America's poet laureate of love lost and found, Neil Sedaka, once claimed that breaking up was hard to do. Clearly, Neil hadn't spent much time at the movies.

On the silver screen, people break up all the time, making it seem like the easiest thing in the world.

One improbably attractive actor tells another that "things aren't working out" or "I've met someone," and a couple of montages later, all broken hearts are healed, new romances are forged and old hurts forgotten.

If only life were so easy.

The trauma of a bad breakup lingers like a chronic cold, not bringing life to a standstill, but making things miserable for a while. And though it might be that time (or an act of vengeance) lessens the pain, movies can't hurt.

Here are a few favorite breakup features:

SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS (1961): Poor Bud and Deanie. They clearly never stood a chance. Bud has problems with his father and fidelity, and Deanie, well, she goes a little crazy when love doesn't run true. Still, this is a fine melodrama and far more affecting than cinematic cynics might expect. It was powerful enough to make Warren Beatty into a star.

SAY ANYTHING (1989): All hail John Cusack, the movie breakup champion. Although the perpetually endearing star was also memorably dumped in Better Off Dead and High Fidelity, it's the Say Anything "give him this pen" brush-off that remains the standard by which all other Cusack ditchings must be judged. A great, smart, sentimental comedy.

THE WAR OF THE ROSES (1989): Sometimes there's no profit in subtlety. This pitch-black comedy starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as a divorce-or-die-trying couple is shocking, violent and very, very funny. Probably the finest of director Danny DeVito's distinctively dark comedies.

TAXI DRIVER (1976): You can't blame the earnest Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) for breaking things off with her awkward suitor Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) 15 minutes into their first date. His stalker tendencies can be unnerving. It was probably better for the both of them. Betsy had a political campaign to run, and Travis had a couple of violent episodes to catch up on. One of director Martin Scorsese's most frightening features.

CASABLANCA (1942): It's a rare film that can make the end of a fabulous affair seem like a swell idea. One of the great films of all time, Casablanca demonstrates that although true love is an excellent ambition, it pales in comparison to giving some Nazis what for.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.