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Before Sunset poster

Before Sunset

year 2004decade 00sdirector Richard Linklater

80 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Ethan Hawke Jesse
Julie Delpy Celine

Before Sunset | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennesseyhost Mallory Rubin
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Producer credits not yet identified.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:28Read transcript
  • Ebert awarded three and a half stars, praising dialogue and preferring this older, higher-stakes reunion to the original.
  • Ebert imagined revisiting Jesse and Celine every decade as an ongoing life project, compared with the Seven Up series.

Perfect Age to See This Movie

After marriage; early thirties or settled partnership; meaningful earlier viewing also defended

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:41Read transcript
  • After marriage is the first choice, with agreement; early thirties and being settled with a partner provide the relevant regrets and life experience.
  • A first viewing just after college graduation with a longtime partner was deeply meaningful and served as a cautionary tale; later viewings bring changed perspectives.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Car ride (two choices); ending (one choice); waltz (one choice)

In the discussion (22)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:56Read transcript
  • Jesse’s bookstore press conference is enjoyed despite its implausibility and slightly heightened performance, including the unusually interested reporter.
  • Flashbacks to the earlier faces cut to Celine now, turning the first film’s location montage into a montage of who they were.
  • Jesse’s wedding ring initially leaves open whether Celine is his wife; his melting reaction combines reunion joy with the realization that they were separated.
  • The awkward walk reveals that Jesse did return to Vienna; his joking account of a ruined life and her apology over her grandmother create an emotional roller coaster.
  • The supposed Gretchen composite and Celine’s worry about seeming normal are funny examples of their nervous defenses.
  • The cafe exchange about looking thinner, his facial line and their physical changes is a highlight; the cigarettes finally appear.
  • Celine pretending not to remember sex, the remembered night outweighing whole years and their changed sexual outlook are admired.
  • Jesse’s lottery-winner theory sounds like a practiced explanation for disappointment rather than detached philosophy.
  • The Paris boat ride is considered nearly impossible to spoil, though an even stronger final scene is expected to win.
  • On the boat, Jesse admits that writing the book was an attempt to find Celine and ask why she never returned.
  • The line about discovering that real connections happen only a few times becomes more painful with age.
  • The possibility that Jesse saw Celine near his wedding, when they unknowingly lived nearby in New York, is devastating.
  • Celine’s car confession says the book revived lost romantic hope and that she gave away part of herself during their night together.
  • The angry-activist joke punctures the pain without undoing the confession.
  • Jesse’s loveless-marriage account is painful because he endures it to avoid missing time with his son, despite a home without joy or laughter.
  • The car scene is favored for expressing profoundly intimate feelings without contemporary therapy jargon or self-conscious signaling.
  • The apartment sequence, waltz, Nina Simone and missed-plane ending receive one explicit final choice as an extraordinary last fifteen minutes.
  • Celine’s embarrassment while singing the song to its subject makes the waltz a natural continuation of the car’s emotional unburdening.
  • One respondent chooses the car ride but calls Jesse’s widened eyes when his name enters the song the best individual moment.
  • Another chooses the limo, especially Celine reaching toward him without touching; the timing within the apparently unbroken shot is admired.
  • Jesse’s repeated account of Celine passing by on a train in his dream is unforgettable and echoes his last glimpse of her years earlier.
  • The final respondent chooses the waltz; the whole stretch from boat or limo onward is also proposed as an irresistible extended selection.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

Freedom Fries; globalism; no Facebook; clipped book review

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:52Read transcript
  • Freedom Fries and Celine’s globalism opinions mark 2004.
  • The absence of Facebook helps explain why they could not reconnect, though existing 2004 technology raises doubts.
  • Clipping and displaying newspaper or magazine articles is another period marker.

What’s Aged the Best?

Chemistry; real time; restraint; Sunrise callbacks; mature small talk; New York near-miss; intimate details; bookstores

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:48Read transcript
  • The leads’ chemistry and incorporation of personal experiences are praised alongside Linklater’s sustained interest in time.
  • Real-time pacing, nine-year gaps and repeated time-travel imagery connect the trilogy with Boyhood and Merrily We Roll Along.
  • Not kissing creates extraordinary restraint: the goodbye hug and Nina Simone dance convey longing across physical distance.
  • Sunrise callbacks include the cemetery, mental photographs and Celine borrowing Jesse’s thirteen-year-old perspective.
  • The Notre Dame conversation nearly anticipates the cathedral’s later fire, a sad retrospective coincidence.
  • Serious work and world-affairs small talk captures early-thirties defenses against the conversation they actually need.
  • Unknowingly sharing New York with someone important is a believable big-city experience.
  • Being alone is distinguished from loneliness with a lover, prompting a Neil McCauley comparison.
  • Celine’s wind-blown blouse and the tiny details of skin, ankles, facial lines and beard color reveal intimate attraction.
  • The promise to endure unhappiness for every minute with a child, the middle-finger trick and the cat’s performance are appreciated.
  • Bookstores and international book tours have become less prominent, though the scale of this particular tour is disputed.

Picking Nits

Minor bestseller’s tour; revealing novel idea; compressed walk; red-shirt extra

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:43Read transcript
  • A minor bestseller seems unlikely to justify ten European cities in twelve days and more reporters than fans; possible French popularity is a counterargument.
  • Revealing a novel idea in detail to strangers risks someone stealing it and seems contrary to how an author would protect a new project.
  • The supposed short walk to the cafe actually takes roughly forty-five minutes.
  • A red-shirted extra’s interrupted walk across changed camera angles is a continuity error.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Sunlit Celine on the boat; closing dance and fade; courtyard meal

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:48Read transcript
  • On the boat, sunlight halos Celine’s hair while Jesse faces the camera and watches her; controlled shooting time and a fifteen-day schedule are admired.
  • The closing dance and fade-out make a strong final-shot choice.
  • The brief courtyard meal reveals an entire way of life; Delpy’s real parents reportedly appear while the camera unusually leaves the leads.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Too few cigarette puffs; second-novel idea disputed

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:37Read transcript
  • Delpy taking too few puffs is the initial complaint.
  • Jesse’s second-novel idea about a pop song is criticized as a weak pitch, with immediate dissent.

Dracula the Musical Award for Best Imitation of Real Art

A Waltz for a Night; This Time cover; Jesse’s press answers (three-way tie)

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:05Read transcript
  • An explicit flex declares a three-way tie: Celine’s A Waltz for a Night, the This Time book cover and Jesse’s interview answers.
  • The novel cover looks convincingly 2004, while supposed reluctance gives way to a complete next-book pitch; Hawke makes even its flawed premise enticing.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Betrayed partners and son; Celine’s cat care; electrifying car scene

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:49Read transcript
  • Reuniting betrays Jesse’s wife and Celine’s war-photographer boyfriend; viewing the story from the wife’s perspective would change its romantic appeal.
  • The movie makes viewers complicit in rooting for adultery while Jesse’s son bears the consequences; the third film is said to address this damage.
  • Celine is called a terrible cat parent for leaving Che outside in hot Paris; the defense is that cats naturally hunt and manage outdoors.
  • The car scene is among the most electrifying scenes of the 2000 s, compared with The Dark Knight’s truck flip and Collateral’s street shooting rather than a firm number-one ranking.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Bookstore manager; press interviewer; limo driver

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:16Read transcript
  • The bookstore manager is the main choice; the press interviewer and limo driver are also nominated.
  • The driver does little beyond nodding and could have been developed further.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Length of stay; screenplay contributions; Philippe; song choices; BookTok; Paris stop; finding the book; condoms

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:00Read transcript
  • Whether Philippe understands Jesse and gets paid regardless of reaching the airport is unclear; an assassination consequence and bedroom interruption are invented jokes.
  • How long Jesse stays is unresolved: a day or two, many days of sex under a book-tour excuse, or the start of a longer illicit affair are competing possibilities.
  • Whether Hawke wrote the lines flattering Jesse’s sexual impact is raised jokingly, without an answer.
  • Philippe’s understanding, patience, duty to get Jesse to the airport and refusal to stop when Celine requests it remain open questions.
  • The cat song’s content is unknown; Celine may have offered deliberately weak alternatives so Jesse would select the waltz, or planned to sing it regardless.
  • Jesse’s hypothetical success on BookTok is disputed, with age and possible creepiness opposed to his fit for romance readers.
  • Whether Jesse insisted on Paris as the final tour stop is debated; putting Paris first might have let Celine join the rest of the tour.
  • Celine probably would not have sought him out without the Paris appearance, despite already reading the book; others wonder if she secretly tracked him more closely.
  • Discovering the book, contacting the publisher and knowing Jesse’s surname remain unresolved routes to reconnecting.
  • The condom question is corrected by Jesse remembering the brand in the film; subsequent wallet and cheap-vending-machine theories are speculation.

Recasting Couch

New York; Boston briefly suggested

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:09Read transcript
  • Boston is briefly suggested, but a New York reunion—possibly on Jesse’s wedding day—is more enticing.
  • New York would establish the couple together in America and enrich the later choice of continent, though Paris suits her homecoming.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Four-location plan; Paris geography; heat; Delpy’s parents; album date; band shirt; last-minute ending revisions

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:29Read transcript
  • A proposed larger-budget version with four locations reportedly lacked financing; scaling back is considered fortunate.
  • Paris locations include Shakespeare and Company, the cafe and elevated park; the cafe is reportedly a forty-five-minute walk from the bookstore, revealing compressed geography.
  • Filming reportedly occurred in extreme summer heat, and the courtyard couple were Delpy’s parents.
  • A review of Jesse’s book is visible in Celine’s apartment; the Nina Simone recording date is reported as June 16,1968.
  • The passing jogger wears a Horace Pinker band shirt; the apartment ending was reportedly still being written at 3 a.m. the night before filming.

Apex Mountain

Julie Delpy; movie couples; romantic sequels (qualified); Nina Simone’s posthumous peak (qualified)

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:50Read transcript
  • Delpy receives an affirmative answer because of the Academy Award nomination and beloved film; Hawke’s earlier discussion is not settled anew.
  • Paris and Paris movies are rejected, with Ratatouille, Breathless, An American in Paris and other alternatives.
  • Romantic sequels receive tentative support as a small field.
  • Film endings spark a large unresolved comparison with Casablanca, There Will Be Blood, The Godfather, RockyII and The Shawshank Redemption.
  • Movies set in one day is a competitive field; this belongs on the list without a firm apex selection.
  • Nina Simone’s lifetime apex is rejected, but a posthumous apex through the film’s longevity receives support.
  • Paris bookstores and boat rides are proposed; the couple receives affirmative support among movie romances, with the whole trilogy strengthening the case.
  • Alternatives for great movie couples include Alvy and Annie, When Harry Met Sally, Casablanca and An Affair to Remember; the Jackie Brown pairing is a joke.

Cruise or Hanks?

Cruise, after objection to recasting

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:04Read transcript
  • Cruise is chosen after objection to replacing either lead at all; impressions imagine him delivering Jesse’s speeches.

Scorsese or Spielberg?

Spielberg; Scorsese dissent

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:50Read transcript
  • Spielberg is preferred by one response, while Scorsese receives a competing choice and is considered especially suited to the third film.

Pick a Jennifer

Jennifer Connelly with a French accent (tentative)

The panel proposes a new category here.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:27Read transcript
  • A mailbag proposal asks which Jennifer could replace the female lead, listing Aniston, Lawrence, Lopez, Connelly, Garner and Coolidge.
  • The eligible list expands to Love Hewitt, Jason Leigh and Jones; Jenna Ortega is rejected as not a Jennifer, with a Flowers joke.
  • Jennifer Connelly with a French accent becomes the tentative choice after insisting Celine must be French.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Wayne Jenkins; Tony Romo; Cris Collinsworth

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:34Read transcript
  • Wayne Jenkins praises Jesse’s autofiction before warning about abandoning his family and paying alimony.
  • Tony Romo narrates the missed flight, driver’s commission and airport-security delay.
  • Cris Collinsworth praises Celine nailing the waltz.

Just One Oscar

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:45Read transcript
  • Delpy is the choice; an imagined fair distribution would give Linklater Sunrise, Delpy Sunset and Hawke Midnight.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Memories without the past; sometimes miss the plane

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:17Read transcript
  • Memories are wonderful when you do not have to deal with the past is one lesson.
  • Sometimes you have to miss that plane receives two preferences.

Who Won the Movie?

Julie Delpy; shared Hawke–Delpy win proposed

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:32Read transcript
  • Whether this film belongs more to Delpy or Hawke is debated through whose perspective frames the other.
  • Delpy receives an explicit choice because the ending depends on the waltz working.
  • The counterargument credits Hawke’s listening reaction equally and concludes that both should share the win.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Julie Delpy
Speaker not identified
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy

Producer review

Both films loved; relationship differences praised; characters seem older than modern thirtysomethings

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:39:21Read transcript
  • The invited producer had watched both films for the first time on a plane, a setting the others consider appropriate.
  • The first film is mesmerizing, especially its early-twenties dialogue and a compatible couple who do not agree on everything.
  • The optimistic ending is loved, though Jesse’s initial smugness makes Celine’s attraction puzzling; their differences gradually soften them.
  • Celine must be French; the Jennifer Connelly recast would not work for this viewer.
  • Fear that a delayed sequel would spoil the original gives way to delight at the reversed perspectives and gradual renewed connection.
  • Both films are called perfect, but these characters feel unusually weathered at 32 compared with contemporary thirty-year-olds who reach family milestones later.
  • The extra eighty minutes are suspenseful and completely captivating; the reviewer declines to watch the third film yet.

More from the conversation

Four-person discussion follows the Before Sunrise episode; the trailer establishes the nine-year reunion.
Approx. transcript time · 00:01:58Read transcript
A second chance with the one who got away is the defining theme, joining romantic possibility with second-guessing major life choices.
Approx. transcript time · 00:04:29Read transcript
The real nine-year gap connects viewers simultaneously to the characters, actors and their own earlier selves; the ending offers extraordinary wish fulfillment.
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:09Read transcript
Anticipation that the sequel might disappoint gave way to exhilaration, with the film prompting extended conversations about one’s own life and relationship.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:41Read transcript
Before Midnight is emotionally harsher and a future episode remains uncertain; joking divorce-theme ideas are not current episode tags.
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:22Read transcript
Almost no supporting characters and one continuous conversation make the sequel resemble a one-act play; nervous barriers dissolve by the car and apartment sequences.
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:27Read transcript
The reunion mirrors the audience’s own longing for the first film, while political conversation delays the painful question of why the promised meeting failed.
Approx. transcript time · 00:11:38Read transcript
Linklater’s reported description contrasts nighttime Vienna’s freedom with daytime Paris, appointments and obligations; the resulting real-time documentary effect feels effortless despite difficult long takes.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:45Read transcript
The film also explores changes from one’s twenties to thirties and pieces of oneself lost through earlier relationships.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:50Read transcript
Both characters move between romanticism and cynicism; Celine prefers solitude to loneliness with a partner, while Jesse’s presence revives feelings she thought lost.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:12Read transcript
Delpy is praised as a distinctive character who shares Jesse’s humor, yearning and doubt; the withheld touches in the car echo the first film’s listening-booth glances.
Approx. transcript time · 00:16:13Read transcript
Before Midnight is proposed as the trilogy’s best, with the qualification that whichever installment is currently playing becomes the favorite.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:10Read transcript
Celine’s increasing hurt and Jesse’s increasing hope reach an equilibrium in this middle film; their earlier encounter transformed both of them.
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:42Read transcript
Before Sunset is ranked second among direct sequels behind The Godfather Part II; other contenders include Terminator 2, Aliens, Maverick and The Dark Knight.
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:05Read transcript
The actors’ collaboration and personal lives make the sequel an artistic continuation rather than a franchise obligation; Waking Life already reunited the characters.
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:50Read transcript
Ray Nicolette’s crossover between Jackie Brown and Out of Sight resolves a previous episode’s memory lapse; the Up documentaries and The Trip films are comparisons for continuing smaller stories.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:56Read transcript
The lack of Picture, directing and acting Oscar nominations is criticized, with a larger nominee field and the major studios’ campaigns offered as explanations.
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:11Read transcript
Sunset’s more complicated, cigarette-smoking Celine is considered more attractive than her younger self.
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:45Read transcript
The adapted screenplay nomination faced Sideways while Eternal Sunshine led original screenplays; 2004 is reassessed as unusually strong.
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:25Read transcript
Sunrise’s degree of difficulty came from inventing the premise; Sunset is the favorite of two responses, while another favors whichever film is currently playing.
Approx. transcript time · 00:29:10Read transcript
The unusually short runtime leaves viewers wanting more and makes them race against the clock alongside the characters.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:06Read transcript
The reunion is an active choice: the book and bookstore appearance are deliberate attempts to find each other.
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:57Read transcript
The film is debated as both a cautionary relationship tale and an optimistic assurance that happiness remains possible; concern for Jesse’s son complicates the wish fulfillment.
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:33Read transcript
Small contingencies—the grandmother’s death, bookstore date, and arguing train couple—could have changed the entire relationship.
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:39Read transcript
Their wandering cafes, gardens and boat ride form an ideal Paris day without conventional sightseeing, though more food would be welcome.
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:25Read transcript
Jesse’s anecdotes and strong opinions would make him an entertaining podcaster.
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:51Read transcript
The rarity of meaningful connection also applies beyond romance; social circles shrink as people age and become more guarded.
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:22Read transcript
The actors’ personal lives are interpreted as informing the car conversation: Hawke’s divorce and Delpy’s tension between public desirability and her broader creative ambitions.
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:01Read transcript
Jesse’s surname and whether the pair exchanged full names are debated while questioning why contemporary email and search were insufficient.
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:35Read transcript
Jesse’s speculative pitches are a recurring character trait, connecting the pop-song novel with his earlier all-day television idea and later book talk.
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:06Read transcript
Jesse’s left-leaning skepticism prompts invented jokes about post 9/11 politics and a Rumsfeld dedication; these are not film facts.
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:19Read transcript
A possible breakup immediately after Paris competes with an ongoing affair interpretation, while jokes imagine the son adapting to a new stepmother.
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:55Read transcript
The title of Jesse’s novel is debated: This Time seems bland, but calling it Before Sunrise might be too self-referential; opinion remains split.
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:27Read transcript
Whether to watch Before Midnight immediately is debated: waiting nine years preserves the characters’ pacing, but confronting their age and marital problems could be painful or comforting.
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:46Read transcript
The short ending leaves viewers desperate for more; a much longer sequel might feel indulgent and allow more doubt about the reunion.
Approx. transcript time · 01:45:25Read transcript
The next episode is explicitly not Before Midnight.
Approx. transcript time · 01:45:54Read transcript

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