Movies That Inspire & Uplift Us

By Gus Mollasis

January 2021 — Great films are like great friends. We love to revisit them again and again. With each viewing, we can find something new and inspiring. Sometimes it’s just a brief moment between two actors playing out a scene. Or maybe it’s how something was shot or scored.  But when it all comes together – it can truly be magical.

If I’m asked to pick a favorite inspiring or uplifting movie, it’s challenging to decide.

Would it be Casablanca for the selfless and sacrificial love story of Bogart and Bergman?

Would it be City Lights – for all of Charlie Chaplin’s melding of comedic brilliance sprinkled with the perfect dose of pathos?

Or would it be It’s a Wonderful Life – with all its lessons and the value of one man’s life portrayed with the magnificence of Jimmy Stewart’s performance as George Baily in this Frank Capra Christmas classic?

Ultimately, I’d have to pick all three.

What’s your favorite inspiring or uplifting movie? Here’s how some of my friends answered the question.

Danny Canton- Filmmaker and cameraman who worked with legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet

“A Good Year, the 2006 film by Ridley Scott has been a recent favorite. The depiction of what appears to be a highly successful person, financially and professionally, who departs from the ‘rat race’ to live a peaceful happy fulfilling life. Beautifully filmed and acted by Albert Finney, Russel Crowe, and Freddie Highmore.”

Sue Morris – Co-founder, along with her late husband Dick Morris, of the Sarasota Film Society

“All the Charlie Chaplin films inspired me. When I explored in depth the man behind, and in front of, the scenes, I learned to appreciate how difficult it is to successfully create high comedy as compared to straight drama.  But I didn’t come by this perception alone.  I had a mentor; that would be my husband, Dick Morris.”

Roxy Baker – Film enthusiast, critic; Baker & Mollasis Podcast

“Driveways, an Independent Movie Award Best First Script nominee, was released on Amazon in June 2020. One of his last films, the late great Brian Dennehy plays a crusty widowed veteran who notices his new next-door neighbors, a single Asian mom and her nine-year-old son. 

While it’s a shame that due to the pandemic, the Hudson Valley cinematography and Jay Wadley’s poignant original soundtrack are reduced to smaller screens, the emotions evoked by actors more than make up for that visual and audio reduction. Dennehy, Hong Chau and the beautiful boy Lucas Jaye fill out director Andrew Ahn’s film large enough to break your heart. And by break, I mean in a good way; break open to experience the realistic tenderness between a man from the greatest generation man and a vulnerable young boy.”

Dr. Frances Rice – Retired Army Colonel and author of Black History 1619-2019: An Illustrated and Documented African-American History.

“Black Panther inspires me because it showcases the often overlooked traditional black middle class family and presents in a positive light a lead black character who is a champion, not a victim, overcoming great obstacles and coming out the winner.”

John Moffitt – Emmy award winning director; TV producer, director and creator who has worked alongside show business A-listers including Ed Sullivan, Ed Carl, Larry David, The Beatles, Stones, Tony Bennett, Richard Pryor, Jim Henson, Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, George Carlin and more.

“I can’t think of a more inspiring or uplifting movie than E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

In simple terms, it depicts what it means to be kind and loving. A young boy, Elliott, the middle child in a broken home, seeking friendship puts a sign on his door ‘Enter.’  An extra-terrestrial left behind by his space ship turns out to be that friend. It’s a beautiful story, beautifully told in a magic film by Steven Spielberg.”

Andrew Vac – Realtor with Re-Max.

“Casablanca.  It has everything. Great intrigue and the greatest love story of all time. We’ll always have Paris. Casablanca is magical. A film that holds up as time goes by.”

Donna Moffitt – Hollywood insider who met and married her soul mate and TV legend John Moffitt. In recent years the couple moved from Tinsel Town to Sarasota, where their love story happily continues.    

“Don Juan DeMarco starring Johnny Depp. I fell in love with Johnny Depp’s romantic and indefatigable character the first time I saw it at the Director’s Guild screening with friends.  We all did. 

In fact, we left the screening on such a high, no one complained when we couldn’t find our car in the structure. (And this was unusual for a fussy producer friend of my husband who wasn’t that easy going). Depp breathes life into the movie with his complete and ingenuous belief in great love as the driving force of his life. His infectious quest imbues the other cast members as well as the audience with a renewed sense of wonder at the power of romantic love and possibility.” 

Katherine Michelle Tanner- Professional actress; playwright, director, singer, dancer, filmmaker, and owner of Tree Fort Productions.

“My Octopus Teacher is one of the most inspiring and triumphant pieces of art I have ever seen. For me it is all about the story. You can’t make great art without great storytelling and this film has it all. The sheer cinematography is breathtaking. The fact that it documents true events is unreal, but the lessons learned will stay with you forever and ever. It is a masterpiece.” 

Sally Fernandez – Author of provocative political thrillers including the MAX FORD Series

“It’s a Wonderful Life, of course! It shows the value and impact our lives have on so many other lives. I believe he has a guardian angel looking over him and he knows what the world will look like if he does not prevail.”

Andrew Ford – Owner, Sarasota Estate Auction & Sarasota Trading Company in historic Burns Court as well as Ford Art & Antiques.

“The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) produced by Norman Jewison and starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Nominated for 2 Academy Awards. It’s a classic and something I have to watch every time it’s on TV.”

Riselle Bain – Hollywood actress who played Miriam (Babette Bain) in Cecil B. DeMille‘s epic The Ten Commandments

“My choice for my favorite uplifting movie is the 1954 musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

I have personal connections [to two of its stars] that influence me to love this film: As a child, I almost died from a burst appendix and had to be in the hospital for a long time. My dad brought Howard Keel to see me in the hospital to cheer me up! Later in life, Russ Tamblyn owned a dance studio in Los Angeles. I studied ballet there, and every now and then he would come and observe some of my classes.

As a dancer, I will never forget the beauty and the amazing athletic energy of the dancers who executed Michael Kidd’s character-driven choreography with its energized style that blended jazz with ballet, gymnastics, and gesture.