The Vow is coming out on Friday. Every time I see the trailer for it, I almost cry. It’s terrible. The instant I hear that the wife can no longer remember her husband and he’s going to work to bring those memories back to her and rebuild their relationship, my eyes well up uncontrollably. It’s happening right now. I can’t even stop it. And I want to see this movie so terribly. I’ve never requested a Valentine’s movie date before. Ever. But I can’t help myself.

Now let me just say that in general I am a cryer. Yes, this is my confession. I’m Rachel. I cry. Most people who have known me for a long time have seen me cry. But most people also would know that I don’t go out of my way to cry—it just happens, spontaneously (but still appropriately).

I have watched five movies this week… and four of the five made me cry. Perhaps these tears are because my movie selection this week has been a little different from the chainsaw/murder-fest I usually put on for background. Our HBO/Cinemax/Starz trial has brought me movies that wouldn’t normally show up in our DVD lineup. Maybe this is a seasonal problem/craving, brought on only by my mild obsession with The Vow. Still, not all of the movies that have made me cry have been tragic romances. I’ll stop blabbering now. Here are my little mini-reviews… Perhaps you want to cry too?

Speak: I read this book by Laurie Halse Anderson in high school. Though it’s probably been ten years since I read it, the movie was exactly how I remembered the book. A girl is date-raped before her freshman year of high school, and she has to cope with this experience. The girl is played by a pre-Twilight Kristen Stewart, and she does a great job. Steve Zahn, as an inspirational art teacher, also brought me one of my favorite scenes of the movie, when he goes on a rant about grade inflation. I hate grade inflation. Just thinking about grade inflation makes me want to cry. (I’m kidding…really).

Love & Other Drugs: I didn’t know anything about this movie before watching. I don’t particularly like Jake Gyllenhaal or Anne Hathaway. But Jake Gyllenhaal really sucked me in instantly. He plays a 1990s pharmaceutical salesman. Anne Hathaway plays a woman with early onset Parkinson’s (I’ve never seen her act so well as when she begins to show physical symptoms—I was impressed). Romance ensues.

Charlie St. Cloud: I never thought Zac Efron was manly until I saw 17 Again, and I feel sort of disgusting saying he’s manly even though he’s only a year younger than me. But he is manly. He is. This movie’s trailers looked so goofy and so cheesy, but the story of a man trying to cope with his younger brother’s death and learn how to live life is really sad and inspirational all at once. And there are a few plot twists that I never saw coming. Of this week’s movies, this is the movie that I’m going to have to keep an eye out for so Derrick can see it. It’s the winner. I wonder if it will make Derrick cry?

Thirteen: I watched this movie for Holly Hunter, and she outdid herself as the mother of a teenage girl whose life is spiraling out of control. She definitely deserved the Oscar nomination she received for best supporting actress. I was also really moved by her relationship with her ex-druggie boyfriend who has good intentions and a good heart (played by Jeremy Sisto). I hated being thirteen, and, though I never lived so wildly at thirteen as the characters in this movie, I empathized with their angst.

That’s all for now. Go cry your eyes out. Oh, and if you were wondering about the picture, that’s representative of Bogie the cat consoling me, of course. He doesn’t know what I’m doing or why I’m such a whacko.