I must be losing my humanity, but this movie struck no chord with me. If anything, it merely reminded me of family fare like Party of Five and Seventh Heaven, lowly tv shows which show more restraint and less melodrama than this movie. This movie just went straight for the tear ducts with a not-so-subtle portrayal of a bereaved and embattled family. I'd pay twice the price of admission if they could achieve the same effect without literarlly going for the floodgates (i.e. the constant depiction of characters shedding copious tears and sundry other overwrought scenes.) 

There is a formula to tearjerking and that is to do so through sympathetic weeping, i.e. depict someone (preferably a child, the younger, the better) crying with a little context and the audience reach for the Kleenex. But during those manipulative moments in Broken Wings, I could only shake my head and tune out. There are other ways to create emotional responses than outright melodrama. 

For family drama, I'm still genuinely moved (yes, to tears, sometimes) by Yasujiro Ozu (although he has clunkers too like Brothers and Sisters of Toda Family). I still remember the heart-rending ending of The Only Son., and yes, it tugged at my heartstrings, to say the least. For that matter, there are a number of movies during which I admit I found myself getting teary-eyed. 

Now that I think about it, I remember Nani Moretti's The Son's Room, a movie with a similar theme to Broken Wings (i.e. death in the family). The depiction of those who are left behind, their struggle to cope with a loss resonated with me much more than what Broken Wings was shamelessly trying to do.