Before Sunset
Director: Richard Linklater
Year Released: 2004
Rating: 3.5
Beautifully minimalist sequel to Before Sunrise, which has now-novelist Hawke and activist Julie Delpy strolling the streets of Paris and enjoying each other's company. While it doesn't quite have the spontaneity of the first film - and it would be hard for Linklater to top the first film for pure romantic joy - this is as powerful a sequel as you're bound to come by, natural in feel and with dialogue so fascinating I found myself wondering whether or not they improvised most of it on the spot. Delpy puts on quite a show, alternating between coy, forward and wounded, while Hawke looks like there's no where else he'd rather be. If a woman ever played me a song as lovely the one she sings to him in her apartment, I would be forced to marry her.
