How Do You Mend ...

It was one of the most powerful lines that I have ever heard.

In the movie Frankie and Johnny, Al Pacino plays an ex-convict, Johnny, working as a cook in a diner. Johnny was convicted of forgery and as a result his wife left him and moved on with her life. They had two children. She remarried.

From time to time the movie would cut to Johnny sitting in his car outside of his wife's house, watching his children play, their step-dad arriving home from work to greet "his" children with a hug on the lawn before retreating inside...

Anyway, there is a scene in the movie where Johnny gets together with one of the waitresses from the diner, Cora (played by Kate Nelligan). He has been chummy with Cora but with no real romantic chemistry.

Their eventual encounter ends up being—all wrong and one that they are both clear they should have never had.

As Cora is getting dressed, removing first her spiky red heels, she notices that Johnny seems to be down and sad. Convinced that he is regretting what has just happened between them, she tries to console him:

“Cheer up,” she reassures, sweetly. “It's not the end of the world.”

To which Johnny responds—“I know. I have seen the end of the world.”