Dreadful dialog

Rating: 4/10 (22 May 2005)

This film is 90% dialog. And the dialog is not at all convincing in the given situation. It is too contrived, too pseudo cleverly intellectual, it is irritating and not at all romantic. Whenever Linklater switches to body language (the looks between the couple in the music booth) and purely visual shots (the morning scenes without actors) one begins to feel the deeper emotions that would be present in the given situation. But these moments are way too few and they are drowned in the veritable deluge of "adolescent" conversation between the two main characters. Now I will go and see the next episode "Before Sunset", to see if the director himself has picked up on this grave shortcoming of "Before Sunset". If he has, part 2 might well be a really nice film....!