...I was perfectly content to let Jesse and Celine live on forever in my imagination. The possibility of that affair to remember future meet-up was satisfying enough. Or so I thought.

It's a lovely, beguiling little film a rare treat during this overheated season of blockbusters. It's also an unusual example of a follow-up that doesn't seem forced, but expands effortlessly on the original.

The reunion has some lively moments, but a great deal of slow walking and fatuous talking about love, married life and sex.

Before Sunset is an understated masterpiece—a film that achieves extraordinary emotional depth without ever seeming to try too hard.