a running gag is established in which Celine repeatedly demonstrates how easily men fall prey to women who do not challenge them on an intellectual level. These are relatively brief moments, but provide a razor-sharp skewering of male fragility, and the need of white men to be venerated and made to feel powerful. In a film series that delivers one of the best cinematic heroines in recent times, this hits home, hard. It reveals that, for all the push-pull of their relationship, Celine is under no illusion as to what makes Jesse tick.

It hits home, hard, because we all know it to be true.

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