By the Sea

As a European travelogue, By the Sea has its merits. But as an intimate look into middle-aged marital strife, it comes up emotionally empty.

The third directorial effort for Angelina Jolie Pitt (Unbroken) is a self-indulgent vehicle for Jolie Pitt and her real-life husband, Brad, which features some powerful character-driven moments within the framework of a thin story that’s languid and tedious.

The drama takes place in a remote seaside village on the French Riviera, where fledgling writer Roland (Brad Pitt) and former dancer Vanessa (Jolie Pitt) check in for a week to try and rekindle the spark in their marriage. What’s missing isn’t clear, at first, but neither is the solution.

The vacation doesn’t seem to be helping, as Roland spends most of his time in the bar getting drunk and chatting up the innkeeper (Niels Arestrup), while Vanessa mopes in the room, where she uses a hole in the wall to spy on Lea (Melanie Laurent) and Francois (Melvil Poupaud), the honeymooning young couple next door.

Roland is clearly trying harder to make things work, while Vanessa seems to exhibit symptoms of depression or mental illness, showing more interest in the lives of total strangers than she does in her own.

Filming on location, Jolie Pitt includes plenty of striking visual flourishes, capturing the rippling blue water, the jagged cliffs, the passing fishermen, and the quaint architecture. It looks like a great place to visit, as long as you don’t run into people like Roland and Vanessa there.

By the Sea clearly is influenced by European art-house cinema of the 1960s, both in its deliberate rhythms and its visual approach, saturating the scenery in amber and beige tones with an attention to small details within its confined locations.

Along the way, Jolie Pitt’s screenplay examines issues of infidelity, remorse, and commitment without much conviction. Although the actors are committed to their portrayals, the emotions are so internalized that it’s difficult to generate much investment in the central relationship.

There’s a certain audacity in the real-life, high-profile Hollywood couple showing such sensuousness and vulnerability in their relationship, albeit in a fictional sense. Yet the high-minded result is more pretentious than profound.

Rated R, 122 minutes.