Rating of
3.5/4
Before Midnight review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 07/14/13
Provocative, funny, realistic and entertaining. It's method of adding new elements hampered it a little. This felt like a romantic comedy version of Scenes from a Marriage crossed with Crimes and Misdemeanors. We always know we are going to get a well-written plot/screenplay from the Before franchise. This reviewer has seen the first and 2nd installment which eagerly makes this a definite must watch with my significant other. Of course this critic was happy with Before Sunset and could have ended there and was nominated at the Oscar's for its screenplay. Delpy, Hawke and Linklater wanted more with this movie after creating the script 8 years later. Now we can view more than Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy), who are a couple and parents to twin girls. This rater feels something missing after adding more characters such as Hank (Jesse's legitimate son), history of their dinner friends and the all too chirpy conclusion. Subtitles were not even added to non-English conversations. Still, the acting was very realistic so married couples can definitely relate to the authentic conversations.
If Hawke was good in Sunset Delpy was extraordinary in this one. She is plain neurotic, sincere, funny and lovable all at once. Stefanos (Panos Koronis) and Ariadni (Athina Rachel Tsangari) are a welcome addition to breath some new life to the series. So many intellectual quotes with a myriad of symbolism's such as: "Like sunlight, sunset, we appear, we disappear. We are so important to some, but we are just passing through." (Like life in general aside from relationships/choices/valuing people), "I feel like you're breathing helium and I'm breathing oxygen." (obvious disparity of men and women) and "Still there. Still there. Still there. Gone." (dwindling spark in marriage/love). It also delves on aging, secrecy, effects of divorce and time. So many things to love and yet some questions needed to be answered with the insertion of new friends and loved ones involved from their complicated relationship. The audience is fed information about the ex-wife, friends they discuss with and more but not a clear cut picture. Still, really good and could eventually become a cult classic for rom-coms. Only time will tell if this review will rate it higher in the future after acquiring a DVD copy to complete the series.
