Everett Collection

35. Philadelphia (1993)

It's rare that a movie with all-male headliners is a weeper. But when there's a fatal illness involved, the crying's anyone's game. Tom Hanks plays Andrew Beckett, an attorney wrongfully canned by his firm for having AIDS, and Denzel Washington is the attorney who fights for his rights. Hanks' Oscar-winning portrayal of a dying man is second to none; overacting would have killed the otherwise thin role, but his quiet, heroic demeanor is perfect.

KLEENEX MOMENT During Beckett's wake, Neil Young's mournful title track echoes in the background to home movies of the deceased as a little boy, walking with his mom on the beach and making funny faces.