I'm surprised no one mentioned the scene where Aurora first finds out about Emma's illness. She's at home and she has just hung up the phone after the call. She clenches her hands and her eyes. She stands up, and reaches out to Rosie and says something along the lines of "RosieRosieour girl is in trouble" Aggggjust typing it out and thinking about the scene makes my eyes water. Her body language and voice were just so ANGUISHED. I had a phone call like that from my fatherjust anguish is the best word I can think of.
Oh, goodbye mama. I'll never do dishes again.

I haven't been able to watch this since a loved one died a couple years back. It's just too real. It felt exactly like this movie.
The scene where Aurora returns to the crappy hotel and wordlessly breaks down on the stairs is the saddest scene for me. She finally knows there's nothing she can do to stop things, and despite her strong, high-voltage personality; she's powerless.

The part that gets me is when Jeff Daniels finally breaks down at the end, sitting next to Patsy on the bench in the backyard, that was it for me. I had held it together long enough.
This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club

Just before then, when she says goodbye to everyone, well that's what makes me cry every time. The music score is one of my favourites but Brooks wisely chooses not to use it in these scenes and let the actors and his words do their magic. I start losing it when Patsy tells Emma she's her 'touchstone' and I'm half way to an emotional breakdown when Emma tells Tommy not to feel bad that he never told her he loved her because she knows. So, so heartbreaking. Aurora's breakdown with Flap when Emma passes is also genuinely deeply moving because it's so honest - there's truly
nothing
harder than losing your child. Anyone who remains impassive here whilst watching must have a heart of stone.
A beautifully done ten minutes of movie-making.

The part that gets me is when she cuts her mom off and says, "mom, I'm sick."
I don't have OCD I have CDO. Similar to OCD, but the letters are arranged alphabetically.

The part that gets me is when she cuts her mom off and says, "mom, I'm sick."
I don't have OCD I have CDO. Similar to OCD, but the letters are arranged alphabetically.

After seeing this moving too many times to count, just hearing the music can reduce me to tears.
The music that gets me the most is the piece that plays over the closing credits. The post-funeral scene serves as
somewhat
of a recovery for me. I'm still sad but starting to pull myself together. But then that music starts.

^^agreed! I can never seem to watch the end

After seeing this moving too many times to count, just hearing the music can reduce me to tears. I actually try not to watch the end because it's just so sad, it's like I don't need to see it again and again. Too much sadness for my heart.
Our ability to accessorize is what separates us from the animals.
Clairee Belcher

My tears start to roll when Aurora is running through the hospital yelling at the nurses"Give my daughter the shot!!"
"So shines a good deed in a weary world."

Yeah someone should have warned me about this movie. I did not have any tissues near.

What I love is that Emma looks at her mother. NOT Flap. That was the most beautiful moment of connection and endearment.

This message has been deleted.

The movie came out 25 years ago. Anyone who is reading IMDB boards about it without seeing it is very strange.

Actually you should call this a spoiler fo those who havn't seen the film, luckily I have

I just watched the scene on YOUtube (and yes, i am in tears) where Emma passes away and from what i got, Emma turns her head and sees her mom and i think the look she gave told her mom that she was glad she was there and then the next instant she feels herself dying and you could see an instant of fear-and then peace. That made me cry even more. She was in pain and suffering from the cancer, but when death finally came, she was frightened for just a second. It shows that no matter how prepared u think you are for the moment you pass (given that you know you're passing) sometimes you're really not. Maybe that sounds crazy to some of you, but that's what i got from it.
"Can i have your watch when you are dead?"-The Three Amigos.

I never thought of it as a "Goodbye, I love you" kind of face. It's more a feeling like, "This is it, it's happening, here I go". Aurora just happened to be awake to see it. You could tell the mix of feeling and emotion in her face, she didn't say anything but it just catches you and you can see it. It was a really emotional scene.

I love those two scenes as well. The doctor basically telling them to keep a strait face keep positive, they both go in her hospital room like false clown smiles and then the best moment is Debra Winger goes what now? lol and immediately Shirley Mcclaine is like oh crap the jig is up she cant see thru our bull beep lol. great acting. even better comedic timing.
nailed this movie these two.
oh and yes, Flap is a jerky simpleton in this. very realistic, the cheating , the circumstance, these were unglamorous real people. but I LOVE Jeff Daniels as a n actor and a speaker. this movie is on its own, i like that they didnt cast who they originally intended. who knew scheduling could play such a huge part in the result of how a film can relate to people.
I was closin in on another BarBarian!

I love the "And they let you get away with that?"
You must be the change you seek in the world. Gandhi

That scene tore me apart. I was just a kid when I saw this in the theater with my Mother, sister and Grandmother. I will never forget, ever seeing this movie. It was packed with a very diverse audience. There was a an older couple sitting next to me and a younger couple where my sister was to my left. I remember laughing hysterically throughout the first half of the movie, and crying hysterically throughout the last part of the movie and I mean boo-hooing with noise. When I looked around there was not a dry face in the whole theater. Grown men, women, kids, elderly, all crying. My goodness thats when you realize how good a film is. I was very lucky that even at a young age my Mother introduced me to the best music and movies. She had good taste in both and her interest were vast. This movie made me love Shirley McClaine since..and I've watched her and Debra in every movie since then. On a sidenote I also thought they both should have won an Oscar that year for their performance. They both "deserved" it.
My favorite scene in the whole movie is when Debra finds out about the cancer and Aurora is at the hospital talking with the doctor.
Doctor: I always tell everyone to hope for the best and expect the worse.
Aurora: And they let you get away with that?
Doctor: Look it is not good to seem so desperate, or to let her see your desperation (can't remember what he said verbatim but then they cut to where Patsy and Aurora comes into the room where Emma is Smiling)..
When they come in Smiling I always ROFLMAO off at there faces

This is my all time favorite movie. When I saw it in the theater I was at the same time of life as Debra and the kids in very much the same circumstances, minus the cancer.
Her saying goodbye to her kids was more than I could handle, especially that cute little boy who tried so hard not to cry. I have seen this movie countless times and I break down every time. What performances! What a movie!

The part where Emma says "I thought it went really well, didn't you?" And the littlest boy tries his hardest to nod and not to cry, and begins to anyway.I bust out crying like a spigot every single time.
I cried just
reading
that!

That scene 'Evening Star' is wonderful - the one where Aurora visits Tommy in prison. He always blows her off. He's always rude to her and she has so much emotionally invested in him but she takes whatever he gives her. She shows up at the prison regularly even though he sits there in sullen silence.
He's her beloved grandson and she can just show up time after time - it reminds me of the way she always called her daughter even though they locked horns over every little thing.
When she gives Tommy the box of brownies, he's used to that and just acts like he will automatically throw it away, as usual.
He is walking away and she says, 'There's a file inside' with her head turned away from him. As if it's a wry joke. Even the audience thinks it's a joke. Until he throws the box of brownies at the guy in the bed next door and the guy opens the box and finds the file. A cardboard file for papers. Inside are the sweet pictures of Tommy when he was a little kid with his mom. When he starts crying, it makes me tear up too also to think that he might never have gotten the file (passing the trash, you can almost see him restrain himself from throwing the brownies directly in the can).

If you think that's sad, try watching the sequel 'The Evening Star'. It's nowhere near as brilliant as the original, but this scene had me in pieces:
Aurora goes to the prison where Tommy has been for the past couple of years. (not surprising to learn he ended up in prison.) He has never expressed any interest in her previous visits or felt any emotion whatsoever when she talked about his mother. One day she goes in and she gives him a box of brownies with a file inside. He throws them to his cell mate, who takes the brownies and throws back the file. Tommy sits on his bed and looks through the file, which has pictures of when he was a child. He comes across a picture of his mother, smiling, and breaks down in tears. It's heartbreaking to watch. I cried my heart out.
'Wendy, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in!'
-Jack Torrance, The Shining