Happy Endings

What makes a great movie? A thought-provoking story, of course, combined with outstanding acting. What makes a movie into a personal classic--one we want to watch again and again? The answer to that question is, undoubtedly, how it makes us feel. So often when life is difficult and times are hard, we're encouraged by a good, old-fashioned happy ending.

When we asked Beliefnet users to recommend the best in "happy ending" movies, they were happy to oblige. Next time you could use some cheering up, go ahead: print this out, and head for the video store.

JUST DESSERTS
Nothing sends us for Kleenex, it seems, faster than the triumph of the "ordinary" person. cmatkins55 says, "I love the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray! I watch it every Groundhog Day (Feb. 2) as my ritual of hope and renewal. It is funny, as you'd expect from Bill Murray, but it turns out to be a great story of personal evolution and redemption." kclawson3 recommends Mr. Holland's Opus. This is SUCH a great movie. A man who never wanted to be a teacher but ended up everyone's favorite. A man who wanted to be a musician but never took (or had) the time to work on his own music. If you haven't seen this movie, run (don't walk) to your local video store!"

"My favorite ending is from Baby Boom, enthuses beautifullife42. "It's about a single woman advertising executive who has to choose between raising an adopted child or getting promoted. She chose to raise the child and move to the country. After so much struggle, at the end she built her own company for babies which her former company wanted to promote and she told them no! I like it because I had to choose between the two. She told her old boss, we do not have to choose. We can do both. I am struggling to build my own business too.

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