Romance is alive again; Hawke & Delpy are a cinematic couple for the archives

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2004)

BEFORE SUNSET (2004) ***1/2 Filmmaker Richard Linklater reunites with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in this follow-up to their romantic comedy/drama 'Before Sunrise' nine years later where the one-night standers are inevitably reunited when Hawke is in France for a book-reading of a thinly-veiled account of their wonderful day and night together. Picking up almost immediately from their last encounter the two chatty and intelligently pleasant lovers try to rekindle a lost flame but more importantly self-discover just where they are in life with some very funny and poignant almost improvised dialogue (the three artists collaborated on the script and storytelling at hand) which runs breezily thanks in large part to the exquisitely beautiful French locations in an effortless non-stop walk between the two (Lee Daniel's documentary-like cinematography gets the job done). Once again love triumphs for even the most cynical valentine wannabes.