Sequel worthy of the original

Rating: 8/10 (25 June 2006)

Finally got around to seeing this, as I usually have an aversion to sequels. Where the original ended in Wien in 1994 this picks up in Paris 2003. Celine (Julie Delpy) still has the quirkiness, beauty, and naive honesty of nine years before as well as the non-stop articulate rapport and repartee with Jesse (Ethan Hawke).
Because of the depth of conversation there is no sense of soap opera about it. They still philosophize about life and circumstance. Jesse is back in Paris promoting a book about meeting Celine (a touch of post-modern self-consciousness), and has a few hours with her as she explains why she never showed up in Wien for the date. What bothers me about it is not simply that they didn't get each others' numbers in "Before Sunrise", but if she was that serious and couldn't make it she could have had a messenger or someone in Wien meet him or SOMETHING.
Anyway it starts out predictable, but quickly takes some interesting emotional turns. Though the ending is technically open, you can easily guess the rest.
I know they made a sequel to "A Man and a Woman" which I never saw, but no way could it live up to the original as this one does to its original.