Review of Before Sunset (2004) by Justin R — 22 Mar 2017

Before Sunrise was a good romance movie with such great, thought provoking dialogue. Though completely optimistic and good hearted, it lost me at that overall elevation of love, finding the true love at such a random encounter on one day. However, I have to say that after watching Before Sunset, my thoughts on Before Sunrise elevated. One that may say that would most likely say it if the sequel were an inferior movie, but Before Sunset is absolutely not. Before Sunset builds off the events occurring nine years ago in Before Sunrise, but builds in a way that is so perfectly works. Before Sunset is not an unnecessary sequel, especially when it excels its predecessor, and is the best way to make a sequel to a romance movie.

In Before Sunrise, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) had a heightened view of love, life, and the future. Like I said before, it was very optimistic, most notably in its ending. Instead of travelling down the same road that Sunrise took, Before Sunset shows our two leads both having different ideals, problems, and outlooks on life than before. And rightfully so, their mindsets should have changed in the nine years of not seeing each other. While both flustered and excited by how they get to meet again, both Jesse and Celine are bitter and show the struggle they've had after that one great night in 1994. Jesse, though sounds successful when written down in a short biography, is a shell of the man who idealized love, which also goes for Celine, who achieved her dream, but faltered on romance.

You sit and watch in awe as these two walk and talk and sit and talk, and you begin to ask "why can't these two just be together"? And Before Sunset doesn't hold any of its punches back, it clearly explains the problems with you thinking that, all the while giving such a subtle romantic connection between the two leads. You an feel the chemistry, the sparks flying, but no grandeur romantic acts come in sight for either. It's perfect, realistic, and a more mature movie than Before Sunrise.

I did not expect to love Before Sunset as much as I did, especially after only liking Before Sunrise (which I gave a 4 out of 5). The chemistry between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy is incredible, downplaying the romance and love for one another, but still showing their affection for one another. It's not as long as Before Sunrise, but still manages to hit all the points it needed to hit, along with an ending that perfectly wraps it all up by leaving you both satisfied and craving for more.