Watch it with an open mind - and be seduced all over again!

Rating: Null/10 (31 December 2005)

I only discovered Before Sunrise quite a few years after it first came out, and absolutely loved it - the dialogue is superb, and you get so attached to Celine and Jesse that it's hard to let go at the end of the movie, without knowing what will happen...but after a while you realise that the frustrating ending allows you to imagine whatever future you wish for them - so it's a beautiful gift from the writers, the actors and the director, that you get to "own" the characters for a while longer once the credits roll....
Which is why I was petrified when I found out there would be a sequel - it seemed the first movie was perfect as a stand-alone piece...Out of curiosity - OK, and also because of a minor crush on Ethan Hawke - I watched Before Sunset after all and was pleasantly surprised. Sure, you have to give up on your own romantic notions of "what happened next" - but it's lovely to meet the characters again and find out about their stories...It's a very honest account of what happens in real life and in that way, it makes the first movie even more special as well, because it stops being about the fantasy of a chance encounter, and becomes even more credible.
In the end, both romantics and cynics can find something to like about Before Sunset - and fans of Before Sunrise cannot be disappointed by this sequel.