Insult to Injury

Rating: Null/10 (6 October 2006)

The prequel was bad enough: this is a direct insult. Rick Linklater's not been back to Europe (some would guess from the first movie he only saw it on postcards) and Julie Delphy's contributed most of the dialogue.
And dialogue is all you get, dear moviegoer, and if you think for one moment there's something deep and subtle here, maybe you should go on a wild goose chase for the holy grail or UFOs in Nevada. Delphy wrote good dialogue, but the premise of this turkey is tripe, tripe, and more tripe.
Endings can always be bad, but Linklater excels at them. And if the first one wasn't bad enough, here he comes spitting in your face with the second. He has one thought on his mind only: $$$. I won't spoil the ending, but let's just say it's an utter crass cynical cop- out with a sole purpose: leave everything open for yet a third movie in this abortive series.
And what will they call that? 'Before Sunrise X' as they initially called this one, where 'X' becomes '2' or '3' depending on? Or how about 'Before Noon'?
Whatever: it's going to be a turkey too. If you've seen both this and the first, avoid that third one if/when it comes. Don't strike out.