Jesse, a writer from the US and Celine, a French working for an environment protection organisation, have aquainted nine years ago on the train from Budapest to Vienna and meet again when Jesse arrives in Paris for a reading of his new book. As they have only a few hours until his plane leaves, they stroll through Paris, talking about their experiences, views and whether they still love each other, although Jesse is already married with a kid. [TRAILER]

STEVEN SNYDER'S REVIEW

“Before Sunset” is the improved sequel to the existential “Before Sunrise (1995),” which followed two lonely souls on their fleeting, one night journey through the dark streets of Vienna. That movie cherished the idea of new love and the notion that, when we might least expect it, our perfect someone will drop into our lives.

In “Sunset,” however, it has been nine years since Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) crossed paths, and they reunite at one of Jesse’s book signings for a novel he wrote about their one, magical night together. After an awkward hello, they pick up their conversation right where they left off, although this time around there is an added significance to their words, reflecting a decade’s worth of second guessing, which make them more meaningful and affecting.

In an age of movies where improbable characters offer few memorable words or insights, “Before Sunset” is a treasure trove of ideas, personalities and human interactions. In fact, director Richard Linklater (“ School of Rock”), who also helmed “ Sunrise,” filters anything out of this sequel that might take away from Jesse and Celine’s afternoon chat.

This movie is an 80-minute stroll around Paris, and I think many will be taken aback by its raw structure. These two characters walk around the city, meandering down side streets, taking in the sights, enjoying a boat ride and sipping espresso, all the while talking about their thoughts, reminiscing about their chance meeting so many years earlier and reflecting on how their lives might have been different if only…well, that’s the point, isn’t it?

If only they had stayed in Vienna beyond that one night? If only they had reunited when they had planned to, six months later? If only they had known they were living mere blocks apart in New York City for three years? If only now there weren’t the complications of distance, spouses and children?

The added substance in “Before Sunset” is two-fold. This time around, Jesse and Celine have a history and this sequel is free of the contrivances and setups that had to accelerate their bonding in the first film. Furthermore, the new issues of regret and fear mark their conversations as more penetrating and visceral. If “Before Sunrise” was the story of two giddy youths enjoying their random flirtations on one summer eve, then “Before Sunrise” is the story of two disillusioned adults wondering if they didn’t let something profound and meaningful evaporate from their lives.

So they talk, and talk, and we watch to see if their verbal dance around the subject will finally return to what has been apparent to the audience since their very first words: that these two are perfect for each other. And sure enough, between their asides about politics, crime and religion, they return to thoughts about their current love lives, their romantic experiences over the past decade and that one night long ago that has affected everything since.

Linklater uses long takes and minimal editing to leave the emphasis on Jesse and Celine, and both Hawke and Delpy, as the cheerful but empty American and the neurotic and pained Parisian, carry the burden flawlessly. In fact, part of “Before Sunset’s” charm is to watch their conversations develop at length, noticing the subtle reactions and mannerisms of both characters as they give and take in exchanges that are equally funny, whimsical and touching.

And occasionally panning back from their conversation, the movie emerges as something greater and more profound. Distanced for a moment from this couple we see them differently, realizing that even in their fears and uncertainties they truly represent all of us, wandering through our own little worlds, trying to figure out this maze called life.

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