Marvellous, unusually realistic, atypical of Hollywood

Rating: 10/10 (7 September 2013)

This is about the accidental meeting of two mid-20s age college students: "Jesse" (Ethan Hawke) and "Celine" (Julie Delpy).
He's returning from a disappointing visit to his girlfriend in Spain (she's in an international student program but has fallen in love with another student and dumped Jesse). He's near broke and on a train to Vienna from where he'll take his cheapest flight back to the USA.
Celine's on the same train, returning to her home in Paris when they meet. Although French, she's studied in the USA and speaks excellent English. Jesse asks - and Celine agrees - to interrupt her trip to spend a few more hours together exploring Vienna before his plane leaves. Gradually, as they get to know each other, they become more deeply attached.
As Roger Ebert said, "This sort of scenario has happened....millions of times. It has rarely happened in a nicer, sweeter, more gentle way.... (It's) so much like real life - like a documentary with an invisible camera."
This is the first film (so far, of 3) by Linklater starring Delpy and Hawke, each filmed 9 years apart: "Before Sunset" (2004) & "Before Midnight" (2013). While it'd be nice to see them in order, each one is so good, so unique and satisfying that it's more important to just see them. The series is about relationships: how do we get to know others and let others know us, how do we handle differences, conflicts? To what would a long term relationship with this person lead? - satisfaction? - disappointment? How much of which? How can we tell?
This film's opening raises those questions by example: on the train ride, Celine's bothered by the loud conversation of a long married, middle-aged couple across the aisle from her: they argue so loudly (and obviously chronically) about? - whatever, everything - that Celine moves and finds herself across the aisle from Jesse. Their conversation starts - and where will this go? That's the gist of this marvelous, very unique movie.
People who prefer car chases and explosions should avoid it--no action of that kind, whatsover; it's all just talk--but, for many of us, what exciting talk that keeps us wondering to where it will lead!!