DVD REVIEW: BEFORE SUNSET

What a perfect follow up to BEFORE SUNRISE, the little romantic drama with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Reprising their roles from the first film, Hawke and Delpy show us once again how perfect of a screen couple they are. Every moment that they share, both big and small, are just divine. The story picks up 9 years after they shared their perfect day/night together in Vienna in the first film. After promising to meet up with one another 6 months after their first encounter, they talk about why they never ended meeting up (don't want to spoil the specifics), and from there, they rekindle their relationship in ways I dare not reveal. Hawke and Delpy co-wrote the script for BEFORE SUNRISE, with some help from director Dick Linklater, who co-wrote and directed the first film. The style remains loose and breezy and sexy, with some wonderful stedicam shots through Parisian streets and back alleys and coffee shops and tour boats. Hawke's character is an author on a book tour, promoting his new novel that deals with his chance encounter with a lovely French girl. Gee...does life imitate art? Again, to spoil the specifics of this little gem would be cruel. Clocking in at 80 minutes, my only complaint with the film was that it was too short. I love these two characters, and could have esaily spent another hour listening to them talk and reminisce and fall in love all over again. The catch of the film is that Hawke is now married with a child, but the specifics of his situation are layered and again, I don't want to spoil anything. Rent both of these movies at the same time and watch them back to back. After you're done, you'll be hoping that a third film will get made down the road. I could only hope that this happens. I loved this film. It's small, intimate, smart, sexy, and just flat-out entertaining on a variety of levels.