If there’s ever a time for feel-good movies, it’s this year. The fall season always brings around the holiday season, cooler weather, and beautiful fall colors. However, this season has been filled with tremendous stress, only further amplified by an incredibly difficult year. Lately, I’ve been avoiding dark movies (even avoiding the horror genre completely) and focusing more on movies that leave me feeling better overall. Today, I wanted to put together a few must-watch feel-good movies for you that I’ve seen recently. These are feel-good movies that are sure to leave you with a smile on your face.
Starring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston, this movie is about a relationship with a quadriplegic man and an unconventional man hired to be his helper. Kevin Hart hilariously depicts a man that’s a bit out of his league with helping people, while Bryan Cranston plays an excellent roll as a man who struggles a lot with his current situation. As they warm up to each other, they realize how much they can learn from the other. The ending of this movie is absolutely worth seeing it for, and I recommend this for anyone who feels stuck in their situation in life.
Why it makes you feel-good: I love movies that show people willing to change, even if reluctantly.
Keep a lookout for: That memorable moment when Bryan Cranston has a breakdown (or breakthrough, depending on how you look at it) during his birthday party.
Favorite Quote: The important thing is to see and encourage potential.
Starring Billy Crystal, this movie is a feel-good comedy that focuses on a man who is unhappy in his life and goes on a two-week trip with his friends on a cattle drive. After watching this movie recently, I realized how good this movie made me feel and how much I had missed seeing it. Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, and Bruno Kirby play a fantastic trio of friends who are each struggling with where they are at in their life. Touching moments like everyone on the cattle drive shouting out a dorky but heart-warming “yahoo!” are punctuated by hilarious scenes like Billy Crystal grinding coffee beans and freaking out the cattle. If you are looking for a movie that will leave you with a warm heart and in love with cows, you’ll want to see this one.
Why it makes you feel-good: This is much more than a buddy comedy, as it is a “finding your happy” again comedy. And we all sure need that this year!
Keep a look out for: Jack Palance’s awesome and epically cool performance as Curly.
Favorite Quote: Go and find your smile.
What do you do when the only reason you were brought onto a baseball team was to lose? Well, you win, of course. The Cleveland Indians have been last for decades, and when the new players are brought on for the sole purpose of coming in dead last, they can’t accept their fate. Starring Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Westley Snipes, this movie is a definite come-back story where you can’t help but root for the underdog. With the right mix of romance and comedy, you will watch this movie with a smile on your face.
Why it makes you feel good: I love how the city of Cleveland starts out bashing the team and ends up being superfans.
Keep a look out for: That moment when the crowd sings “Wild Thing” to Charlie Sheen.
Favorite Quote: Well then I guess there’s only one thing left to do.
Starring Hugh Grant and Toni Collette, this movie features a man hoping to find romance with no strings attached and gets way more than he bargains for when he meets a single mom and her son. Hugh Grant is in the starring role, and he turns into a somewhat older brother for the young man. Yet, he soon realizes how much this young man has to teach him about life and love. It’s a movie that is about family – the one you are born into, and the one you create.
Why it makes you feel good: Everyone in this movie is quirky, and unique, and unconventional, which made me feel good all around.
Keep a look out for: The Christmas dinner scene when that warm fuzzy feeling hits Hugh Grant.
Favorite Quote: Once you open your door to one person anyone can come in.
What does a struggling actor do when he can’t get a role? Turn into a woman. Starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, Tootsie showcases how far an actor will go to get the attention he feels he deserves. But this movie is way more than just a guy putting on makeup, he really embraces his role as Tootise, making her real for those he works with, and for himself. There’s also a bit of romance in this one, and it’s sure to leave you with a smile.
Why it makes you feel good: Tootsie is a woman ahead of her time and Dustin Hoffman plays this role with sincerity.
Keep a look out for: Bill Murray and his low key role as Dustin Hoffman’s friend.
Favorite Quote: I was a better man with you, as a woman… than I ever was with a woman, as a man.
Of course, this just scratches the surface of feel-good movies! What would you add to the list?
[…] That’s my list! I’d love to know what movies about writers you’d recommend. Hey, while you’re here, check out my recent post about feel-good movies to put a smile on your face! […]