“What All Films Should Be”

“Hotshots” looks at a movie!

Before Midnight is the third in the series of films that began with the 1995 Before Sunrise and continued with the 2004 Before Sunset.

All of them were directed by Richard Linklater and star Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

First of all, it is refreshing that none of the films in this trilogy has a number in its title.

Second of all, you don’t need to have seen the first two films in order to enjoy and understand this one, although seeing them in order would certainly heighten the enjoyment and refresh your memory about what is discussed in this one.

And third of all, don’t be put off by a description of this excellent film that like the first two it consists mostly of the two lead characters talking. The subjects they talk about are fascinating, they are relevant to the relationship of all couples, and at some point they become surprisingly heartbreaking.

And I don’t mean when Celine tells Jesse, “You never stop ogling girls” or when she says “I’m stuck with an American teenager.”

Yes, Jesse is American, Celine is French, and they met 18 years earlier on a train when they began talking and Jesse convinced Celine to get off with him in Vienna and share his last night in Europe.

Jesse wrote a successful novel based on that accidental encounter, and nine years later they met again in Paris when he was on a book tour, and again they spent a romantic night together even though Jesse was married and Celine had a boyfriend.

And now it is again nine years later, Celine and Jesse are not only together, but they also have twin girls, and they have all just spent six weeks on vacation in Greece with close Greek friends.

This time the extensive dialogue is broken up into four distinct parts.

The first part is when Jesse and Celine are driving back from dropping off his son at the airport, and they discuss Jesse’s son and Celine’s concerns about taking a new job in Paris.

The second part is a long discussion over lunch with their friends, and they discuss sex in the future, gender differences, and family appearances.

And the third and fourth parts are Celine and Jesse talking about their future.

Before Midnight is what films should all be.

I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”