Once again I turn to an E-V.com Q&A:

N.M.D. in Duluth, MN, asks: What are your top 10 most uplifting movies?

(Z) answers: OK, in reverse order:

1. The King’s Speech: His father was a jerk, his brother was a fascist, and he was asked to inspire his fellow Brits during their darkest days, despite his lifelong stutter. The scene where he finally delivers the titular speech is epic, and is surely what clinched the Best Picture Oscar the film won.
2. A League of Their Own: If society says you can’t do something just because of who you are, then screw society.
3. Glory: The filmmakers understood that the key to the whole soldier’s experience in the Civil War was that soldiering was how a man “earned” his manhood and his citizenship. And the film really does a great job of showing how the Black soldiers went through their baptism of fire, and ultimately compelled white soldiers to accept them as men and as citizens. The moment where Thomas steps forward and says he will pick up the flag, if needed, is sensational.
4. The Grapes of Wrath: When times are really tough, you just have to find a way to persevere.
5. Bend It Like Beckham: There are a lot of “caught between two cultures” movies. This is probably the best one, and it certainly is the most uplifting.
6. Rocky: Perhaps the greatest underdog story of all time.
7. The Shawshank Redemption: If life gives you lemons, then use them to make a big hole in the wall and put one over on the corrupt warden and his corrupt henchman.
8. 12 Angry Men: Sometimes, you have to stand up to the mob.
9. To Kill a Mockingbird: The scene where Atticus leaves the courtroom is just unbelievable. “Stand up, Scout. Your father’s passing.”
10. Milk: Whether or not Clerks II is the funniest film of all time, all I know is that I laughed more during that movie than any other. And whether or not Milk is the most uplifting movie of all time, all I know is that I never felt more uplifted. I immediately went home after and added a lecture about him and the Castro to my California history course.

I tend to agree with seven of them, but I’ve never seen The Grapes of Wrath, A League of Their Own, or Milk. The first two I’ve merely never gotten around to viewing (my loss), but I started to watch Milk one time and I simply couldn’t stand Sean Penn’s performance as Harvey Milk. Perhaps I should give it another try, but I’ve watched documentaries of Harvey Milk and I didn’t think Penn was at all like the real life Milk.

Also, I probably wouldn’t have included Rocky if I had been compiling the list myself. I recall enjoying the film immensely when it came out, but it’s lost a lot of its luster for me after all those silly sequels. 

Here is the referenced scene from To Kill a Mockingbird, and it makes me want to see the whole film again.