Short Movie Reviews (In which I reluctantly admit that Ethan Hawke and Kate Beckinsale do some great work)

I've never been a big Ethan Hawke fan. Maybe it's his public persona, or maybe it's the roles he chooses, but I've always avoided seeing his films. But, like Tom Cruise with blockbusters, he's become an actor I reluctantly associate with high quality indie films. A short list of more-than-excellent films he's been in: Predestination, The Purge, Sinister, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, and, of course, Dead Poet's Society. I may have my reservations about him, but some great directors do not, most notably Richard Linklater. Linklater and Hawke have teamed up for seven films, by my count, and most of them have been amazing.

Probably their best collaboration has been the Before Sunrise series, which details the repeat encounters between Jesse and Celine (Hawke and Julie Delpy, respectively), each separated by nine years. I've seen these in completely the wrong order. I started with the most recent one Before Midnight (2013), which completely bowled me over-- despite the movie being just one long conversation, it was mesmerizing. So I decided to check out the original film, Before Sunrise (1995), which I was a little disappointed by. It's the same structure, but the discussion topics felt a lot more juvenile... but juvenile in exactly the way I was at that age. If I had watched that film when it first came out, I probably would've fallen in love with it. So, this week I finally finished the trilogy and watched the middle film, Before Sunset (2004), which I found to be nearly as brilliant as Before Midnight. I like dialogue, but I think a lot of films over do it, or try too hard to be clever, but this series manages to capture the charm and poetry of an inspired conversation-- the type you have with a new lover or a best friend, the kind that you never want to stop. I can't wait for the 2022 sequel, Before Noon/Dawn/Twilight/Tea Time/Whatever...

But Ethan Hawke's stamp of quality goes beyond Linklater films. He stars with Greta Gerwig and Julianne Moore in the lovably quirky Maggie's Plan (2015) about a young woman who poaches another woman's husband, then schemes to give him back. This is more your typical indie comedy, with quirky-rather-than-funny characters and plot contrivances, but Gerwig is always charming, Moore is very fun with a French accent, and Hawke is always best when he's playing a cad.

Gerwig is an indie film darling and has been associated with several great directors, too. One of them is Whit Stillman, who is one of the best writer-directors of dialogue in the business. His last film, Damsels in Distress (starring Gerwig) was a bit of a disappointment, but he's back in top form with Love & Friendship (2016), an adaptation of Jane Austen's novella, Lady Susan. Kate Beckinsale stars as Lady Susan and gives a riveting performance as a scheming society woman. Nothing I've seen her do before suggested she could be this nimble and convincing with dense dialogue (not even her previous collaboration with Stillman, The Last Days of Disco), but she whips out the words with gusto. The film is quick witted and cutting and I thoroughly enjoyed it-- probably the most fun I've ever had watching Jane Austen on screen.