MovieChat Forums > Before Midnight (2013) Discussion > Let down by other actors...

Let down by other actors...

posted 10 years ago by paviworld
2 replies | jump to latest

Watching the previous films I found myself completely immersed in them, the level of believability Hawke and Delpy brought to their characters was incredible.

Peripheral characters were minimal enough and well-acted enough to maintain this sense of realism.

But in Before Midnight, I really felt that sense was destroyed. Delpy and Hawke again were excellent (perhaps more than ever before, if that's possible), but especially the character of Patrick, the old man who owned the house where they stayed, seemed completely the opposite.

His "acting" seemed so plastic I cannot believe Linklater felt happy to keep his scenes in the final edit. Everything he said to me seemed as if he were reading off a cue card, or repeating words he'd just memorized - there seemed no feeling or authenticity.

The actual words were great, but his delivery was absolutely cringeworthy. Has anyone involved in the film made comments about this, perhaps in the film commentary (which I haven't heard) - was it deliberate, for example?

[–] LashLaruey 10 years ago

I didn't mind him but his character was basically a cartoon, like something from a Roald Dahl book. People say this was the most truthful of the series but that segment of the film was the most fantastical thing in the entire series.

Then... speak of the devil and the devil appears.

[–] A_l_a_c_h_u_a_1 10 years ago

It almost reminded me that it should have been a scene from "Waking Life" - I was reminded of that movie when I watched that dinner scene, and especially the old man. His "wisdom" and life experience that he tried to express seemed like something from Waking Life.