The Essentials: Richard Linklater’s Best Films

“Before Sunrise” (1995)
Continuing the theme of shooting what he knew, Linklater turned one of his own personal love stories into one of the great indie romances of the ’90s. “Before Sunrise” centres on two characters, the slightly cynical but moreover dreamy romantic American Jesse (Ethan Hawke), and the idealistic but grounded French Celine (Julie Delpy). The two meet by chance and begin talking on a train from Budapest, Celine on her way back to Paris, Jesse on his way to Vienna for 24 hours before he flies back to America. He convinces her to alight in Vienna with him to continue their conversation, and so it begins, a 14-hour marathon conversation (not in real time, fortunately…) which must end, as the title implies, at sunrise. It sounds banal, but much of what they say about life, love, politics et al. is interesting and insightful, and reveals hidden depths of the two young characters still trying to “figure it out”. As their time together runs out, the two decide instead of risking their spark fizzling long distance, to instead meet up in six months in Vienna, leaving a tantalising will they/won’t they to the ending. Linklater took great care with his casting, and he chose well, Hawke and Delpy not only put in fantastic performances, but their natural romantic tension is intoxicating; both actors are also said to have contributed uncredited work to the script, which is not hard to believe, considering the naturalism in their delivery. Between that and Linklater’s unobtrusive shooting style, full of tracking shots and extended takes, its hard to remember what you’re watching isn’t actually two people really having the most important night of their lives. [A-]

“SubUrbia” (1996)
Linklater has to be commended for taking on this film adaptation of Eric Bogosian’s play, if only for attempting to critically dismantle the lifestyle he’d observed since his debut. That said, what remains is a very ’90s misfire that feels especially juvenile for all its philosophizing. Town-boy-made-rockstar Pony (Jayce Bartok) returns to the nondescript neighborhood he called home and briefly reconnects with former slacker friends, his appearance forcing them to reexamine their lives. The fact that most of the film plays out in front of a 24-hour convenience store minded by Indian clerk Nazeer (Ajay Naidu), whose accent makes him the butt of several jokes, should give you an idea of the cultural headspace the uniformly strong cast plays in. Giovanni Ribisi leads the charge as malcontent mouthpiece Jeff, spouting regrets about his station, or lack thereof in life, while Amie Carey, Parker Posey, Steve Zahn, Dina Spybey, and a particularly notable Nicky Katt alternately stew or rage. It’s a dated film, and while Linklater doesn’t misstep as a technical artist here, he’s fenced in by the sourpuss subject matter and the film feels unmemorable as a result. However, the soundrack is notable for being a quintessential snapshot of ’90s alternative, featuring Sonic Youth, Elastica with Stephen Malkmus, Beck, Superchunk, The Flaming Lips and more. [C-]

“The Newton Boys” (1998)
Ah, the mid ’90s, when indie filmmakers could get away with things that would seem impossible now. After the success of “Slacker,” “Dazed and Confused” and “Before Sunrise,” Linklater mounted a dustbowl-era period piece about the most notorious and successful bank robbers of the roaring ’20s. Naturally, Linklater gravitated to his close associates Matthew McConaughey and Ethan Hawke for two of the four titular brothers with Vincent D’Onofrio and one-time would-be rising star Skeet Ulrich being the other two (this being the era when Ulrich was being touted as the hot new thing on the rise). Co-starring Dwight Yoakam and Julianna Margulies as McConaughey’s love interest, Linklater’s hones in on the four disparate brothers, a mixture of charming and obsessed (Mac), cocky and arrogant (Hawke), taciturn (D’Onofrio) and conservative and moral (Ulrich). While their bold and brash bank robberies make headlines, it’s an ambitious train robbery in Chicago where the long (and rather ruthless) arm of the law catches up with them. While “The Newton Boys” doesn’t have a lot to say, at almost two hours long, it’s surprisingly engaging and satisfying for what it is, but it may have been the beginning of the end for the filmmaker and bigger budgets aside from “School of Rock” ($27 million budget because of its period piece setting), as it underwhelmed at the box-office. [B-]