The mystery of the Tearjerker

What does it take to make you cry? Tough question, and one I've found is not easily answered for a lot of us. For some people tears are not easily shed. They can feel deeply, but they just don't express it that way. For others, like me, it does not take much at all to bring tears to the eyes.

But this leads to another question. What does a movie need to do to make you cry? What makes a film a so-called 'tearjerker'? There are lots of sad movies out there that are designed to bring about an array of emotions. And if we're being honest, sometimes they don't succeed. There are happy movies that can make someone tear up as well. Like everything else I think it's different for different people. Kind of a cop-out answer, but what can you do? For what it's worth, here are a few that have brought about that reaction in me. And not just my eyes welling up, which happens quite often, but actually crying.

Cheetah - The first movie I can remember that pushed me over the edge. That last scene was just so sad for an impressionable child like me. Besides it's about an animal. That alone will do it.

Moulin Rouge - I've seen this movie like eight times, and it makes me cry every time. Even when you know how it ends, the final scene with Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman is so brilliantly acted you just can't turn the tears off.

Brokeback Mountain - I almost made it through the whole thing without the waterworks, though I got close a few times. Then, one line did me in. "Jack, I swear..." And cue Niagara Falls.

The Last Temptation of Christ - Yes, I know, this is a controversial film, but honestly no other movie on Christ has moved me like this one has. The scene in the garden, when Willem Defoe's Jesus breaks down, I broke down with him.

Up - Thank God I was wearing 3D glasses; they hid my red, tear-stained eyes nicely. Anything to do with Ellie, and I was bawling.

Judging from the release dates of most of these titles, it seems like the whole crying-at-movies has mostly been a recent phenomena for me.

Anyway, food for thought. If you're brave enough to admit it, what films have made you cry over the years? And what films have been described as tearjerkers but have left you dry eyed. Sound off below.