapple with the realities of life eight months after the death of their 4-year-old son, Danny.
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Grand Canyon
1991 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsA sequence of random but life-altering incidents conspire to link a group of Los Angeles denizens from disparate economic and social classes, leading to epiphanies about responsibilities and relationships in director Lawrence Kasdan's pensive drama. Ultimately, two men from divergent lifestyles try to be friends. Co-written by Kasdan and his wife, and featuring a top-notch ensemble cast, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.
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Here on Earth
2000 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsSpoiled rich kid Kelley Morse inadvertently destroys a diner during a James Dean-style drag race and is sentenced by the court to help rebuild the restaurant. During construction, he must room and board at his racing rival Jasper's home.
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