The American Film Institute's AFI Fest opened with plenty of glamour in Hollywood last night, as By The Sea was chosen as the opening film. The movie stars Angelina Jolie Pitt and Brad Pitt and was directed by Jolie Pitt.
Universal has high hopes for the movie, made clear by the film’s awards-friendly release date. But critics so far seemed less enthused. By The Sea is designed as a tribute to the European art films of the 1960s and 1970s, a big departure from Jolie Pitt after last year’s biopic Unbroken. The new film features a much smaller cast with the married couple playing an unhappily married couple at a European hotel.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy called it a “vanity project,” which most seem to agree that it is. McCarthy writes that the film is very one-note and that the appearance of Melanie Laurent and Melvil Pouopaud’s characters don’t make the film exciting. “With such flat-lining and repetitive scenes dominating, two hours is far too long to make an audience wait for a payoff that is hardly about to save the film from its own stasis and dramatic flatness,” McCarthy wrote.
For Variety’s Justin Chang, the film was also overlong. He praises the film’s visuals, which include cinematography by Christian Berger (The White Ribbon), but isn’t impressed with the story. “By The Sea always offers something to tickle the eye and ear, even as it leaves the heart and mind coolly unstirred,” Chang wrote.
Even though Indiewire’s Katie Walsh gave the movie a “B,” she still criticized the film’s script, written by Jolie Pitt, as “far too on-the-nose.”
TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde was disappointed by the film’s lack of humor and wrote that the script “undermines the lead performances,” adding that “It’s hard enough watching these two talented actors play blanks who have no chemistry with each other, but the effort seems especially pointless when we learn the root of their problems.”
By The Sea hits theaters on Nov. 13 in limited release.