Joan Ellis Movie Reviews                
     "Joan Ellis: The Pauline Kael of the Internet"   ---Newsweek                                     
 
                                                       Joan Ellis Bio         Reviews          Quotable Quotes       Videos        Contact


Welcome to Movie Reviews by Joan Ellis

Search from a list of over 1000 reviews by title or by single quotes.


Her opinions are yours to consider, yours to quote.



 

Superior In Every Way

BEFORE MIDNIGHT
       
An Illusion Review by Joan Ellis
       

                         

           Eighteen years ago Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke starred in “Before Sunrise,” the first of a film trilogy that followed a young couple who had the freedom to say “Let’s get off the train and fall in love tonight in Vienna.” I wrote then that it would be great fun to see them meet again in a couple of decades when they have some life experience. Well here they are. Acting once again under the subtle touch of writer/director Richard Linklater who co-wrote the script with Julie Delpy, they have planted “Before Midnight” near the top of anyone’s list of best movies of this year.
            After nearly two decades, Jesse has a teenage son, an angry ex-wife and twin daughters with Celine. In a moving opening scene, Jesse is putting Henry on a plane to return to his mother in Chicago after a summer visit in Greece where he and Celine have spent an idyllic six weeks with their children in the guest cottage of a marvelous Greek family.
            Richard Linklater knows that given superior writing and acting, one long conversational ramble can sustain an entire film. He laces the running talk with the cultural changes of eighteen years along with a strong grasp of the resentments and tripping points that build in longtime couples.
            That conversation unfurls as the two walk and drive through the beautiful Greek countryside. In a midpoint shift, three generations of the host family sit with Celine and Jesse at the dinner table and roam over questions of life and love with humor and acceptance. Their provocative conclusion is that friendship and love of life matter far more than romantic love. The extraordinary authenticity of this memorable scene springs from the talent and warmth of a group of amazing Greek actors.
            On their last night in Greece, Jesse and Celine have been given by their hosts a romantic getaway at a hotel. On their lovely long walk to that evening, their world seems perfect. The private time is interrupted harshly by a cell phone call from Jesse’s son that raises Jesse’s guilt about missing his son’s high school years. The spell is broken.
            The question of whether they might move back to Chicago triggers a superbly intricate and prolonged argument that touches all the trouble spots in their partnership. While there is no genuine cruelty in Celine’s attack or Jesse’s defense, real anger pours forth in a cascade of buried resentments. A collective groan of appreciation rolls through the audience when Celine roars, “I take care of myself and everyone else - women explore forever in the garden of sacrifice!” Julie Delpy is especially grand when she’s bitter. She stands front and center in this long fight, surely one of the best ever filmed.
            Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, and Richard Linklater have become a team rooted in mutual trust and daring. They explore and explode, always unpredictably. They are master storytellers, and theirs is the work of artists.

 

LAST WEEKS REVIEW: WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS

    Watch Movies Online at iReel.com