Before Midnight

Third in the Linklater trilogy of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, we pick up with Jesse and Celine married, with kids, and vacationing in Greece.  They are living at a famous writers house and everyone gets to hang out and talk about writing and being and all kinds of metaphysical drivel. Of course, I don't  think metaphysical discussions are drivel, but Celine certainly does. As in the first two installments, Jesse and Celine spend the majority of the film in discussion, but we are not as free here as earlier. Now we have substance that must be covered; family, jobs, division of labor in the household, aging, etc. So while we still try to have a conversational walk-about, the conversation simply doesn't walk. We are slogging through the reality of relationship. Of course it takes time to get to "slog", so the first half of the film is much lighter and more fun. A good (perhaps inevitable) treatment of this life that Jesse and Celine have built over the past decade, but not great. I would characterize it as Solid. And perhaps look forward to the next installment, when the twins have left for college.
3 stars (out of 5)