Chris Evans’ Directorial Debut ‘Before We Go’ Scores North American Distribution

When Chris Evans isn’t saving the world from an aliens or nefarious Hydra agents as Captain America, he’s cutting his teeth behind the camera.

The gifted 33-year-old actor recently unveiled his directorial debut Before We Go at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Fortunately for folks who can’t wait to sink their teeth into Evans’ first foray into filmmaking, the drama recently found North American distribution courtesy of Radius-TWC.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Evans’ first proper directorial effort should hit theaters in the U.S. during the second quarter of 2015. If you’re looking for a proper release date to add to your calendar, then you’re completely out of luck. For the moment, that’s all the information we have on the project.

The film, which stars Chris Evans and Star Trek Into Darkness underwear model Alice Eve, follows the adventures of a young couple who spend an evening in New York City after missing their train. Instead of getting into an increasingly entertaining array of hilarious and/or dangerous hijinks, the pair just kind of hang out and talk about stuff. It’s kind of like director Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise for NYC nerds.

Unfortunately for Evans, some critics aren’t overly thrilled with Before We Go. Scott Foundas, chief film critic for Variety, believes Evans spends way too much time talking and not enough effort developing an engaging story.

“[T]his talky, contrived and ultimately tedious actors’ exercise never leaves the station. While Evans deserves credit for wanting to reveal a more serious, thoughtful side to himself than the Marvel universe will allow, a tepid homage (in title and form) to Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s “Before” trilogy may not have been the best idea… Dear Captain America: Don’t quit your day job just yet.”

Yikes. That’s definitely not the sort of reception any first-time director wants to receive from a major publication. However, it’s doubtful Chris Evans will sweat what the critics have to say about the feature. During his chat with The Toronto Sun, the actor said he was just excited to step behind the camera for the very first time.

“I’ve wanted to direct for a long time and this story felt manageable. It’s embarrassing to say that because it’s my first time directing and I’ve never been to film school, so you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. This felt like a healthy first attempt.”

Are you excited to check out Chris Evans’ Before We Go?

[Lead image via Radius-TWC]