Movies That Stayed With Me: Before Sunrise
/Before Sunrise didn’t just define my 1995—it stayed with me for years to come. My connection to it isn’t just about the film—it’s tied to a moment in my life. I was working at an Italian restaurant at the time and I had a crush on one of the servers. She had a nice smile and was easy to talk to.
I was 17 and for some reason I thought showing up towards the end of her shift to see if she wanted to go to the movies was a good idea. I’d never actually asked a girl out at this point in my life, so I went for what I thought was a grand, movie-worthy gesture.
I don’t remember the exact outfit I chose, but I know it was overkill for a night at the movies—something I thought might get her attention and tip the odds in my favor. Well, when I showed up at work with a button-down shirt and slacks to ‘check my schedule’, it turns out she wasn’t working that night. Of course, I didn’t bother checking ahead—she usually worked Sunday nights.
So, I went alone. The theater was 45 minutes from my house, but that night, the drive felt even longer.
Alone in the theater, caught between embarrassment and hope, the movie hit me in a way I never expected. It spoke to that hopeless romantic in me. The guy that showed up at work on a Sunday night in hopes the girl he had a crush on would want to go to the movies with him. The movie filled me with hope.
Before Sunrise stuck with me for years - and obviously still has. I remember taking the train to New York around 2013. I had just been dumped by my fiancé and spent the better part of a year unemployed after being laid off. But I had a new job and was going to visit friends in Manhattan.
“Alright, I have an admittedly insane idea, but if I don’t ask you this it’s just, uh, you know, it’s gonna haunt me the rest of my life”
Across from me sat a woman who, by sheer coincidence, would remind me of Jesse and Celine’s story. We talked most of the four-hour trip. The conversation felt easy. She was visiting friends in New Jersey and was hoping to come into Manhattan. In that moment, I flashed back to Before Sunrise—to when Jesse asked Celine if she wanted to get off the train with him.
I wasn’t quite as bold as Jesse, but before I stepped off the train, I took a chance. I told her I’d love to keep talking with her and if she was coming into Manhattan to give me a call. I gave her my business card and walked off the train feeling like I was 10-feet tall. I was beaming. If a person could glow, I would have been.
And it didn’t really matter to me that she never called and I never saw her again. That moment has always stood out to me—it felt like my life was turning a corner.
Some part of that 17-year-old still lived inside me. If I’d never seen Before Sunrise or Swingers, I don’t know if I’d have had the thought—or the guts—to give her my number.