After a chance encounter at Grand Central Station, Nick (Chris Evans) and Brooke (Alice Eve) embark on an unexpected journey through New York City as Brooke desperately tries to get home to Boston by morning. The adventure forces both of them to face their insecurities and fears while finally taking control of their lives.
Given the general critical consensus of Before We Go (Chris Evans’s directorial debut), I was not expecting much from this movie, and frankly, I have never been much of a fan of Alice Eve. That being said, I ended up adoring this movie. Alice Eve played the conflicted Brooke with an emotional nuance that paired extremely well with Evans’s charming, affable Nick.
In a movie where the two leads are in practically every scene together with very little supporting cast, the chemistry between them can make or break the film. Thankfully Evans and Eve had such a natural rapport that their scenes never felt forced, nor was it overflowing with romantic intention, which was a nice change of pace given the romances I’ve watched lately. I found I would have been perfectly happy with the movie had Brooke truly wanted to fix her marriage while Nick won back his ex-girlfriend because the two characters seemed genuinely supportive of those endeavors.
There were no outlandish shenanigans to suffer through as Brooke and Nick traipsed through New York City in the wee small hours of the mornings, just small moments that revealed to us who these two strangers were, and the issues they were facing, both romantically and personally.
The movie shines when Brooke and Nick are finally opening up to one another, even in the midst of humor and sarcasm. I was worried the ending would let me down, but it held just the right amount of realistic optimism that I felt wholly satisfied when the credits began to roll.
Maybe there is nothing overly original about Before We Go, and it contains several elements from various other films, but it’s briskly paced with just the right amount of romantic and corny, and the strong performances from Evans and Eve make it worth a watch.
