Before Sunrise (1995)

Jesse’s big pitch in Before Sunrise, basically get off this train with a stranger because future you will be grateful, would get most guys reported to the conductor. Ethan Hawke plays him as a guy who has read half of a lot of books and wants credit for all of them, and some of the deep talk is exactly as deep as a dorm room after midnight. Then Julie Delpy picks his theories apart with a smile, and the movie becomes something rare. Two people wander Vienna talking about death, parents and love, and it’s more gripping than most heists. The listening booth scene, the two of them squeezed into a record store booth and trying not to look at each other, might be the best minute either actor has ever filmed. It holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. An 8.6 because it bets the whole movie on conversation, and the bet pays. $27.26 says you strike up a conversation on your next train ride, panic halfway through and put your headphones back in.

What works: Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke make a single long conversation feel like a thriller, and the listening booth scene is pure magic.

What doesn’t: Jesse can be insufferable early on, and some of the late-night philosophy is as shallow as a college dorm debate.

Who it’s for: Romantics, walkers, talkers and anyone who has ever missed a stop because the conversation was too good.