Movie endings

Maggie says:
Last night I watched Before Sunset. Now, I used to be obsessed with Before Sunrise. For me, it was the quintessential high school romantic moment on film. Obsessed. And when Before Sunset was released, I was too scared to see it. I felt like the magic of the first might be ruined with knowing how Jesse and Celine end up, seeing them get that second chance, putting edges to what was previously their boundless future. But I sucked it up, finally saw it last night. And I loved it.

This brings me to the topic at hand: great lines that end a film. Before Sunset is one of them.

Celine: You're going to miss your flight.
Jesse: I know.

He says it smiling; it's a moment. He's been denying he'll miss this flight the whole movie, but suddenly it's all too much to walk away from, and leaving her is a bigger risk than not going back to New York. "I know." It's perfect.

Brokeback Mountain is another one that got me. One line that ends a film in the best way possible. Ennis is looking at Jack's shirt hanging on his closet door with a postcard of Brokeback beside it. You know that shirt and postcard will be hanging there until he's 80, just like we see it that day. He's so broken. And his line sums it all up, without saying anything, really.

"Jack, I swear..."

He doesn't need to say more. And to those of us who know the understated ways of cowboys or farmers or similar types, it's clear he never really will say more. That line is all he needs, and all we need.