15 Greatest Ending Lines In Film History

11. Jesus, Does Anyone? - Stand By Me (1986)

chinatown jake
Columbia Pictures

The final line of Rob Reiner's spotless Stephen King adaptation Stand By Me isn't actually spoken, but written, and it perfectly captures the entire spirit of the movie that precedes it.

The set-up to the film is simple, following a group of friends as they venture out of town to look for a dead body. The body isn't important, though - what's important is the relationship of the four boys at the centre of the journey, all of whom go through a great amount of change together.

A tale of friendship, memory, and loss, the final scene switches perspective to one of the boys all grown up, now a famous author who's sat down to tell his story. He ends it by writing:

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”

It's a poignant, teary-eyed note to end on, capturing an entire life of feeling into just two short lines. Despite all the hardships these four unruly boys faced as kids, they had each other, and in the end isn't that enough?

Contributor

Aidan Whatman hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.