My 5 Favorite Last Lines of All Time, In No Particular Order

A movie's final line is the filmmaker's last chance to say something to the audience. Sometimes a last line is too pithy to have any meaning. Sometimes a last line is so lofty that it feels forced. Sometimes a last line does a very nice job of wrapping up the plot in a neat-little package, but despite that (or maybe because of it) isn't very memorable otherwise.


But sometimes, a movie's last line is so perfect in what it says about the movie you just saw that it follows you out of the theater and makes sure you never forget that movie. What follows are what I consider to be the best last lines of all time.


FAIR WARNING: Seeing as last lines come at the end of movies, there's no way to write this list without giving away some SPOILERS. So, if you haven't seen any of the movies on this list, I suggest you go see them, and then come back.


The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
Screenplay by Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, and Robert Towne, based on the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo

The Line:

"Don Corleone"

The Godfather is a tragedy of wants and needs.  Michael Corleone never wanted to be his father's son (keep in mind that his father is a murderer).  But as unforeseen events push Michael towards a life of crime, he comes to realize that he never had it in him to be anything else.  In the final scene of the movie, Michael lies straight-faced to his wife about having made his sister a widow.  And then, hearing this line, he embraces the title once held by his father and closes the door on goodness forever.

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino

The Line:

"You know something, Utovich?  I think this just might be my masterpiece."

Tarantino has always been a master of dialogue, and I love every movie he's done because each one has at least a dozen brilliant moments.  But prior to Basterds, he was only pretty good at stringing together an entire story.  For me, this movie marks his transition from exciting new mind to fully-arrived auteur.  And I think Quentin knows so too.  Make no mistake about it, when Aldo Raine looks right into the camera to say this line, it's because he's talking to the audience on behalf of the director.  This is a great movie moment for the same reason that Babe Ruth's called shot is a great baseball moment: You've gotta respect it for being a ballsy move, but the impressive part is that he was right.

25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)

Screenplay by David Benioff, based on his novel The 25th Hour

The Line:

[It's a like a ten-minute monologue.  Read it here.]

25th Hour ends with a sequence of Monty imagining the possible future his father describes to him, in which he flees his prison sentence, runs away out west, and starts a new life.  On its own, it's one of the most beautiful, wistful fantasy sequences I've ever seen, but what really makes it poignant is when you realize that Monty decides to go to prison after all. It's an amazing expression of the gap between what we sometimes dream of and what we actually do.  Then you put this movie in its historical context.  It's set in New York and came out in 2002; the aftermath of 9/11 is a subtle but pervasive theme. And the impulse to run out west away from one's troubles must have occurred to every New Yorker at some point after 9/11. But, like Monty, most of them decided to stick around and take their lumps, because that's what New Yorkers do.


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman

The Line:

"...Okay." 

What makes this line is the dialogue that precedes it.  Joel and Clementine have just realized that they were once in a relationship, but it ended so badly that they both paid to have the memory of the other erased from their minds (it's part of the premise, just go with it).  Joel suggests they get back together, but Clementine is reluctant because they both know for a fact that they'll have problems later on.  Eventually though, they decide to go for it anyway.  And then you realize that any time you enter a relationship, you do so knowing there will be problems of some sort eventually.  The whole trick is having the balls to take that risk because of how great the rewards can be.  And thus the somewhat whacky premise of this movie gets turned into something real and universal.  That's why Charlie Kaufman is a great screenwriter.

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch, based on the play Everybody Comes To Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison

The Line:

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

This (frequently misquoted) line shows up on so many lists of great ending lines that it's easy to write it off as a cliche. In fact, I almost forgot about it myself.  Then someone reminded of its historical context.  Today, when America is often accused of trying to police the world, it's easy to forget that we once followed a policy of strict isolationism up until the second World War.  And this last line has been widely interpreted to reflect America's decision to stand with Great Britain against their common enemy.  And there are historians who have written books about how, prior to World War II, isolationism was a defining feature of American culture and identity.  So, if they're right, Casablanca marks a momentous turning point in the history of the United States, and consequently, the world.  

Honorable Mentions

Film that would've made this list if its best line weren't its second to last line: The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)

Dumbest Last Line of All Time: Love Story (Arthur Hiller, 1970)

Films with great last lines that didn't make my top 5:

 -Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002)

 -Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, 1980) 
 -Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)

 -Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

 -Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg, 1967)

 -The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

 -Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)

 -The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999)

 -Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008)

 -Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)

 -Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)

 -Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010)