Before We Go 2015: Emotionally intimate and moving

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched a movie that made me think and cry at same time. To look at your own life especially your past choices, your insecurities, your what might have beens, your little regrets. We live in a fast-paced world and sometimes the introspection of the choices we have made or not made in the past becomes forgotten. Films that make you do that  are commendable because it not only entertains you but makes you ponder and look at your life in the different perspective. Maybe that’s why indie films with only two characters  are more effective in giving you this kind of introspection. There are no sub-plots to distract you with, just two characters getting to know each other and you are also are getting to know with.

I didn’t know what to expect in this movie, Before We Go, the directorial debut of Chris Evans. But I like seeing a good looking couple on screen, a bearded, dashing Chris Evans paired with the gorgeous Alice Eve was quite a teaser already. I mean you just wanted them to end up together in a setting like the enigmatic New York City.

So when I started watching it and saw how emotionally intimate the scenes were and how true to life the dialogues were, I was drawn to it. And why not, the film had an intimate feel to it like watching two strangers pouring out their sadness, their insecurities, their joys, dreams and secrets to each other. It was moving and romantic. No histrionics or sweeping grand gestures just two people walking in the wee hours of New York city having some adventure together.

I love how the script had a realistic feel to it.  It’s irritating how you can relate to some of the dialogues like how you would feel when you see your ex after a long time or how you would react when betrayed by the love of your life. But more than that, what I love about the film is how you see the characters realize the fears they were running from and how in each other they began to have the courage to face it. I mean how can you not be moved by that.

I don’t care about what they say about the film but I had many realizations here. That sometimes, we are not ready for the good things in life because we refuse to let go of our ideal versions of the past, our ideal versions of our love ones even if they have changed or the situations have changed. We refuse to let it go even if it’s not working anymore. Often,  it’s a battle with yourself with what you want to be and what the situation really is.

I had been in that crossroads before and you really have to look inside yourself and weigh in your heart if the person is still worth it or is costing you your self-esteem or your value as a person. Me, I had been in a relationship where I stayed too long because I was afraid I would not be loved again. I had been afraid to let go because I thought he would be the only person who would love me and accept me because I had been rejected in the past. I hung on because I was scared even if the situation was not ideal anymore and my feelings have changed. It’s not easy to let go of what you’re used to or of change and risk. And I was wrong, someone loved me for me without great personal cost. I’m glad that I took the plunge and I had no regrets.

Anyway, I just love a film that can make the audience think about their own life even if the ending was like the ending of some short story,  an open-ended one. Why ?! J But still, it was moving. So, Mr. Evans, I thank you for that, great directorial debut and thank you for translating these good writers’ work into film, I think you nailed it. And I truly agree what your character, Nick said on the last part of the film, “… then thank her for showing you that you could love more than one person in this life.” I truly believe that and I truly believe you are also a hopeless romantic like me J