It's movies like these two that make it impossible for me to stomach formulaic, soulless, charmless, bland romantic comedies. Why? Because these movies are actually romantic. Before Sunrise is about the magic of truly connecting with someone, especially when you least expect it, especially when it comes at a time in your life when you're young enough and in perpetual turmoil and change enough to accept the connection. To even embrace it. There's chemistry between the Hawke and Delpy as soon as they see each other from across the train, and although there's a sense that they're doing as much protecting themselves as much as they are exposing, the movie quickly establishes and deepens an easygoing but still immediate connection between the two. I'm not even sure how to describe the dialog, except to say that the patterns and rhythms in their sprawling, flirtatious, soulful hour and a half conversation draw you in. And then Before Sunset answers the questions left hanging at the end of Before Sunrise in a way that is equally if not more charming, as the characters are wise, stronger, and yet more vulnerable than in the first film. That's not to say that Before Sunset had to be made. If it didn't exist, I would still have been satisfied with Before Sunrise's conclusion. But the way the characters fall comfortably back into their conversation, the way that their projected self-assurances fall away as they re-acquaint themselves, and finally at the end, when Delpy simply allows herself to be in front of Hawke and he finally acknowledges that he doesn't want to and isn't willing to walk away this time, is probably one of the most satisfying movie endings I've ever watched.
Which is to say, I liked these movies.
