Before Sunrise (1995) might just be my favorite romantic comedy of all time, even over When Sleepless Met Seattle

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What if I told you there was a movie about two people talking, just talking, that's probably one of the top romantic movies ever? No, I'm not talking about My Dinner with Andre. These people walk while they talk. And they're funny and smart and just damn likeable in a mid-90s stuck on a train in Europe kind of way. I hold up Before Sunrise as part of the best romantic movie of all time, the Before trilogy.

    We start on a train bound for Vienna. A french lady gets bothered by some Germans arguing. She searches for a new seat and finds a young American. They talk, enjoy each other, and he convinces her to get off the train and walk around the city with him all night. Before sunrise (get it?), when his plane is due, they can talk and laugh and drink and be merry. They do.

    Before Sunrise is the story of hope. Two young people in their twenties, out in the world, feeling each other out. Will they make it, will they last, will they use the time before them constructively to change the world in some way, even a tiny way, even a little bit?

    Or will they have one good night, more than most of us deserve? One night of connection and honesty. Of meeting an equal, a soul twin, a person who at least for that brief bit is on your wavelength. That's all most of us can ask for, the measured use of hope in a young life consisting of potential and joy. All the world out in front of you and there.

    I love this movie, have since I saw it way back when. Might even still have a theater ticket somewhere. The actors, the seemingly improvised natural dialog (it's not, just super well rehearsed), the city of Vienna. Everything about this movie is a celebration of youthful hope. And it's really damn sweet and leaves you