22 feel-good Oscar-winning movies that will give you warm fuzzies
As much as we try, it's always ridiculously hard to pick which film will win Best Picture at the Oscars each year. Will it be a gritty period drama, a long-winded war tale or the designated tear jerker? Even the awards themselves don't know who to pick sometimes (remember that La La Land debacle?).
This year, our pick is that Promising Young Woman , the Emerald Fennell-directed and Carey Mulligan-led film will take the top spot. It's an important portrayal of rape culture and victim blaming not often seen on the Hollywood stage.
The complete set of eight nominated films for 2021 include:
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
While it's unlikely to happen this year, sometimes a feel-good film sneaks through to win the top gong, but how many happy films have really gone on to become award-winners?
We've done the hard graft and sifted through the past 92 (!) years of Oscar-winning films to highlight the 22 that won't leave you with a glum outlook as the credits roll.
From Dev Patel in his breakthrough role in 2008's Slumdog Millionaire, to Tom Hanks' Forrest Gump and his incredible life and the enduring Julie Andrews epic The Sound of Music, these are the films that give us warm fuzzies (and we detail where you can watch them too).
Green Book (2019)
Based on a true story, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali star in Green Book, the tale of a famous black jazz and classical concert pianist and his bodyguard-come-driver.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Sky Store for £3.49.
REX FeaturesThe Artist (2011)
It looks just like a silent black-and-white classic. It feels like a secret love letter to Hollywood’s Golden Age. The French production starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo as a movie star and a starlet who have a tumultuous affair is one that landed ten Oscar nods, more than any other French film.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesThe King’s Speech (2010)
You wouldn’t exactly call the King of England an underdog, but in this biopic about George VI (Colin Firth) you’re rooting for him as though he is. After his older brother abdicates, the ‘spare’ George is bequeathed the throne and must overcome his stammer to speak to the nation with confidence as WW2 breaks out. Smart and moving.
Where to watch: Netflix subscribers can watch is as part of their subscription here.
REX FeaturesSlumdog Millionaire (2008)
A poor teen accused of cheating on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the story of his often brutal upbringing isn’t a LOLs-fest at times, but his route to the 20 million rupee question and why he knows each answer, breaks and then warms the cockles of your heart. Plus, the film’s central song, Jai Ho, and it’s accompanying dance routine, is catchy AF. The Academy agreed. Best song was one of its eight Oscar wins.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesChicago (2002)
Adapted from the long-running Broadway production, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger stepped into the tap shoes of Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, two showgirls who end up in jail for murder. This is the film that saved the Hollywood musical from extinction – a big hoofing, razzle-dazzle glitter-bomb that nabbed 13 nominations, including a win for Zeta-Jones.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesShakespeare in Love (1998)
Tom Stoppard’s banter-ful script about a young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) battling writer’s block as he works on what will become Romeo and Juliet is a whip-smart comedy romance, with Gwyneth Paltrow utterly charming as his lover/muse. Like La La Land, the ending is bittersweet, but there’s plenty to keep you smiling during the journey.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesForrest Gump (1994)
The eminently quotable six time Oscar winner sees Tom Hanks playing the good-hearted Forrest, a man who by sheer chance manages to be present at almost all the key events that span his lifetime, while trying to look after his beloved Jenny (Robin Wright) and Mama (Sally Field). And let’s face it, who doesn’t yearn for a friend so close you’re like ‘peas and carrots’?
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesDriving Miss Daisy (1989)
The 25-year relationship between an old Jewish lady (Jessica Tandy) and her African-American chauffeur is one of the quieter stories to win the Best Picture category, but no less thought provoking for the gentle way it deals with the topic of integration in the South during the 1960s. A tender-hearted story of friendship and acceptance.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesChariots of Fire (1981)
The true story of two British runners competing in the 1924 Olympics delivered the sweet message that working hard and self belief will pay dividends. As well as a score that had every school age kid humming the Vangelis-composed (and Oscar-winning in its own right) soundtrack as they did the 400m during PE.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesRocky (1976)
Small-time boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is selected for a fight with heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. The first few trumpet notes of Bill Conti’s Gonna fly Now (AKA the soundtrack to Rocky’s training montage sequence) are enough to make your heart soar and the academy agreed; it earned ten Oscar nominations and won three, a victory no doubt all the sweeter because Sly wrote the film in response to being told their were no movie parts for him.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesOliver! (1968)
The exceedingly singalongable musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic won five Oscars. Telling the story of an orphan (Mark Lester) who’s taken in by a band of pickpockets and thieves, the cast sing and dance around 19th Century London, the bad guys get their comeuppance, and the good guys triumph. If only life could be so neatly tied up.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesThe Sound of Music (1965)
The ten-times nominated classic is still showing at sing-a-long screenings, and you can see why. A stirring plot involving a failed nun who becomes a governess to seven Austrian kids, belting songs from British star Julie Andrews and romance courtesy of a dashing Christopher Plummer. It's got the lot. All together now, “The hills are alive…”
Where to watch: Disney+ subscribers can watch it as part of their subscription here .
REX FeaturesMy Fair Lady (1964)
Musicals have an excellent Best Picture hit rate in the 1960s and My Fair Lady is the third musical winner this decade. Audrey Hepburn is Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl given linguistic tutelage by Professor Henry Higgens (Rex Harrison) in order to better herself. It cleaned up at the Oscars, winning eight, including Harrison for Best Actor and Cecil Beaton for Costume Design.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesTom Jones (1963)
This boisterous slapstick adaptation of Henry Fielding’s novel featuring sex, brawling and a cheeky chappy leading man (Albert Finney) and was seen as an antidote to the epic (read: LONG) movie epidemic of the time. Its four wins and further five acting nods prove the voters were definitely looking for laughs over length that year.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesThe Apartment (1960)
It all sounds a bit sleazy. An office worker (Jack Lemon) lends his apartment to his boss who is having an affair. Then he falls in love with the elevator girl (Shirley MacLaine)... who's the boss’s mistress. But The Apartment is one of the most tender, irresistible romances ever made. Five wins out of ten nominations.
Where to watch: You can buy it on Amazon Prime for £7.99.
REX FeaturesGigi (1958)
Gigi (Leslie Caron) is being raised in Paris to be a courtesan (er, stay with us) but when she and Gaston (Louis Jordan) fall in love, they opt for a more traditional life. In the meantime, there are sweeping songs, and sweeping dresses, with hi-jinks and champagne. Just avert your gaze (and your outrage) when Thank heaven for little girls pipes up.
Where to watch: Gigi doesn't appear to be on any streaming services at present but you can buy the DVD here.
REX FeaturesAround the World in Eighty Days (1956)
The dapper David Niven takes the lead as Phileas Fogg, who in 1872 makes a bet with his friends that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days, employing ever more creative modes of travel as he makes his attempt. Forty huge stars of the day make cameos, including Marlene Dietrich and Frank Sinatra.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesAn American in Paris (1951)
The Gene Kelly starring-musical about a WW2 veteran living as a painter in Paris who falls for his best friend’s girlfriend, is one of several that La La Land references during the film’s Epilogue. The original was a cinematic masterpiece, with its climactic ballet scene lasting 17 minutes and costing $500,000 to film. It picked up 6 Oscars.
Where to watch: You can rent it on BFI for £3.50.
REX FeaturesAll About Eve (1950)
‘Feelgood’ in this instance is actually more like ‘gloriously bitchy satire’, but same, right? Aspiring actress Eve (Anne Baxter) turns up backstage of stage star Margo’s (Bette Davis) play and insinuates herself into her life in order to make it. Six Oscars, including a well deserved Best Writing gong, for lines like: “I'll admit I may have seen better days... but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut.” A comedy classic.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesYou Can’t Take it With You (1938)
The thirties romcom (now how often does one of those win Best Picture?) stars James Stewart as the wealthy son of property developers, who becomes engaged to the daughter of an eccentric family who are refusing to sell their apartment to them. A must-see for fans of Meet the Parentsfarce comedy.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
REX FeaturesIt Happened One Night (1934)
Director Frank Capra was a master of the feel-good movie, and this is one of his most uplifting – a cute tale of an heiress who falls for a wisecracking reporter on a bus trip to New York. It won five Oscars and made a superstar of its lead actors Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.
Where to watch: You can buy it on Amazon Prime for £3.99.
REX FeaturesThe Broadway Melody (1929)
Hollywood’s first musical ‘talkie’, this was the first sound film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, and starred legendary leading lady Anita Page as one of two sisters trying to make it on Broadway. The Academy has always loved a tale about an aspiring star.
Where to watch: You can rent it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.
