Review of Before Midnight (2013) by Adam J — 14 Jan 2014

Frankly speaking, I could not feel this film, neither do its two prequels. Long, "witty" yet sinister discussions à-la-Woody Allen are simply not my type of film. I hate noises, and over-talks, that's why such tiring discussion scenes like "the battle" at the end of this film only make me want to turn to talk-shows like Jimmy Kimmel or Jimmy Fallon for a friendlier and more optimistic chats.

I know that this film, just like its predecessors and almost any film by Woody Allen, has been highly praised by film critics and cinephiles alike, but I cannot feel it at all, really can't - I want some silence, I want their eyes, and not their mouths, to talk, I want to see gentle gestures towards each others, not sinister and utterly abusive comments.

Funny enough, the most impressive image of this film to me might be Julie Delpy's bare boobs - watching the scene I suddenly remembered that hers are the first ... "cinema boobs" I saw on my computer - from a poor quality VCD, VCD indeed!, of "An American Werewolf in Paris".

At that time she was only 28, even younger than me-of-today, and although the boobs still somehow look the same, in a flash of thought I felt so old in this fast-forward stream of time. That's may be one of the feelings that the film-makers, and the actors, wanted to share with audience like me, but the lengthy and tiring talks really killed off any germ of such emotions, in my opinion.