| Much of my time watching By The Sea was spent trying to imagine what Brad and Angelina Jolie-Pitt could possibly be thinking when they wrote, directed and produced this film. It is so void of content and so filled with art house pretense that it plays as parody, though I doubt that was the intention. To briefly summarize: Roland (Pitt) is a blocked writer having some unstated issue with wife, Vanessa (Jolie-Pitt). As the film opens they are driving in their sports convertible up a winding seaside road in a shot we’ve seen in a dozen French romantic comedies. They arrive at a resort high above the sea in Malta. It is the 1970s. So far so good, but logic and sense begin to crumble. They meet a couple of newlyweds Lea (Mélanie Laurent) and François (Melvil Poupaud) and soon are spending inordinate amounts of time staring at the younger couple’s lovemaking through a conspicuous hole CONTINUE TO FULL REVIEW |