Catching Up With Before Midnight

Sometimes... rarely in film... we're given a chance to revisit old friends and reconnect with what that initial love was. I'm not talking about big budget superhero movies right now. I'm talking about the progressions of simply great storytelling. I'm talking about experiences like The Adventures of Antoine Doinel or well... the Before Sunrise trilogy.

Before Midnight was such a wonderful experience. Such a perfect return to old friends... but now we see them from a new angle. Finally they have known a bit of a life together. And at last they have to truly understand what life is... how long it goes on, what regrets can do to the people they love. Every moment of this film is well thought out and excellently executed. And the final moments are just so pure and beautiful.

The older I get, the more I understand what great sense these movies make. For once, someone has been willing to show us how people really fall in love. How life can turn that love into a million different things. And never once does Richard Linklater shy away from the difficult parts. Good love stories are about the struggle to keep love alive. Great love stories manage to show us that love that is so desperately being fought for, and many writers are afraid to face the true love sequences of a story because they think of them as boring. I am just impressed with Linklater's resolve to give us the whole picture all of the time. It's no wonder he's been nominated for the Oscar. And I honestly think he's got a pretty good shot of winning.

I love seeing Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy on screen together, because they've known each other for so long at this point and there is a clear mutual respect there. It's obvious that they have similar sensibilities and truly care for each other which certainly goes a long way to making the film believable. To tell the truth, I'm just glad this film exists... that everyone involved made it to this point and found a reason to come back. In life sometimes we are granted these wonderful little gifts.

If you haven't seen Before Midnight, I'd recommend finding a copy sooner than later.