Before We Go

To bash this movie as a "Before Sunrise" knockoff is easy, and maybe even somewhat true. But at the same time it would be missing the point.

Yes Chris Evans' directorial debut is also about two characters who experience a chance meeting and spend a night together. But "Before We Go" is if anything about adult choices and confronting their consequences. The exuberance of romantic love that is part of Richard Linklater's 1995 masterpiece is merely the starting point here. Nick (Chris Evans) and Brooke (Alice Eve) are beyond their college years and try to make amends with elements of their past.

The strolling poetry of "Before Sunrise" is turned into an odyssey that throws the couple into various directions. Kismet is of course the essence of the story and it has to be said that the screenplay sometimes struggles with the very basic conceit of a night in New York. But...there are a few scenes that are spellbindingly played by the two wonderful leads and a few truths about love and heartbreak are uttered that remain very real.

It could also be said that the movie delves into certain elements of "Before Midnight", even though it never reaches the depth of that movie either.

Yet "Before We Go" merits a viewing for those introspective souls who put their faith in destiny while being sometimes at odds with their journey.