MOVIE REVIEW 'Before Sunset' reunites travelers

Like its predecessor, 'Sunset' eavesdrops on great conversation.
By STEVEN REA
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Call me a sap, an incurable romantic, but I fell hard for "Before Sunrise."
Richard Linklater's little 1995 tale of an American backpacker (Ethan Hawke) and a Parisian grad student (Julie Delpy) who meet on the train, get off in Vienna and saunter around all night, stopping in bars and cafes, nattering on about Big Stuff (death, reincarnation) and little stuff (music, cable TV), was charming in all the right ways.
These two people felt real, fumbling for words to express their ideas, full of jokes and passion, as they zigged and zagged through the Austrian capital, each wondering whether they'd just met the love of their life. And in the morning, they said goodbye.
It's nine years later in "Before Sunset," an unlikely (we're not talking superhero franchises here) but altogether wonderful sequel. Jesse has become a published novelist -- just like the somewhat gaunt, scruffy movie star who plays him.
He's in Paris, on the last leg of his European book tour, reading excerpts to a small crowd at the famous Shakespeare & amp; Company.
In walks Celine, who has seen the advertisement for Jesse's appearance, and who has read his book -- a (hardly) fictionalized account of two strangers who meet on a train and spend a night together in Vienna.
For the next 75 minutes or so, the couple walk and talk, nervous and tentative at first, sipping coffee, strolling through parks and along the Seine. (It all transpires in "real time," although Linklater, a meticulous filmmaker, took weeks to shoot it.)
Did I say that Jesse and Celine talk? Like "Before Sunrise," Linklater's follow-up -- scripted by the director and his two stars -- is talky. Very talky. All talk. (Linklater is Austin, Texas' answer to Eric Rohmer.)
And as in "Before Sunset," it's the kind of talk that makes you feel as though you are eavesdropping on real conversation -- with its sidetracks and trivia, its heartfelt declarations and subtle deceptions, its awkward pauses and moments of sweet intimacy.
The question
Jesse and Celine are a little older and wiser, they've gone on to other lovers (he's married; she's had a series of unhappy relationships), and they're in each other's company with the clock ticking -- he has a plane to catch to take him home to the States.
The unspoken question: Did they make a mistake not following up on their brief encounter in Vienna? Could this be, like, a second chance?
That's the slim, taut thread of suspense that holds "Before Sunset" together. Hawke, in his hipster Errol Flynn mode, waves his hands and furrows his brow, tossing out dumb jokes and smart discourse.
Delpy, one of those actresses whom critics invariably describe as radiant (hey, she is!), offers up her own array of quirky tics, teasing jabs and tender revelations. And, in one heartbreaking scene, she sings! Grown men will weep, believe me.
It's great to see an American filmmaker -- and a successful one at that (Linklater's hits include "School of Rock" and the cult fave "Dazed and Confused") -- willing to simply train his cameras on the actors and let them, and their characters, come to life. And in "Before Sunset," Jesse and Celine come to life again in ways that are sad and beautiful, funny and profound.
Told you I was full of mush.