Art is designed to provoke a reaction from its viewer. We're supposed to get emotionally invested in the stories that we see in movies. Having said that, sometimes people can have reactions to films that aren't necessarily what you'd expect. Actress Marion Cotillard says that the comedy Step Brothers, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly is one that always makes her cry.
It might sound weird, but I always cry at the end of Step Brothers. I've seen the movie ten times, and it still touches me at the end, when Will Ferrell sings. You don't expect to cry watching that type of comedy, but I always do.
Crying at movies is one of those things that's happened to pretty much all of us at one time or another. When everything works the way it's supposed to and the audience is drawn into a story, any moment that has the potential to make you sad, or extremely happy, could potentially cause the tears to flow. We would not have expected Step Brothers to cause that sort of reaction, but everybody is different. Marion Cotillard tells W Magazine that the end of the movie is one that gets her every time.
As the quote is part of a larger feature dealing with several of the biggest actors and actresses of 2016, it has no context, so exactly how Marion Cotillard and the interviewer got on the topic that led to this revelation is unclear. We're guessing it was an interesting conversation.
To be fair, the conclusion of Step Brothers isn't a scene entirely without sentiment, it's just that the sentiment is the joke. The film's finale sees Will Ferrell singing "Por ti Volaré," a love song, entirely in Spanish. Everybody at the assembled gathering begins to have an emotional reaction to the beautiful performance, resulting in enemies reconciling and people falling in love right there on the spot. The magic of the moment is the punchline, though apparently for some the moment is quite real.
At the end of the day, we have very little control over what things cause us to react emotionally. If you find the end of Step Brothers to be a touching moment, then that's what it is. Will Ferrell's musical performance is actually quite impressive and that's the case whether he's trying to be funny or not.
Are there any moments in film that get you to react in usual ways? let us know in the comments.
