The appeal of
the Before series is that you can’t
help listening—probably even with an open mouth—to what these two are yapping
about non-stop. You know that it’s a special kind of movie, one of its
kind, which pulls you deep into its world, regardless of how you feel about
the characters.
In Before Midnight, we reunite with American
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Parisian Celine (Julie Delpy) as if they’re our relatives. It’s the present day, they’re on iPhone and Facebook, and have
noticeably aged in their early 40's; fat, a bit wrinkly, and a bit sloppy
looking. No, they don’t look like beautiful celebrities, but they're your average aging,
tired couple, but charming in their physical imperfections.
We catch the
couple in their Grecian retreat with their twin girls, with Jesse constantly bothered
by being geographically distant with his son (from his first marriage) who’s
about to start high school. Jesse’s desire to be a constant presence in his
teenage son’s life puts a crack in Celine’s dam of insecurities, doubts, and
repressed issues, ultimately threatening the couple’s marriage. Will Jesse and Celine
break up before midnight in Greece? Gasp.
Penned by Linklater, Hawke and Delpy, Before Midnight remains to be what the
series is: displaying an intellectual and literary couple conversing, arguing, engaging
in wordplay or verbal jousting. This is how “intellectuals” talk to each other,
the film subtly says. How “deep,” “cultured,” “creative” people express
universal problems, the film smugly shows. Of course, a veneer of pretentiousness
is still perceived, but the stars deliver their lines with such excellence and
genuineness, on top of their valid, realistic, and substantial arguments, that you forgive the
film’s slight arrogance. The conversations start a bit awkward at first;
pretentious, yes, but it quickly evolves into humorous, engaging, passionate,
terrifying exchanges, ultimately presenting a raw Jesse and Celine.
Before
Midnight succeeds in its aim. You’ll see yourself
in them, you can smell their fear, sympathize with their weaknesses, and they will
depress you and move you. It’s funny, touching, brilliantly acted, and you’ll
once again be swept away in the well-crafted flow of dialogue and you'll sometimes
forget you’re just watching a movie. And even if you’re not exactly in love
with the Jesse-and-Celine story, you wish from the bottom of your heart that
they will live happily ever after.
3 out of 5 stars
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