Feel-good movies tend to leave you wanting more a lot of the time since they give you the kind of emotional value that make them worth more than a lot of other movies. In the 70s this seems to have been something of a common value since a lot of movies had at least a few moments in them that really touched a person and made them think about their life in some way. But overall there were some films that had that feeling woven into their plot so strongly that you couldn’t help but notice. Such movies are impressive largely because they try to instill some sense of morality into the audience even while entertaining them at the same time. Any movie that makes you hold your head a little higher when you leave the theater or turn off the TV however is one that can be called a feel-good movie.
Here are just a few that made the list. Chime in if you can think of any others.
5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
This is probably one of the most benevolent alien films created within the last several decades and as it stands it’s one of those that reminds us that thanks to our imaginations if we are ever visited by alien life from another planet (that’s an argument for a different day) then their technology is going to be light years beyond our own. Let’s face it, humanity has only managed to launch into the space just beyond our atmosphere in comparison. If there are life forms out there that have managed to go further than that they’ve got technology that we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of yet.
4. American Graffiti
If there’s a way to feel good about this movie it’s the realization that things tend to happen after high school that we don’t have a lot of control over and that they’re going to happen whether we like it or not. Sometimes the most fleeting times in our lives are those that we try to hold onto without realizing that they’re meant to be fleeting for a reason. If you hold on too tightly then those moments can become anchors that drag you down. As it shows in the end of the movie when recounting what happens to the main characters there are moments in life that define a person and moments that are meant to happen and are then forgotten as time goes on.
3. Animal House
The hilarity of this movie makes it hard to see that it’s a feel-good movie at first but when you get right down to it those that identify with the Delta’s really start wanting to see the preppies and those with their noses in the air get what’s coming to them at the end. Sure it’s not quite justice or even right to upset an entire town when taking your revenge on a single fraternity, but it’s a grand statement that makes it known that you were there and that things wouldn’t be the same after you left. College is supposed to be able to provide some of the best years of your life after all, so it’s easy to see why some people take it way too far sometimes, at least within reason.
2. The Bad News Bears
Anytime you get a taste for winning it becomes kind of infectious and you want to do it over and over again since it gives a thrill and a definite sense of pride that is hard to ignore. However you’ve got to get to that win first and for the Bears things weren’t always that easy since they really, REALLY stunk. Their team was little more than a band of misfit that had been lumped together in an attempt to create an opportunity for those that hadn’t been picked by anyone else and weren’t likely to make much of themselves if they didn’t find a way to band together. But it just takes that one win to really get someone in the mood to do it again.
1. The Sting
When it comes to being a con man it’s always important to know who’s conning who and if the thing known as trust is just a word with a puff of smoke beneath it or if there is actually a real meaning to the single-syllable utterance that can be taken at face value. That being said there wasn’t a lot of trust in this film, at least none that could be banked on, until near the final scene when things were happening and the final reveal was starting to be unveiled. At that point viewers were allowed to rest a little easier since they started to figure it out if they hadn’t already.
Feel-good movies in the 70s took a while to get to that good feeling, but they always made it there somehow.
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