Before Midnight proves that not all wines get better with age. The third installment in Richard Linklater's romantic-drama Before series, lost much of its charm and authenticity. Linklater wrote the screenplay with his two lead actors, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, reuniting them for a third time nine years after their last film encounter which resulted in a much better Before Sunset. This time we meet Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) as a couple in a committed relationship (to each other,) vacationing in Greece with their twin daughters.
As with the previous two films, Before Midnight is all talk – that is a given. But this time the constant chatters reads of pretense, mostly moving in tiresome circles. Even the few moments of the couple watching a sunset is narrated, as if the filmmaker is not trusting us to keep interest unless once of his characters has a mouth moving.
I should mention that I seem to be in a minority; most film critics loved this movie. It does have some nice moments but these are so crowded with fluff that their charm gets quickly lost in the noise.
I came with expectations and left disappointed.