Before Sunrise

Yet another film I'd think was sent from heaven if I was in my mid-twenties! (i.e ., angsty Garden State-like film). The tale of two twenty-somethings who meet on a train, one an American (Ethan Hawke) moping his way through Europe towards Vienna where he has a last night before heading home, the other a French woman (Julie Delpy) on her way home to Paris for school. I'd heard so much good stuff about this flick, that it was this big thought piece with lots of insight into the human condition. On some level it is, being a conversation between a woman and a man about most of the things that we find interesting. But, actually it's simply a bunch of stories strung together, the same stories you'll talk about with your friends, except maybe not all in one night. But what makes these stories special? We all spend time thinking about the questions in these stories in the course of our lives, which is of course why this film would work better for the younger crowd. Positive things about the film include the gradual revealing of differences between Hawke's character and Delpy's (e. g., Hawke's skepticism vs. Delpy's optimism) and an excellent scene in a restaurant where they make fake phone calls to friends. I found Hawke a bit irritating because he was trying too hard, not making it natural-looking enough. Still, there was definitely chemistry between the two stars, without which it would have been like watching fingernails on a chalkboard. I remain, even with reservations, interested in watching the follow-up, Before Sunset, which takes place ten years later, if for no other reason than to see if they've learned anything in those ten years. After all, what good is listening to people talk about life that they haven't lived yet?

year: 1995
length: 105 min.
rating: 2.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112471/combined