Review of By the Sea (2015) by Leon B — 12 Oct 2016

Review:

What a depressing movie! For a whole 2 hours, Brad Pitt (Roland), and Angelina Jolie (Vanessa), are in a hotel room getting on each others nerves, whilst looking through a hole in the room, at the couple next door. The storyline was awful and the acting wasn't that great from these to A-list stars. Whilst staying in France, Roland and Vanessa try to fix there troubled relationship but Roland can't seem to get through to Vanessa, who is suffering with depression. Roland spends most of his time drinking in a bar, and becomes friends with the owner, Michel (Niels Arestrup), who is also suffering after losing his wife. Whilst Roland is away, Vanessa peeps through a hole in there room, to spy on the young couple next door, Lea (Melanie Laurent) and François (Melvil Poupaud), and when Roland finds out what Vanessa has been doing while he's away, he also spies on the couple with her, hoping that it will bring them closer together. I personally couldn't see the point of this movie but when the plot unfolds towards the end, there was actually a meaning to what they were doing. With that aside, I still found the film extremely boring, and Jolie looked quite scary and really thin from the beginning to the end. Pitt did show some true emotion and I could totally understand his frustration towards Vanessa but there just wasn't enough material to make the movie interesting. I was impressed with Brad Pitt's French and the scenery wasn't bad but apart from that, I just couldn't get into it. Disappointing!

Round-Up:

Like Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, who also starred in a movie together before there break-up, I find it weird that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are in a movie about a troubled relationship while they are questioning there marriage! I know that this movie came out last year, so they might have been OK then but as the movie got released this year, questions must arise about the truth in this project. The movie was written and directed by Angelina Jolie, 41, who also directed A Place In Time, In The Land Of Blood & Honey and Broken. She really did give this project her all, and with her husband in the lead, she must have had faith in the script. The whole "Peeping Tom" element of the movie was a bit creepy, in my opinion, and it started to drag after a while. It could have easily been half as long, and the ending didn't put an end to there problems. Anyway, I really couldn't see were the budget went and I didn't get the moral of the story, if there was one.

Budget: $10million.

Worldwide Gross: $3.3million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their romance/dramas, starring Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Melanie Laurent, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Bohringer and Sarah Naudi. 2/10.