Before Sunset

As with Linklater’s original, the beauty and grace of BEFORE SUNSET is its unparalleled ability to capture the idiosyncratic rhythm and cadence of everyday dialogue—the fitful starts, stops and interruptions of excited, nervous conversation, and the way in which two people engaged in discussion can get caught up in the intoxicating flow of ideas and emotions. Linklater’s ear is attuned to the commonplace sounds of life, so that when there’s a momentary respite from Jesse and Celine’s banter, the natural creaks of steps on a rickety old staircase or the monotonous splashes of water against a tourist boat’s hull help the director express the alluring vibrancy of the natural world surrounding these former lovers. And like two actors slipping comfortably into the roles of their lives—in part because they seem to be playing minor variations on their real-world selves—Hawke and Delpy bring a natural, optimistic slacker humanism (him) and a neurotic, wishful pessimism (her) to their restless strangers in the sunset. Slant Magazine