Random Saddest Movie Breakup Scenes (14 items)

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  (#10) Jerry Maguire

  • Tom Cruise, Renée Zellweger

  While Jerry Maguire is primarily about Jerry's journey to become a successful sports agent on his own terms, his story is also intertwined with his relationship with Dorothy Boyd. When Jerry leaves his agency, Dorothy is the only person who leaves with him. Over the course of their working relationship, the pair fall in love and get married. 

  As Jerry tries to find professional success, however, his relationship with Dorothy falls apart. Unexpectedly for Jerry, Dorothy serves him with divorce papers. Dorothy explains that she took advantage of Jerry and jumped into the relationship too quickly, without really knowing how he felt for her. While Jerry doesn't want to give up on their marriage, Dorothy doesn't want to stay simply because he feels responsible for her. 

  Not only is their conversation a breakup, but it's also the dissolution of a marriage, which always carries a little more weight. But the truly sad thing is how measured Dorothy is throughout the entire exchange. She desperately wants Jerry to love her, but she's accepted that he simply doesn't. She still harbors affection for him, but she's come to terms with her future and decided to do the best possible thing for herself. It's simultaneously empowering and upsetting. 
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  (#14) The Social Network

  • Rooney Mara, Jesse Eisenberg

  Before Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook, he was dumped as a 19-year-old college student by his girlfriend, Erica Albright. In The Social Network, Erica tries to talk to Mark about his ambitions, but Mark continues to act like an arrogant jerk. He insults her background, education, and sexual history, all the while acting like his statements are completely justified. 

  As Erica tries to leave, Mark grows increasingly panicked. He begs her to stay and talk to him, but Erica refuses to listen to him degrade her. Erica ends the conversation by telling Mark that people don't like him because he's a jerk, much to Mark's surprise. She storms away and leaves Mark sitting at the table, somehow wondering where he went wrong. 

  The scene is empowering and justified, but it's definitely a little sad. Mark's complete lack of awareness is threaded throughout the film. His relationship with Erica sets up his character well, and it doesn't leave fans feeling confident about his future decisions. 
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  (#3) Casablanca

  • Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart

  Rick Blaine is an American living in Casablanca, where he owns and operates a successful nightclub. One day, however, his life is turned on its head when former lover Ilsa Lund walks into his bar. Ilsa is accompanied by her husband, Victor Laszlo, a Czech Resistance leader. The pair desperately need papers that allow them to travel freely around Germany and Portugal, and Rick is rumored to have them. 

  Rick and Isla met early in WWII when Ilsa believed that her husband died in a concentration camp. When she learned that Victor was still alive, she abandoned Rick without an explanation and returned to Victor. While asking Rick for the papers, Ilsa confesses that she still loves him. Rick agrees to help Victor, and Ilsa states that she'll stay with Rick when Victor leaves. 

  Rick coordinates an escape for Victor and, at the last minute, tells Ilsa she must go with him. He explains that Ilsa would eventually regret leaving her husband, and he doesn't want to put that kind of pressure on her. Although it's difficult for Rick to give up the love of his life, he chooses to do the best thing for Ilsa. His assured decision leaves no room for argument, which makes the pain of their breakup all the more acute. 
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  (#11) Closer

  • Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen, Colin Stinton, Ray Donn, Peter Rnic, Michael Haley, Robert Stone, Elizabeth Bower, Selena Mars, Steve Morphew, Leonard Silver, Steve Benham, Nick Hobbs, Abdul Popoola, Rrenford Junior Fagan, Antony Gabriel, Daniel Dresner, Bret Yount

  Closer follows the rise and fall of Dan and Alice's relationship. Although the pair are supposedly in love, Dan meets a woman named Anna and almost immediately tries to cheat on Alice. Anna resists him for a while, but she eventually gives in to his seduction. The pair sleep together for a year while they're both in other relationships. After the affair carries on so long, Anna and Dan each confesses to their partners that they're in love with someone else. 

  The ensuing conversation between Alice and Dan is heartbreaking. Without any prelude, Dan admits everything to Alice, who can hardly bear the pain. She packs up her things and starts to leave, all the while asking questions about Dan's affair. The longer they talk, the more distraught Alice becomes. Like most instances of cheating, Alice simply can't understand why someone she loves would do this to her. 

  Eventually, Alice just dissolves into tears and asks Dan to hold her. The moment perfectly captures the dichotomy between being incredibly angry at someone, but still wanting to turn to them for support. The scene feels desperate and sad at the same time, which is so often how breakups seem to go. 
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  (#7) (500) Days of Summer

  • Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

  The (500) Days of Summer breakup scene is so sad because it feels so painfully realistic. While Tom has been in love with Summer from the beginning, she has made it clear time and time again that she isn't on the same page. She's often hot and cold with Tom, though their relationship certainly has its happy moments. 

  The breakup scene is intercut with Tom's own explanation of his relationship with Summer. He recounts their happy moments together over a stream of clips that show the early days. He admits, however, that things had cooled off recently. Summer seemingly lost interest in Tom, refusing to engage in their jokes anymore and generally pulling away. Finally, during dinner at a diner, Summer announces out of the blue that she thinks they should stop seeing each other. 

  Tom is completely taken aback. While Summer thinks this is the logical end to their relationship, Tom can't understand that she's not happy. The moment isn't full of tears and sad statements, which almost makes it more depressing. It's a natural end to a relationship that just wasn't working, even if one participant thought everything was okay. 
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  (#1) The Notebook

  • Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling

  Although The Notebook ultimately ends in a happily ever after, it takes quite the tear-filled path to get there. While Noah and Allie have plenty of heartbreaking ups and downs during the course of the film, nothing is quite as sad as their first breakup scene. While the couple has spent a magical summer together, Noah is starting to catch on to the fact that this might not be a forever thing. He tries to be realistic and tells Allie that they should finish out the summer and figure out what to do after that. 

  Allie doesn't take the news well. She freaks out and starts an argument, telling Noah that if he wants to break up with her, he should just do it right now. While the entire scene is entrenched in emotion, the difficult feelings of hurt quickly turn into anger. Allie doesn't react the way Noah thought she would, but her heartbreak at potentially losing someone she loves is very apparent. She doesn't know what to do, which is made more obvious by the fact that she tells Noah to leave and then immediately panics and looks for reassurance that they're not really breaking up. 

  The feeling Allie emotes is almost too real and too genuine. She's desperate to hold on to someone she loves, even when she knows it has little chance of working out. Her anger, frustration, and sadness make the scene incredibly difficult to watch. 

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