Faith in people erodes gradually. Good films can restore it the same way.
In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his paranoid screen partner struggle to make the difficult transition to talking pictures.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
Four inseparable friends try to face their midlife crisis with daytrips and pranks at the expense of their families and the people around them.
There's a moment in this that restores something. You'll know it when you see it.
A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Best friends Peppe and Mario are thieves, but they're not very good at it. Still, Peppe thinks that he's finally devised a master heist that will make them rich. With the help of some fellow criminals, he plans to dig a tunnel from a rented apartment to the pawnshop next door, where they can rob the safe. But his plan is far from foolproof, and the fact that no one in the group has any experience digging tunnels proves to be the least of their problems.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Films that restore faith in people don't do it through sentimentality. They do it through honesty. These are honest.
Warmth is built into good comedy. Restorative.
Works particularly well alone, with nowhere else to be.
In Prohibition-era Chicago, musicians Joe and Jerry witness a mob hit, and flee the state in an all-female band disguised as Josephine and Daphne, but further complications set in.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
In postwar Rome, a working-class woman dreams of a better future for herself and her daughter while facing abuse at the hands of her domineering husband. When a mysterious letter arrives, she discovers the courage to change the circumstances of her life.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meager skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Forcibly separated from her twin brother when they are orphaned, a melancholic misfit learns how to find confidence within herself amid the clutter of misfortunes and everyday life.
It shows people at their best without pretending the world is easy. That's the specific thing.
Some films earn their effect. These do.