'By the Sea' is a snooze that doesn't do its co-stars any favors
Angelina Jolie Pitt (as she is now named) wrote, directed, and costars聽in 鈥淏y the Sea鈥� opposite her husband Brad Pitt. It鈥檚 their first time acting聽together since the 2005 spy thriller 鈥淢r. and Mrs. Smith,鈥� so perhaps聽another 10 years will elapse before the next pairing. Here鈥檚 hoping.
While not quite on the way-bad level of such vanity productions as聽Madonna鈥檚 鈥淪wept Away,鈥� 鈥淏y the Sea鈥� certainly doesn鈥檛 do either of its聽costars any favors. Jolie Pitt plays a depressed former dancer and Pitt is a聽famous novelist struggling to finish (or start?) a new book. They have聽retreated to a seaside hotel in the south of France that, even in the early 1970s when the film takes place, must have gone for about $1,000 per聽night. The vistas are extraordinary, the dialogue less so.聽
The couple鈥檚 marriage, like their hotel room, is on the rocks. Most of聽their time is spent bickering, agonizing, walking out on each other,聽smoking and drinking (especially him), and, in the film鈥檚 only moments of聽levity, peeping through a hole in the wall at the lovemaking of the couple聽next door.聽
Jolie Pitt is trying for the languorousness of a '70s French or Italian art聽film but this snooze of a movie doesn鈥檛 come close. She swans around like聽a long-eyelashed Cleopatra while Pitt chain-smokes, scribbles in his聽writing notebook, and drinks vast quantities of just about everything 鈥撀爄ncluding gin for breakfast.
Both Jolie Pitt and Pitt have demonstrated their chops in far better聽movies. I suspect the problem here is that there was no one around to tell聽them, 鈥淧lease don鈥檛. Please. Don鈥檛.鈥� Grade: C- (Rated R for strong sexuality, nudity, and language.)
