Vue sur mer

"If you really love someone, you want more for them than you want for yourself. Do you understand?" Michel (Niels Arestrup)

By the Sea nobly tries to explicate the above quote by the wise bar keep, Michel. Vanessa (Angelina Jolie Pitt) and Roland (Brad Pitt) are visiting the central-casting beautiful Malta to work on their marriage, albeit through the media of drink and voyeurism. It's the '70's and they're celebrities, he an unproductive writer and she a retired dancer.

They're not Burton and Taylor, and the film lacks the passion for any imitation of that famous duo. What it does have are a stunning production design and incomparably romantic location. The first half of the film labors over the small parts of their life—he places her large frame glasses upright because she puts them glass-side down; she digs him about his lack of writing and constant drinking.

However, once the newly-married couple, Lea (Melanie Laurent) and Francois (Melvil Poupaud) arrives, the story gets energy and more eye candy as Brangelina look through a peep hole at the couple's sexual antics. Apparently, this is all that is needed to rekindle the marriage of the older couple.

Well, more action is to come with the big reveal, not much of a revelation I must say. The disconcerting part of that not-so-mysterious surprise is the straight-forward explanation, hardly elegant, a bit too prosaic for a film that regularly intercuts with symbols, e.g., a fisherman in his boat, forcing you to think of the figurative implications and then unnecessarily explicating it.

Although Vanessa is a beauty whom the camera loves and who seems to preen for every shot, I can't help but think Angelina as writer and director has framed a character much like herself. That narcissism gets boring quickly. The prominence of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg's Jane B. on the soundtrack reinforces Jolie Pitt's infatuation with herself.

Like me you'll be booking passage to Malta soon, but you're unlikely to take away from this film any hints about saving your marriage or finding places in the Oscar nominations for this mediocre work(except, of course, for cinematography!).

I could be one of the few to actually not only like but LOVE this film. The movie conveyed a simple common plot that encounters many couples but it conveyed through the most beautiful cinematography and magnificent scenery which in a way reflected the movie's aspects. I was instantly in love with the film's aesthetic and colors that grabbed by instant attention once the film rolled it opening credits. We rarely find nowadays films that carry such a simple issue told gradually through dramatic and grieving episodes provided from the characters which kept us on edge. And what made me think that this movie can be considered a one of a kind is the way the story was told. I love how they didn't hand out the the reason of the couple's misery right way but instead told us in pieces and eventually spilling the beans at they very end. Overall, the movie was absolutely beautiful with the most amazing breathtaking scenery and color. Not to mention the wonderful dramatic thrilling acting of Angelina Jolie Pitt and Brad Pitt that depicted the intense misery of the couple.

When you see a man or a woman giving a single star out of ten to a movie, stay away from his or hers (or maybe its, you never know - some reviews could be written by bots) reviews: they are the "talibans" of IMDb. They hate or love a movie and never appreciate it with their minds for the real value it may have or not in itself. And mostly, do not trust people who use words like "turgid" in their reviews - they are pedants.

You need a soul to understand this movie and, more importantly, you have to understand how relations are (use to be): difficult, heart-consuming and, sometimes, even strange.

Brad and Angelina played well, the images from Malta were beautifully carved in stone, and yet the movie is not a memorable one. I gave it only 7 stars out of 10.

Greetings again from the darkness. As a devotee and lover of the cinematic art form, I tend to focus on the positive elements of films, and maintain a near reverent respect for filmmakers who engage in personal projects. Because of this, I typically avoid labels such as "bad" or "good" and instead focus on the experience. Unfortunately, this latest from writer/director Angelina Jolie (billed for the first time as Angelina Jolie Pitt) has delivered a prolonged experience of monotony and misery that can only be described as bad. Or awful. Or even beyond awful.

It's based in the mid-1970's and filmed on the island of Gozo in Malta. The setting is stunningly beautiful, and cinematographer Christian Berger captures the essence of this unique spot with naturalistic lighting and plenty of wide shots of the rocky beaches that provide the foundation for a classy and quaint inn run by Michel (Niels Arestrup, A Prophet). Roland (Brad Pitt) and Vanessa (Angelina Jolie) are the epitome of an unhappily married couple … though they are stylishly dressed while driving their 1967 Citroen convertible.

He is a writer who doesn't write and she is a former dancer who doesn't dance. While he is not writing, Roland sucks down gin, beer and anything else Michel will serve him. Vanessa mostly hangs out in the room popping pills and watching a fisherman in a row boat. When they are together, they rarely speak except to ensure we viewers understand just how miserable they are … with a lousy reason that isn't explained until late in the film. Mostly she bats her porn star fake eye lashes while he sports a porn star mustache.

A glimmer of hope emerges when a honeymooning couple takes the room next door. Lea (Melanie Laurent) and Francois (Melvil Poupaud) seem quite happy and enjoy spending time together in bed. We know this because Vanessa discovers a peephole where she can take in the sights. In what is probably the only interesting twist, Lea and Roland are soon sharing peeps … a step that somehow begins the process of rebuilding their relationship. Of course, that doesn't happen without many more scenes of misery prior to the quite predictable finish.

Angelina is clearly paying tribute to the 1950's and 1960's French art-house films, but having two unlikable lead characters who can't stand to be in the same room never allows the viewers to connect … though she seizes many opportunities to show off her exquisitely rebuilt breasts. The film is entirely too long – and feels even longer – as it squanders a real chance to explore the second stage of marriage. The beautiful scenery and Gainsbourg songs don't come close to making this a movie worth enduring.

Located in a remote resort in France (but shot on Gozo in Malta), this story is located in the 1970s, so no computers or smartphones and lots of smoking and drinking plus a veteran sport car.

The focus is almost exclusively on a married couple who clearly have a very strained relationship for a reason which is only explained - and then too briefly - at the very end. The pacing is languid, even soporific, and there is only one person to blame: Angelina Jolie who wrote, directed and stars as an unsympathetic character.

Her co-star as husband is her real-life partner at the time Brad Pitt. Sadly this film seems prophetic since Jolie and Pitt split up soon afterwards and both the movie and its afterward seem to echo "Eyes Wide Shut" with then husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.