Overview
A woman who is robbed on her way to catch the 1:30 train to Boston is left stranded in New York City. She meets a man who helps her during the course of the night and the two form a romance.
Before We Go is the directorial debut of Chris Evans. He has chosen to do something completely different from his Captain America/Avengers franchise and go small. Maybe even too small as this movie lacks the depth of emotion to care much about its outcome.
Nick (Chris Evans) is a trumpeter, playing in NY Grand Central, when Brooke (Alice Eve) runs into his life. She just missed the last train home, but she is desperate to make it there before the morning. We only find out why she’s so desperate to still make it home much later in the movie. Nick offers to help, repeatedly, as he is really trying to find any excuse not to go to a party of his friend where he will also meet his ex.
The premise and introduction are not terribly creative or interesting, but in the rom-com genre that is not really an issue. What is an issue is that there is no real excitement in any way.
Nick and Brooke, of course, end up stuck together for the night, roaming around New York for hours amongst others trying to find ways to get Brooke home, making an appearance at Nick’s dreaded party, and hunting for Brooke’s stolen purse, as excuses for the 90-minute talk-fest.
The interactions are easy enough to watch, and to the merit of the movie, it is never too obvious whether these two either should ever belong together nor whether they will just hook up for just this night. Unfortunately, besides the lovely smiles of the lead actors, there just isn’t enough excitement or romance to care too much either way.
It’s a pleasant enough story and an easy enough watch, but you certainly won’t miss anything by skipping it altogether.
5/10