Review // By the Sea

With her newest directorial venture By the Sea, Angelina Jolie Pitt keeps things in the family, casting husband Brad Pitt alongside herself as a wealthy New York couple attempting to rescue their marriage at a French seaside hotel. While watching the thespian couple portray a dysfunctional marriage on screen might carry a certain allure for audience members interested in the cult of celebrity, the picture itself is a plodding and melodramatic experience.

Brad and Angelina play Roland and Vanessa, a hard-drinking author and his delicate wife (a former dancer), who we first meet driving along the oceanside switchbacks in a silver convertible. They are the essence of cool and perfectly match their picturesque surroundings, captured in brilliant golds and blues by cinematographer Christian Berger. Unfortunately, like most people so obsessed with keeping up appearances, all is not well between the couple. After early success as a young writer Roland is struggling to put pen to page, and prefers to spend his days in the hotel bar drinking with the bartender Michel (Niels Arestrup) and the owner Patrice (Richard Bohringer). Vanessa locks herself away in their room, medicating heavily and spending much of her day lounging on the bed, or the balcony chaise. When the couple do cross paths their interaction is strained; both desire the other but something poisonous lurks between them.

This slow degradation is interrupted with the arrival of newlyweds Lea (Mélanie Laurent) and François (Melville Poupaud), who move into the room next to Vanessa and Roland. Very much in love, the couple become an obsession for the lonely Vanessa, especially once she discovers a hole in the wall that lets her see into their room. Though Vanessa and Roland bond over this voyeuristic discovery for a time, the couple clash after Roland believes Vanessa is becoming too engrossed in the happy new life of the neighbouring couple while allowing her own relationship to crumble.

There is no denying that Jolie Pitt shows great prowess behind the camera. Unfortunately By the Sea is a lot of style over substance. As expected both lead actors turn in strong performances, however neither character is likeable or interesting enough to make the 132 minute slog worth it. Though the hole between rooms is a tittilating idea, and has some Hitchcockian undertones, its potential as an exciting plot device is never realized. Instead, when the underlying reason for the couple’s misery is revealed, it’s just as dreary and anticlimactic as the rest of the film. Though stylishly filmed and well-acted, By the Sea is like a cloudy day at the beach, disappointing.

Reviewed by Evan Arppe.