Review of By the Sea (2015) by Mattbrady99 — 15 Dec 2015

I wish the waves will take me away and maybe I might find the meaning to the movie.

By The Sea is about a married couple who takes a vacation in France in the 1970s and find that their time in a sleepy seaside town, complete with a unique array of locals, strengthens their bond and reaffirms their marriage.

Through out my years reviewing movies on this site, I always avoid using words like "pretentious" or "too arty", as I normally don't think that. To me, if a film what's to tell it's story in a unique way with the power of art and visuals that's done well, then I don't think it's pretentious or too arty. Everyone has different taste and I know it's kind of beating a dead horse right now since I keep bringing that up, but I do that just to keep everyone in mind that my opinion and what I have to say for movies is just me. But today might change, as I watched a movie that I can look at and call it pretentious, overly doing it and lacks a purpose. By The Sea is an underwhelming arty mess that has a hidden message that's still unclear. The movie demands to be analysis.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt deliver decent performances and there were a few good shots that's nice to look at. But everything else felt force and while watching it I was kind of annoyed, because it has no weight to it when it came to the story and the character's deep motivation that came off sloppy. Jolie has a vision, I mean every director has a vision, but the must crushing and difficult thing is to bring that vision to the big screen. It isn't easy for some directors, because sometimes they can pull it off and sometimes don't; Jolie sadly falls into the "don't".

Overall By the Sea is a pretentious, underwhelming movie with a muddled story that tries so hard to have a meaning.