The Final Scene In The Last Movie Bruce Willis Was In Is Heartbreaking

There's nothing more tragic than a career ending abruptly, with so much left unsaid and so many roles untaken. In the case of Bruce Willis, that tragedy is compounded by an illness that has affected his entire family. His retirement is a huge loss for Hollywood and for the many fans Willis has around the world. The fact that we'll never have another "Die Hard" movie with Willis leading the line or just see him on the big screen at all is a heartbreaking reality.

The final film in which Willis has a main role is called "Assassin." While it's a typical action thriller that sees Willis play the boss of a private military operation, some of his scenes have a sad resonance now that his diagnosis is known to the public. What happened to Bruce Willis, and why is his last scene in "Assassin" so sad for fans to watch?

In 2022, the family of Bruce Willis announced that he has aphasia, a disorder that causes the affected person to lose linguistic ability. They're unable to understand language, or find the right word to use, and their ability to communicate is severely impacted. "Aphasia results from damage or injury to parts of the brain that control language," states WebMD. "It's more common in older adults, particularly those who've had a stroke."

The news came via an Instagram post from Willis' wife, Emma Heming Willis. "To Bruce's amazing supporters, as a family, we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities. As a result of this and with much consideration, Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him," it read, in part. Several sources later reported that Willis would forget he was filming on a movie set during his later projects.

Willis was later given a more specific diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). While there are a number of varieties to this illness, it can cause behavioral changes, motor difficulties, and language loss. There is no cure, nor any specific treatment for the illness, though symptoms can be managed. It's not fatal on its own, but it can contribute to a patient's death over time. Since then, Emma Heming Willis has continued to keep fans posted on her husband's retirement through Instagram.

Fans who have witnessed Willis' final scene in "Assassin" have remarked with dismay upon how lost and disconnected he seems. "The slurring in his speech, the fact that he was clearly shot separately from everyone else," one Reddit user said of the scene. "He really was fading here." A lot of users spared a thought for his family and how Willis' output over the last few years of his career now checks out. "Man it's just really sad. Makes so much sense why he had been doing 'bad' movies, trying to make sure his family was all set," remarked u/epicfail1994.

A number of fans commented on the film's editing, noting that Willis is rarely in the same shot as his co-stars and that his scenes seemed to all be filmed in the same place. "Looks like they had to edit the hell out of it to make it something sort of coherent," said u/JFeth. "What a sad way to end a great career." It's not just the acting and the editing that fans of Willis found hard to watch, it's his dialogue in this final scene. In the film, microchips allow agents to inhabit the bodies of others in order to carry out clandestine missions, and that's what Willis' character is discussing in his final moments. He says: "I can already feel it... in my head." As YouTube user @kuribayashi84 wrote, "Somehow, this line hits hard."

If you want to see the sad scene for yourself, here's where you can stream Bruce Willis' final film.