Review of Before Midnight (2013) by Daniel A — 29 Nov 2013

Before Midnight is truly one of the best movies of the year. Having not seen the previous two installments in this trilogy, I won't, of course, be able to compare this one to those ones. But I can say, having seen this one, I am very interested in checking out those two.

This a raw, real, superbly acted, emotional powerhouse of a film. And being a 110% straight man, I can say that this is probably one of the best and most important movies about love, marriage, commitment, and real relationships to ever come out.

It's just so real. The acting by Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke is some of the best of the year and some of the best of each of their careers. Their chemistry together is amazing. They actually seem like they would be husband and wife in real life.

They are so real and believable together, it's crazy. When the two of them get into the big argument near the end, you can't help but not feel for their characters. It's one of the strongest scenes in a romance movie ever portrayed on screen and the argument seems weirdly real.

It's like the two forgot they were on camera, and we're having a real fight. The directing by Richard Linklater is also amazing. Each conversation, argument, small talk these characters have or between other characters is captured perfectly.

It's feels almost like "sensitive" however you want to call it. You can clearly tell it was made with patience and depth, and wasn't rushed. The director took his time with making the movie and it pays off.

Also, the screenplay, I believe is truly Oscar-Worthy. Now, this is a dialogue driven film, and about every scene in the movie is talking between two characters or a whole table of them. And, not that that's a bad thing, because it isn't.

Having the script be very well written doesn't make the dialogue seem like an over used element or feel corny because it worked well with the movie. It's original, emotional, raw and real, and just amazing.

It should most definitely be nominated for the Oscar, if not win it. Before Midnight is an amazing, important, very emotional, raw, real, sweet film with career best performances from Delpy and Hawke, outstanding direction, and an oscar winning screenplay, that will soon become a classic in the romance genre and should be essential to see for everybody involved in a relationship.

Before Midnight is one of the absolute best films of the year and is very recommended.