Remember when fans of Marvel movies were stunned when they found out Chris Evans, aka Captain America, was thinking about ending his acting career to get into directing? Since then, he has confirmed he’ll still be part of the Marvel Universe, at least through Phase Three.
Still, how is Evans as a director? Some fans got a chance to find out when Before We Go was released on streaming services, including Amazon Instant Video and iTunes, this past Tuesday. The story may remind people of Before Sunrise, but it takes a slightly different road.
Evans plays Nick Vaughn, a trumpet player who’s in New York hoping to get an audition with a jazz musician he admires. Alice Eve (Star Trek: Into Darkness, Men In Black 3) plays Brooke, a woman who’s trying to get back to Boston. They meet at Grand Central Station when she tries to get to the last train to Boston, but misses it by a few seconds. On top of that, she was just robbed and her cell phone is broken. Nick, meanwhile, has some cash but his cell is out of power and his credit cards don’t work.
From there, Nick and Brooke spend the next four hours trying to get Brooke back to Boston, then helping each other with their real concerns. For Nick, he’s in town not just for an audition, but also wondering if he should find his ex-girlfriend. Brooke, meanwhile, is trying to make sure her husband doesn’t read a letter she left for him. It’s a letter that was written in anger because she found out some things about him.
Evans may use a lot of close-ups on himself and Eve, but he knows how to develop quiet moments. When you hear Nick’s story about how he switched from pre-med to music, or Brooke explaining why she wrote that letter, you really see the pain and regret in their words.
There are also scenes that are really off-the wall, like Nick having Brooke sing (which she can’t) at a reception, or visiting a psychic who has a different way of predicting the future.
The movie is a good start to Evans’ career in directing, but he should get more practice at it in between his battles against robots and HYDRA. Still, people who saw the movie on iTunes and Amazon have liked it. It will be shown in theaters this September.
Here’s the trailer for Before We Go:
https://youtu.be/VxJsGKn2kyA
