“August Rush” and Other Mom Weepies
(*Note: There may be spoilers in this post. Read at your own risk!)
Now that I’m a mom, I notice things that I didn’t notice before. (No, I’m not talking about stretch marks. Ha!) I’m referring to a heightened sensitivity – a more emotional response – to things I see in tv shows and movies. Take The Karate Kid, for example. One of my favorites growing up. Saw it in the theater; watched it all the time. Thought Ralph Macchio was adorable. Never cried. Well, I received it as a Christmas gift this past year, and let me tell you, I was a mess by the end! All throughout I was noticing things 
about Danny LaRusso that I had never paid attention to before: his good manners, his sweetness and vulnerability, his work ethic. His dad wasn’t in the picture, which I’m sure was a struggle for him (of course, he found a father figure in the wise Mr. Miyagi.) I’m convinced I see him differently now because I am a mom. No longer do I see him as a Teen Beat heartthrob; no, now he’s just a sweet boy trying to figure out where he fits in. And I was so proud of him at the end, at the big tournament, when he shouts, “Mr. Miyagi, we did it! We did it!” It’s kinda random, I know, but I get all emotional just thinking about it.
There are other film scenes that wreck me now, too. Have any of you seen August Rush? I caught it in the theater a few months ago on a moms’ night out. Little Freddie Highmore (who’s already 16, yikes!) plays an orphaned boy named August, and he’s absolutely convinced that he’ll find his parents in New York City. I don’t want to give too much away, in case you go out and rent it tonight, which I totally recommend you do (it’s now on dvd!) But I will say this, without ruining anything for ya: there is a scene mid-movie where August does, in fact, meet his dad, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Neither of them knows that they’re related, but they clearly have a 
connection with one another, a shared interest that brings them together by chance. And it’s heartrending, that scene. I could barely keep my sobs silent. The whole movie pretty much tore me up, in fact. And I mean that in a good way. It’s a must-watch for all moms, in my opinion. Just have your hanky ready.
What about you, dear readers? Like me, do you get misty at the final scene of Walk the Line (the one involving Johnny Cash’s father)? Does your heart just melt when you meet Jude Law’s daughters in The Holiday? What other scenes, movies, or shows have triggered an emotional, it’s-because-I’m-a-mommy-now response in you? Happy weekend, and if you do rent August Rush, be sure to come back and tell us your thoughts!
Share the fun: Email + Del.icio.us + Digg + Technorati
I skipped your August Rush paragraph, because I want to rent it! I view movies so differently now that I’m a mom. I do so many things differently now that I’m a mom and am a sappy mess if at the smallest things…like the puppy who sings, “Hello Mother, Hello Father,” on that dog food commercial…it brings tears! SERIOUSLY! I can’t get through that commercial without tears, so imagine what I’m like with the Hallmark commercials!
I think I definitely saw ‘Juno’ differently as a mom than as if I were a teenager watching the movie. To be honest, in Tyler Perry’s ‘Why Did I Get Married?’ one of the characters lost their child in a car accident. Ever since then I always take my time and double check that Ace is strapped in right. It really made me afraid, even though it was just a movie. It is so true how you watch movies through a mommy-lens after you have one yourself.
Yes, I am definitely more emotional about movies, books, blogs etc since I became a mother. The parenting movie that always, always brings me to tears is Life as a House. It made me cry even before I became a mother but even more so now.
I definitely relate. What about Hope Floats? The whole movie is emotional, but when the dad leaves and the little girl says, “I’m coming with you, Daddy!” but he explains he can’t take her with him and he drives off and she screams and cries, “You want me, Daddy! You WANT me!” It makes me cry just thinking about it.
Technically I’m not a mommy, so I don’t necessarily get choked up on exactly the same points as y’all might, but I’ve noticed that I’m more sensitive to subtlety and nuance as I get older. I think it’s largely a function of experience. The more we’ve lived and loved, the more we relate to others. Maybe our hormones are playing a part, too, but I think experience is the biggie. I think it’s the reason our taste becomes more “distinguished” as we age…. with music, food, wine, all of it. Oh. Wait. Guess maybe the word is “maturity”, not “experience”…..
McKenna, I know what you mean about that dog commercial – I haven’t cried but I certainly stop what I’m doing and go Awwww!!
Tell us what you think after you see August Rush, okay!
SBM, Life As a House was so good and heartbreaking! It’s a great parent-child relationship movie. Thanks for mentioning it!
Breanna, that scene you described from Hope Floats is a tough one. That poor girl. I always feel so bad for her at the opening talk-show scene, and the mom realizes she’s being left by the hubby – the camera cuts to their daughter, aghast & sobbing, in the audience. It was just cruel to do that to the girl. That’s a good mother-daughter relationship movie, for sure. I love the scene when the grandmother is saying goodnight to the little girl; it’s near the end.
Melia, you bring up great points and I agree with you completely!
You know, I feel like in so many sitcoms and movies the dad is usually portrayed as an idiot that doesn’t know the first thing about his kids; occasionally he gets things right, but he makes up for it by screwing up five minutes later. So, anytime a dad is shown as a real man who is involved with his kids and not a moron, it does get me a little teary… like that scene in The Holiday that you mentioned, Dawn.
I watched this movie when it was on ABC Family a few months ago and I remember thinking, “where is his dad?” and “he is just adorable!” I agree, once we become mothers we see things very differently than we did before.
The movie that kills me to watch as a mom is “Life is Beautiful,” where a young boy and his mom and dad are taken to a concentration camp, and the father pretends their imprisonment is a game so the little boy doesn’t get too scared.
I just put myself in that position and think of how frightened my kids would be, and how I would feel powerless to protect them.
Also, there’s a scene in “Into the Wild,” where an old man who lost his son is practically begging to adopt the main characer b/c he wants to be a dad again. Hal Halbrook was so moving in the role, even though it was a bit part, and it makes me cry to think of how he portayed his character’s longing to be a parent.
Deb
I was just watching Titanic the other night (again) and cried almost the whole time at the end. They kept showing kids…even the ones who were saved and got to get on one of the rescue boats. To be a mother or father in that situaton must have been agonizing. All I could think about was Jackson.
Natalie,
I totally agree, Titanic is pretty gut-wrenching… I think of the scene where a daddy is telling his crying daughters, “I’ll see you in a little while…” when they’re on a lifeboat and he’s saying goodbye. It’d be hard enough to be those girls’ mother in such a scary moment, but to also know she’d be losing her husband, wow… tough stuff!
Deb,
I’ve heard Into the Wild is pretty great – for that Hal Holbrook scene alone (plus the music by Eddie Vedder’s supposed to be pretty awesome too) – and I agree, Life is Beautiful – what a great movie. I love when the boy is reunited with his mom, it gets me every time!
Last night I re-watched Love Actually and I love the step-father and son story (Liam Neeson plays the dad). It is actually my favorite of all the stories in that movie. I love the way the dad affirms the son’s feelings and believes in him and supports him, even when it seems rediculous to think a 10-year-old could really be in love. I cry every time at the end when he runs into his dad’s arms – old enough to love a girl but not too old to be embarrassed about loving his dad too. I always think of my kids and hope that Jake and my relationship with them is that good when they get older too. I’m teary even now just writing about it.
@Jenny – I LOVE the movie Love Actually! “Eight is a lot of legs, David.”
Oooh, Love Actually, I cry all over the place in that one, and not necessarily because I’m a mom.
Jenny, I never really looked at it from your angle before and I think that’s an awesome observation!
I always, always, ALWAYS cry when our boy Colin Firth goes to Portugal to propose to his lady love in her language. She says, “Yes, my answer is yes. Easy question.” No kidding, chica.
But I also find Emma Thompson’s heartbreak completely ravaging too when she finds the necklace her hubby bought for the other girl. Seeing her try to compose herself in her bedroom while the family waits downstairs, unaware… the family pictures in frames and the sad Joni Mitchell music in the background…
Which reminds me of You’ve Got Mail, when Tom Hanks says, “I could never be with someone who likes Joni Mitchell.” And he mocks the lyrics of the same song that plays in Love Actually. (Of course, Meg Ryan’s character loves her.)
Now I’m really off on a tangent.
But keep those examples coming, ladies! I know I have more lurking in my brain!
@Dawn – you just reminded me that I got a Joni Mitchell cd from the library, but never listened to it. So I found the soundtrack on imdb and I am listening to it right now. Daniel was like, “What are you listening to?”
Darah’s speech therapist burned me a copy of Joni Mitchell a couple weeks ago! That is too funny!!
mckenna, that is so funny. what are the odds of all this joni mitchell stuff happening within the same few weeks?? odd.
mmm, for the record, i’ve been a fan of j. mitchell since high school.
i’ve actually been curious about that cd that emma t. receives in love, actually, because it’s “older” joni doing her early stuff. it probably all sounds a bit different.
I’m Darah’s speech therapist.
The Joni Mitchell album I burned for McKenna is “Herija”. It is old, old, old J.M. and my absolute favorite album of all time. I highly recommend it!!
My latest emotional response because I’m a mom was in watching “Reservation Road” with Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo. A child dies in that movie (not a spoiler, more of a major plot point early on). And it’s heartbreaking. All I could think was, Do I drive safely enough?