Probably the smartest contemporary romantic flick

Rating: 9/10 (28 November 2009)

There are three types of Romance. First you have those with Sex and no Brains (Titanic is the best movie in this category) Then you have Brains but No sex. Third is no sex and no brains, a category which gives you rubbish like twilight. The best Romance films are those which fall into the second category. Most folks immediately name Gone with the Wind or Casablanca as the smartest romance, but how about something more contemporary for a change. Before Sunrise could rival either of these pictures as the most intelligent romance of the 20th century, and while it doesn't actually amount to much of a story, It gets the viewer involved emotionally and intellectually.
Two folks meet on a train, an American boy going to Vienna and a French girl heading for Paris, they have a long talk over lunch, and in about five minutes they becomes friends. Before long the train arrives at Vienna station, but before getting off, the boy asks if this girl wants to spend the day with him touring the city. She agrees. They have the time of their life.
Before Sunrise is pretty much all talk. The two discuss many things while they wander the cobblestone streets, but the most interesting thing they discuss is Romance. This is the brilliance of Richard Linklater's script. Not only is being brilliantly self reflexive, but in a way he is poking fun at the films in the other two categories of Romance. The two discuss how cheesy relationships can be. These are clearly not dumb people, and the film is clearly not a dumb, Hollywood formula driven piece. Ergo, do not miss this one.