33 Movies to Restore Your Faith in Humanity

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Sad movies rarely make me cry. I pick up all the cues, the story hits its mark, the music underlines the emotion, but most of the time my interest is only technical. For that matter, I don’t cry a whole lot at the movies anyway. But when I do, I notice that it’s almost always because of the goodness of a character. Someone in the film has been sympathetic, generous, or moved to help others because of a good heart.

Do such films “restore my faith in humanity”? At the time, yes, they nudge me in that direction. Then a picture with wall-to-wall brutality comes along to nudge me back again. I suspect I would be a happier person if I only went to see movies I recommend.

The selections in this e-book will, in general, warm your heart and make you happy to have seen them. Consider the animated masterpiece Up, which is about an old grouch. (Trolls on the Internet said he looked like me, but never mind.) Up opens in an unexpected and beautiful way. Carl and Ellie grow up, have a courtship, marry, buy a ramshackle house and turn it into their dream home, are happy together and grow old. This process is silent, except for music. It’s shown in a lovely sequence that deals with the life experience in a way that is almost never found in family animation. The lovebirds save their loose change in a gallon jug intended to finance their trip to the legendary Paradise Falls, but real life gets in the way: flat tires, home repairs, medical bills.

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