(Credit: Anders Krusberg)
Thu 14 August 2025 17:45, UK
Few non-actors have had as big an impact on the comedy scene in the 21st century as Judd Apatow.
The director and writer is responsible for some true modern classics, ranging from The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Trainwreck, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the list goes on, and those are just the things he’s been directly involved in. He’s also had a hand in producing several other hilarious greats, but there are too many to get into here.
Through his many contributions to the big screen, Apatow has figured out exactly how to deliver a killer ending. The 40-Year-Old Virgin technically ends with a big dance sequence, although the actual ‘ending’ is in the title of the film. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the Christopher Nolan-approved racing comedy that he co-produced, ends with a dramatic Nascar race and a steamy moment between Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen.
However, when it comes to movie endings devised by other people, one stands head and shoulders above the rest for Mr Leslie Mann. On the Working It Out podcast, Apatow told comedian Mike Birbiglia that he adored the conclusion to James L Brooks’ comedy-drama Terms of Endearment. Anyone who knows how the movie ends—spoilers ahead—will recall that Emma Greenway-Horton, played by Debra Winger, dies of cancer. This doesn’t sound like a particularly cheerful finale, but, as Apatow explained, that doesn’t matter.
“There’s something about the movie where it’s so sad but then it lifts you at the end,” he said. “There’s this brilliant moment with Jack Nicholson where, at the end of the funeral, he takes her son and walks him to his backyard, because he’s the neighbour. And he says, ‘You wanna see my pool?’ And for some reason, you’re emotional then, but you’re happy. You love people.”
Released in 1983, Terms of Endearment centres on the relationship between Emma and her highly-strung mother, Aurora, played by Shirley MacLaine, as they both search for love. The film, which also stars Danny DeVito and John Lithgow, was a huge success. It won five Academy Awards, including ‘Best Actress’ for MacLaine and the coveted ‘Best Picture’ prize. It is widely regarded as a standout example of the ‘tragicomedy’ subgenre, even if the production was plagued by a fart war between its key players.
You might find it a bit strange that somebody known for penning relatively light comedies is such a big fan of an ending where one of the main characters dies of cancer. As Apatow said, there is comfort to be taken in this tragic moment. He explains that it would have been much easier for the filmmakers to have Emma live and to end the movie on a high note, but that wouldn’t have challenged audiences. Their hands were tied slightly, as the film is based on a novel by Larry McMurtry, in which Emma also dies, but it wouldn’t have been the first time Hollywood messed with a popular book.
The idea of a ‘happy ending’ is so ingrained in popular culture that it’s easy to forget there are other options. Terms of Endearment proves that you don’t have to follow this formula to generate an ending that gels with people, even if it will have them reaching for the Kleenex box.
Related Topics