Less substantial bookend to Before Sunrise, weighing in at just 80 minutes. While the earlier movie felt fresh, this one came across as obligatory. Nonetheless, the movie updates us on two interesting characters that Before Sunrise lovers know and care about, and the liveliness of the two person dialog remains a rare and special thing.
Ethan Hawke comes across yet again as a slippery dude grown into a man. Further, he seems to be playing a movie star acting in a movie, complete with tick-like mannerisms designed to emphasize how handsome he is.
Julia Delpy can’t avoid seeming needy here. After all, while Hawke’s character is now stuck in an unhappy marriage, she remains frustratingly single and childless.
I remain a Richard Linklater fan, though can only recommended this movie to Before Sunrise lovers.
Rarely is sex so much discussed by a couple, yet never acted upon. The movie passes “get a room” time not more than ten minutes in, yet do they ever get a room, or a secluded patch of grass, or the back seat of a cab? No!
While I gave Before Sunrise a pass for 1990’s political naivete, this 2004 movie shows that the Frenchwoman and the American man have hardly learned the lessons of the ensuing years.