MOVIEPIQ · CRIME · THAT MAKE YOU APPRECIATE LIFE

Crime Movies That Make You Appreciate Life With Your Girlfriend

Crime movies that make you appreciate life with your girlfriend. Includes The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and more, curated by...

Not every film that makes you appreciate life is a tearjerker. Some just show it clearly.

The Shawshank Redemption movie poster
1
1994 · ★★★★½ 8.7/10

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.

The Godfather movie poster
2
1972 · ★★★★½ 8.7/10

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.

The Godfather Part II movie poster
3
1974 · ★★★★½ 8.6/10

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.

The Dark Knight movie poster
4
2008 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.

The Green Mile movie poster
5
1999 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.

Films that make you appreciate life usually work by contrast, or by slowing time down enough to see it properly.

Contrast with chaotic lives can make ordinary stability look precious.

Good paired viewing. Worth pausing to discuss.

Pulp Fiction movie poster
6
1994 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

A burger-loving hit man, his philosophical partner, a drug-addled gangster's moll and a washed-up boxer converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time.

This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.

GoodFellas movie poster
7
1990 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.

City of God movie poster
8
2002 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José "Zé" Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.

Once Upon a Time in America movie poster
9
1984 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

This film slows everything down in a way that makes ordinary things look extraordinary.

Se7en movie poster
10
1995 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.

You finish it and look up, and whatever room you're in looks slightly different.

Some films earn their effect. These do.

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