Before Midnight

Year: 2013
Genre: Drama
Directed: Richard Linklater
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Julie Deply, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Prior, Charlotte Prior, Cenia Kalogeropoulou, Walter Lasselly, Ariane Labed, Yiannie Papadopoulos, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Panos Koronis
Production: Castle Rock Entertainment

The first time I saw Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995) I was about the same age as the characters in the film. It was also 2008 so the film series Before Sunrise, Before Sunset (2004) and now Before Midnight (2013) had a bit of a headstart on me. The film hit me like a freight train providing a very, very accurate foil for the things I was dealing with. I had just ended a long-term relationship…well she ended it, and I was stuck in an existential funk, unable to really find a proper place in life. Yet through it all I was still optimistic. In essence, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) was me in a nutshell; the fact that he and Celine (Julie Deply) were walking around Vienna where I spent three years of my childhood was another added bonus.

Yea, I lived here. Jealous?

Eighteen years after their first encounter and nine years since the last movie Jesse and Celine live in Paris. Before Midnight sets up the situation; the couple is spending the last few days of their Grecian vacation at the summer home of a fellow author. They have twins (Jennifer and Charlotte Prior) and Jesse is seeing off his son from his previous marriage (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) who is about to start high school in the States. Jesse is troubled that he hardly ever sees his son and has been fiddling with the idea of moving back stateside. Meanwhile Celine fiddles with the idea of starting a new job in Paris.

Lived here too!

The film follows roughly the same format as the first two in the series. Jesse and Celine converse and weigh the options they have while enjoying the breathtaking scenery around them. There is more interplay between other characters in this one but most of the dialogue takes place between Jesse and Celine. You would think that things would get tedious after a while yet the dialogue crackles with a stylized realism that keeps you interested in the conversation. It’s as if they say all the things you’d say if in a nine year relationship only uttered by two beautiful people who don’t stammer as much.

Well...when, when, you did...you know what? Fuck you!

I’ll admit Before Midnight is probably my least favorite of the trilogy (thus far) not because it’s a bad movie; very, very far from it. It’s almost too good of a movie in fact. As I have said before, the film series has a headstart on me thus I am not a parent, a career man or even consider myself a full-fledged adult. The conversations to be had in Before Midnight are less the ones I would have and more the ones my parents had when I was younger. To that extent, Before Midnight makes me want to evaluate the man I am becoming.

Who am I? Batman?

I tried to have my girlfriend sit and watch Before Sunrise. We had to shut it off after twenty minutes as she was bored to tears by a movie consisting of largely dialogue. This is a girl who loved Seven Samurai (1954) so I’m not about to judge her harshly for brushing off what I consider to be arguably the most genuine movie about love. Regardless, I hope that our love stays as lively and as beautiful as that of Jesse and Celine. What happens after a romantic finds what he’s looking for and walks slowly into the sunset? Watch Before Midnight to find out.

Final Grade: B-