1. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983)
Blame it all on Huckleberry Fox. The towheaded tyke was only 8 years old when Terms of Endearment was filmed, but Fox, who played Debra Winger's younger son, Teddy, in the cancer-in-the-heartland comedy-drama, delivered perhaps the most sob-worthy performance in screen history. Of course, Fox was surrounded by a perfectly schmaltz-free cast — including Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson, whose riotous December-December romance earned them both Academy Awards. And he was beautifully guided by that master of unforced emotion, James L. Brooks, who won three Oscars for the film (for adapting Larry McMurtry's novel, directing, and producing). Still, no performer, prepubescent or otherwise, has ever had such power over our tear ducts as Fox. One third of the way into the movie, when Mom comes up a few dollars short on the supermarket checkout line, young Huckleberry brings on the throat lumps by relinquishing his prized Clark bar, saying, ''I don't need it.''
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Best Tearjerkers Ever: Nos. 26-50
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Jennifer Aniston: The Movies That Make Me Cry
