The podcast explicitly states that Roger Ebert gave Before Sunrise three stars.
Ebert calls the story a nicer, sweeter, gentler version of a scenario that has happened millions of times.
Ebert frames the film as a Generation X love affair whose leads stand outside their generation's insistence on boredom.
Ebert describes Julie Delpy as beautiful, warm, and matter-of-fact.
Ebert says Linklater is interested in ordinary time, people crossing paths, conversation, and uncertain philosophies.
Ebert’s age of 53 prompts discussion of whether an older critic would grasp this Gen X romance; it is said to work for older viewers now.

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:12:23Read transcript

Jennifer Aniston and Paltrow are reported as auditioning for Celine.
Michael Vartan was the other finalist for Jesse opposite Ethan Hawke.
Sadie Frost is identified as the other female finalist.
Vartan is judged blander than Hawke and less suited to the role's strong personality.

Boston

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:14:08Read transcript

The category is explicitly reframed as recasting the city.
A Boston bartender would reject Jesse's request for free wine and the O. J. chase would be on television.
The pair would be stranded by Amtrak and walk from Back Bay through Beacon Hill.
The imagined Boston version visits the North End, Newbury Comics, and the Middle East.
The date ends with an argument and Jesse being punched by a former college football player.

Lead characters’ books; real encounter; Cemetery of the Nameless; San Antonio draft; final train shot; Kath Bloom; Ulysses parallels

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 01:18:23Read transcript

Celine's book is attributed to an author transcribed as George Bastille or Gertr Batea, while Jesse reads Klaus Kinski's memoir All I Need Is Love.
Linklater reportedly based the movie on a 1989 night walking around Philadelphia with a woman whose name is transcribed as Amy Lairthopped.
The woman died in a motorcycle accident before the movie’s release, and Linklater did not learn of her death until 2010.
The cemetery is identified as Vienna's Cemetery of the Nameless.
An early version was set in San Antonio and centered on a film-obsessed man; River Walk is interjected as a joke.
The final train shot had to be synchronized precisely and reportedly succeeded on the planned take.
Kath Bloom's appearance helped produce renewed attention and later album releases.
Before Sunrise and Ulysses both unfold on June 16 during a journey through one city.
Jesse's real name James, graveyard visit, European wandering, and the Kath/Molly Bloom echo are presented as further Ulysses parallels.

Leather jacket in June; body odor; missing bartender address; poor pinball; incorrect Playmate name

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 01:32:22Read transcript

Jesse wearing a leather jacket in Vienna in mid-June seems too warm.
Neither lead showers despite train and hostel travel, coffee, and a night of walking.
The hosts debate whether people in the 1990s were simply more tolerant of body odor.
Jesse never receives the bartender's address for repayment.
Both characters are conspicuously bad at pinball during an intimate conversation.
The film names the wrong July 1978 Playboy Playmate; the podcast identifies Karen Morton as the actual Playmate.
Karen Morton's credits in History of the World, Part I and Tommy Tutone's “867-5309/Jenny” video are reported as supporting research.

Sex; romantic grand gestures; Jesse’s writing; literary interpretation

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:38:03Read transcript

Whether the couple had sex is raised, with the later film said to supply an answer.
The hosts wonder how many first dates copied Jesse's grand romantic gestures.
Bill says he made similarly grand gestures when he was younger. — Bill Simmons
Jesse becoming a novelist makes it puzzling that he never shows Celine any writing during the night.
Jesse's distrust of the poet is connected to his difficulty surrendering his own vulnerability.
The discussion turns into a question about a participant’s attraction to literary, metaphor-seeking characters despite his resistance to being one.

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:41:53Read transcript