The 30 most emotional films of the 2000s

When biological parents try to get their child back, a man and his wife must fight to retain custody of their adopted son.

Reformed drug addict Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) has her California coast house, which she inherited from her father, taken away by the county due to a misunderstanding about back taxes. The place is bought by Iranian immigrant Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley), who intends to fix it up and sell it in order to provide a better life for his wife (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and son (Jonathan Ahdout). However, Kathy, desperate to get the house back, begins harassing Behrani so he will return it.

Andrey (Vladimir Garin) and Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) are brothers who have been raised alone by their mother. When their father (Konstantin Lavronenko) suddenly returns home after vanishing some 12 years earlier, they are both extremely happy to see him back in their lives. Ivan, however, quickly grows suspicious of his father, and determines to find out where exactly his father vanished to all those years ago, and why he suddenly decided to come back into their lives now.

Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) has arrived at several of life's crossroads all at the same time. To begin with, he is retiring from a lifetime of service as an actuary for Woodmen of the World Insurance Company, and he feels utterly adrift. Furthermore, his only daughter Jeannie (Hope Davis) is about to marry a boob. And his wife Helen (June Squibb) dies suddenly after 42 years of marriage.

A lonely, aging movie star named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and a conflicted newlywed, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), meet in Tokyo. Bob is there to film a Japanese whiskey commercial; Charlotte is accompanying her celebrity-photographer husband. Strangers in a foreign land, the two find escape, distraction and understanding amidst the bright Tokyo lights after a chance meeting in the quiet lull of the hotel bar. They form a bond that is as unlikely as it is heartfelt and meaningful.

In 1940s South Carolina, mill worker Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and rich girl Allie (Rachel McAdams) are desperately in love. But her parents don't approve. When Noah goes off to serve in World War II, it seems to mark the end of their love affair. In the interim, Allie becomes involved with another man (James Marsden). But when Noah returns to their small town years later, on the cusp of Allie's marriage, it soon becomes clear that their romance is anything but over.

The story of a social studies teacher who gives an assignment to his junior high school class to think of an idea to change the world for the better, then put it into action. When one young student creates a plan for "paying forward" favors, he not only affects the life of his struggling single mother, but he sets in motion an unprecedented wave of human kindness which, unbeknownst to him, has blossomed into a profound national phenomenon.

After his father dies in battle, Finnish youth Eero (Topi Majaniemi) learns that his mother, Kirsti (Marjaana Maijala), is packing him off to live with a Swedish foster family. As World War II escalates, Eero's new home in the neutral nation is safe, but he struggles to bond with his guardian (Maria Lundqvist). He eventually returns home, but Eero never quite believes in his mother again. Decades later, an elderly Eero (Esko Salminen) learns details that put Kirsti's decision into perspective.

Youssef fears his life will never be the same after leaving home to have his cancer treated in France.

Following a stint in jail, Adam (Ulrich Thomsen), a former neo-Nazi, is temporarily assigned to live in a religious enclave. The community is led by Ivan (Mads Mikkelsen), an eternally optimistic priest who immediately gets under the skin of the gruff Adam. In order to move forward with his rehabilitation, Adam must select a task, so he decides to bake an apple pie. However, his simple choice is complicated by Ivan's insistence that Adam use apples from a tree that is plagued by problems.

In the present, artist Tom Warshaw (David Duchovny) recalls his traumatic coming of age. As a 13-year-old (Anton Yelchin) growing up in New York City in 1973, Tom hangs out with Pappass (Robin Williams), a mentally disabled man. With Tom's mother (Téa Leoni) battling depression after the death of her husband, the young boy is left to his own devices. When Tom develops a crush on schoolmate Melissa (Zelda Williams), Pappass feels abandoned and begins behaving erratically.

A holiday fable that tells the story of an elderly man discovering love for the first time.

When the mother of young Evelyn Doyle (Sophie Vavasseur) abandons her family, her devastated father Desmond (Pierce Brosnan), is left to care for Evelyn and her brothers on his own. Because Irish laws forbid children to be raised in a home without two parents, Evelyn and her brothers are removed from Desmond's care and sent to separate orphanages. Desmond, who is out of work and abusing alcohol, will have to challenge the Irish courts to bring his children home.

A piano prodigy (Jay Chou) encounters two mysterious students at a college of arts.

Life as a House" is the poignant, often humorous journey of one man who decides to tear down his house -- and winds up rebuilding the world around him. From the day he picks up his sledgehammer, George Monroe embarks on a grand adventure that will shatter expectations and build a foundation for many different dreams among his family and neighbors.

Male nurse Benigno (Javier Cámara) becomes infatuated with a complete stranger when he watches dancer Alicia (Leonor Watling) practicing from the anonymity of his apartment. After being injured in a car accident, Alicia is brought to a nearby hospital, where Benigno serendipitously happens to be her caregiver. When wounded bullfighter Lydia (Rosario Flores) is brought into the same ward, her companion, writer Marco (Darío Grandinetti), begins to bond with Benigno.

An unhappily married woman (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) befriends an old man (Massimo Girotti) and spies on a handsome neighbor (Raoul Bova).

A college professor (Richard Gere) forms a lasting bond with a dog that he finds on a train platform.

David (Ben Tibber) is a 12 year old on his own in an Eastern European prison camp. His best friend, Johannes (James Caviezel), protects and looks after him. One day, David is able to escape, and he embarks on a mission to deliver a sealed envelope to Denmark. Along the way, he saves a young girl (Viola Carinci) from a fire, befriends an elderly Swiss woman (Joan Plowright) and learns the value of trusting others. But what David discovers in Denmark truly changes his life forever.

Caught in an affair with another man (Liev Schreiber), a scientist's callow wife (Naomi Watts) accompanies her husband (Edward Norton) to mainland China in the 1920s to fight a cholera epidemic. There, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery that leads to an unexpected chance at redemption.

Autumn in New York follows the sexual exploits of Will Keane, a New York restaurateur, infamous verging-on-50 playboy, master of the no-commitment seduction until he runs into an unexpected dead end when he meets Charlotte Fielding. Charlotte is half Will's age and twice his match, a 21-year-old free spirit yearning to get out and taste the excitement of adult life. It is a season long encounter that will shatter Will's preconceptions about women, sex and responsibility.

After a confrontation with one of his idols dashes his dreams of studying public speaking in college, Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston) joins the Army and ships off to Vietnam. During his service, Richard loses nearly all of his hearing. Joining a new circle of friends, including a man with cerebral palsy and an alcoholic war veteran, Richard discovers his gift for motivational speaking and becomes an advocate for people with disabilities.

A girl grows up, but within her there is always a deep longing for her missing father.

Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flickers in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer (Cate Blanchett). Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.

A sequel to "Before Sunrise," this film starts nine years later as Jesse (Ethan Hawke) travels across Europe giving readings from a book he wrote about the night he spent in Vienna with Celine (Julie Delpy). After his reading in Paris, Celine finds him, and they spend part of the day together before Jesse has to again leave for a flight. They are both in relationships now, and Jesse has a son, but as their strong feelings for each other start to return, both confess a longing for more.