There’s nothing like a good story about human connection, being open to new experiences, and seeing where that takes you. That is especially ripe material for a lovely romance. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey endeavors to be just that, following Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell), who meet at a friend’s wedding after renting from a mysterious car rental company, whose checkout was more like an audition and features an awkwardly funny Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

The latter encourages them to add the GPS option, in case their “phone craps out.” They do, and it isn’t long before the system talks directly to them, asking them if they want to go on a “big bold beautiful journey.” Had the answer been no, there wouldn’t be a movie, and that may have been for the best. What we get is a long, arduous romantic fantasy that sees the characters driving to various past-leading doors.

For Sarah, her past is meant to help explain why she’s standing in her own way in relationships, no matter how good they are, and David is meant to figure out what’s holding him back from diving headfirst into romance. They’ve both been hurt (and hurt other people), so they’re naturally hesitant about starting something with each other — regardless of whether their journey starts to feel like destiny bringing them together.

Despite Its Star Power, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey Is Empty Storytelling

Directed by Kogonada (Columbus, After Yang), from a screenplay by Seth Reiss, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey has the filmmaker’s signature style. Instead of a sweeping emotional score and performances that more obviously capture characters’ emotions, the film is subtle, relying primarily on its visual language to stir our hearts into feeling something. To be sure, the characters have their moments of catharsis, but the investment isn’t there to make it land emotionally. This is meant to be a romantic fantasy, and yet there’s little of the former to speak of.

The entire film is set up to evoke heartache, loneliness, and the fear of starting a new relationship, but it dawdles when attempting to genuinely capture any of these feelings. It so often feels as sterile as the hospital Sarah visits to see her mother (Lily Rabe). There’s an emptiness that permeates the film; it’s meant to bring us into the fantasy of the romance it’s portraying, not leave us on the outskirts looking in. Even the payoff isn’t as deep as it aims to be.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is little more than manufactured sentimentality. It offers something new when it comes to its approach to romantic fantasy, but it holds itself back. A slog to sit through and stay focused, even Colin Farrell (who worked with Kogonada on After Yang) and Margot Robbie’s performances, though in line with the film’s detached melancholy, aren’t enough to make this a worthwhile watch.

At times compelling, the film’s themes aren’t deep enough to warrant its pensive elements. We’re thrown into the middle of Sarah and David’s lives without properly understanding them. The journey they take is meant to fill in the blanks, but an initial tether — beyond lackluster and awkwardly delivered dialogue — would have elevated our connection to them. What’s the point of going on this journey with them if we ultimately don’t care where it leads?

The film will make you feel little beyond hollow. A rousing story about finding someone and falling in love this is not — nor does it truly contend with the need for human connection very well. It’s an unfortunate misfire that plays on the heartstrings in the hopes that we’ll be strung along.

At the start, David talks with his parents on the phone, and his father (Hamish Linklater) tells him to “be open” to what life can bring. I took that advice and went into A Big Bold Beautiful Journey with open arms, willing to embrace what it had to offer. And there are moments here that had the potential of being genuinely beautiful and touching. But not even being open can stymie the feeling of disappointment that comes with the realization that the film is falsely sincere and a missed opportunity in thoughtful storytelling.