Trailer Review: Before Midnight - And They Lived Happily Ever After - Really?

With the death of Roger Ebert, I was listening to an extended interview with him and Gene Siskel done in the nineties when they were asked their favorite scene of dialogue from the movies. Ebert quoted from Citizen Kane, but Siskel gave the pick-up scene from Before Sunrise, Richard Linklater's what-if movie where Ethan Hawke proposes a one-night romance with Julie Delpy in Vienna. As a young man the same age as the two Eurailers, it spoke to the yearning of finding the right girl and wondering who that was going to be. It was a story about time.

And now we get to travel to the future in that time machine Hawke spoke about. The couple was revisited in their thirties in Before Sunset released a decade ago. Sunset was structured around the limited time Hawke had, who became an author, before leaving Paris to continue on his book tour. The last shot was Delpy inviting him to stay the night in her apartment. Don't go was her invitation, against the gravity of their current romantic investments. It was a cliffhanger. Now, in their forties, we get to see if their pairing has worked. Judging from the trailer, it has. Showing them on a vacation in Greece, a little worn from marriage (Hawke has a wandering eye whenever a young girl walks by), but still appreciative of being together.

And the contentment of this third sequel is what makes it less interesting. The last two chapters of these lovers have been about the expansive demands of desire against the shrinking opportunities of time. That tension has been nothing short of fascinating to watch how they cheat it. Like the Up Series, we've watched these characters pass through the stages of life and press on. It seems to conclude you can have both, and live happily ever after. But have they? And where is the signature plot to this series of walking and talking while the clock is running out? They are enjoying a long vacation in the sun. In the end, I don't trust this trailer. "I thought something tragic would happen?" Delpy says. I did too.

Opening May 24, 2013, Verdict: Must See