# Romantic-comedy characters who did (and did not) stay together after the story ended. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438 "2011-05-10T21:37:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/1 "2011-05-10T21:37:47Z")
So simple a concept even I can’t bear to complicate it with an overlong OP. What romantic comedy couples would you say were most likely to stay together for a long period? Contrariwise, which broke up in short order, possibly by one murdering the other? For likely to have stayed together, I’ll nominate the two porn stand-ins from _Love, Actually_. For likely to have broken up in short order, I’ll nominate the Prime Minister and his erstwhile secretary from the same movie. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/2 "2011-05-10T21:53:37Z")
The obvious “couple” that broke up five minutes after the movie ended were Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt from “As Good As It Gets”. I could buy Jack ending up with Greg Kinnear, but not Helen Hunt. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/3 "2011-05-10T22:19:19Z")
I think Harry and Sally had what it took to stay together for the long haul. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/4 "2011-05-10T22:29:47Z")
I don’t believe that Benjamin and Elaine from _The Graduate_ lasted long. I am referring to the famous movie and not the less famous novel, which I’ve never read. I make this distinction because the author of the original novel, Charles Webb, did publish a sequel just a few years back where Benjamin and Elaine are married. So I suppose it’s canonical that the literary characters did last (unless they split up in the sequel). But as far as the movie goes, it seemed to me that it ended just as the characters were beginning to realize that they barely knew each other and had no idea what they were going to do next. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/5 "2011-05-10T22:30:14Z")
And for a couple who broke up roughly when the credits started to roll, you have _Before Sunrise_. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/6 "2011-05-10T22:37:38Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > And for a couple who broke up roughly when the credits started to roll, you have _Before Sunrise_. Yeah, but they got back “together” in the sequel, and the ending there was much more ambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/7 "2011-05-10T23:16:53Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I think Harry and Sally had what it took to stay together for the long haul. Sally [died young](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0247468f28/when-harry-met-sally-2-with-billy-crystal-helen-mirren) though. I’m thinking the “Pretty in Pink” couple broke up as soon as the guy (Andrew McCarthy?) realized, “Hey I’m young, rich, and good-looking. I could have anyone I want. Why would I go for this homely, poor, whiney chick in that ridiculously awful prom dress?” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/8 "2011-05-10T23:39:28Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I’m thinking the “Pretty in Pink” couple broke up as soon as the guy (Andrew McCarthy?) realized, “Hey I’m young, rich, and good-looking. I could have anyone I want. Why would I go for this homely, poor, whiney chick in that ridiculously awful prom dress?” I’d say the odds are pretty firmly against any Romantic Comedy couple in High School. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/9 "2011-05-11T21:03:02Z")
That’s what was so great about Karate Kid II. A few months after he wins the tournament, the girl, and his self-respect, at the start of the new movie we find she dumped him and he’s moving on to some Okinawan chick. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/10 "2011-05-11T21:11:54Z")
Actually I’d rate the Prime Minister’s chances of staying with his GF pretty highly, since a break-up would be so bad for him politically. The writer who married the Portuguese girl, though? She was already eyeing up other prospects at the airport. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks’ characters probably stayed together after Sleeping in Seattle. Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant’s characters have a lot working against them in Notting Hill. Hopefully Bill Murray realised that Andie McDowell wasn’t good enough for him after Groundhog Day. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/11 "2011-05-11T21:32:17Z")
I’m thinking Mr. and Mrs. Ferris Bueller would stay married for about, oh I don’t know, five or six years, then would get divorced like the parents of most of Ferris’ friends. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/12 "2011-05-11T23:05:18Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > But as far as the movie goes, it seemed to me that it ended just as the characters were beginning to realize that they barely knew each other and had no idea what they were going to do next. I thought that movie was brilliant from start to finish, but that ending just killed me. It was so subtle, but so powerful. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/13 "2011-05-12T01:52:43Z")
Lenny and Kelly in the original **Heartbreak Kid** : Lenny would probably not stay with her past the honeymoon – again. The Little Fellow and Ellen in **Modern Times** – they’d go down that road forever. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/14 "2011-05-12T04:55:40Z")
I’d bet odds that the relationships depicted in every single one of Woody Allen’s movies ended in acrimonious divorce and a restraining order. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/15 "2011-05-12T05:10:18Z")
I don’t think Hugh Grant’s friends in Four Weddings would have liked Andie McDowell very much, and he would have found them gradually drifting away, and then realised that they were more important to him than Andie was. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/16 "2011-05-12T05:26:10Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > And for a couple who broke up roughly when the credits started to roll, you have _Before Sunrise_. It wasn’t really a question of “breaking up”, as they’d separated before the end of the movie. Although there was the unanswered question of whether they would eventually get together. (Sort of answered by _Before Sunset_). ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/17 "2011-05-12T06:00:26Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I thought that movie was brilliant from start to finish, but that ending just killed me. It was so subtle, but so powerful. I always wonder if people would change their opinion about the ending to The Graduate if they knew the script didn’t include any of Ben and Elaine’s grimacing. That was all due to the director absolutely screaming at them for hours until he got what he thought was the perfect take. They weren’t freaked out over the character’s future, they looked freaked out because they thought Mike Nichols was going to hit them. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/18 "2011-05-12T06:18:07Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I always wonder if people would change their opinion about the ending to The Graduate if they knew the script didn’t include any of Ben and Elaine’s grimacing. That was all due to the director absolutely screaming at them for hours until he got what he thought was the perfect take. They weren’t freaked out over the character’s future, they looked freaked out because they thought Mike Nichols was going to hit them. Why does what the script says make a difference? The director got what he wanted, which is what people see (also there’s the editor, and probably several others involved). I don’t care if he had to stuff their corpses and do it with stop-motion animation, that’s the ending. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/19 "2011-05-12T10:14:55Z")
Rob and Laura Petrie have had a long and happy marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438/20 "2011-05-12T11:53:48Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Why does what the script says make a difference? The director got what he wanted, which is what people see (also there’s the editor, and probably several others involved). I don’t care if he had to stuff their corpses and do it with stop-motion animation, that’s the ending. The director decided that would be a good idea on the spot. The script (and the director) wanted them to be happy at the end. Deciding they should be worried happened after he started shouting at them and just let the camera keep rolling: > [@](#): > > On “Inside the Actors Studio” (1994), director Mike Nichols claims that the final “sobering” emotion that Benjamin and Elaine go through was due to the fact that he had just been shouting at the two of them to laugh in the scene. The actors were so scared that after laughing they stopped, scared. Nichols liked it so much, he kept it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romantic-comedy-characters-who-did-and-did-not-stay-together-after-the-story-ended/581438.md?page=2)