A by-the-numbers Man from Mars/Woman from Venus relationship story slogs through its predictable paces in this Turkish Competition entrant. A subdued melodrama featuring two finely restrained lead performances, "Climates" may have its most seasonable reception with the thesp-heavy fest jury.

Admittedly, more mediocre projects have fared well here, although U.S. theatrical and cable prospects are gloomy.

Framed by an opening sequence in a glorious sunny resort (where the couple breaks-up), and a final scene in a dreary, snowy town, (where they finalize their decision), the psychological storyline is thin: A dowdy university instructor Isa (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) is an inattentive husband to his younger, TV-business wife Bahar (Ebru Ceylan). Self-absorbed and selfish, Isa only communicates in the most rudimentary way, while she, similarly, detaches into crying jags and juvenile behavior.

In traditional romantic movies that begin with a break-up, the audience usually roots for the couple to get back together. Not here. Filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan has ambitiously broken that formula but in so doing, he has also forfeited his hold on our attention. While we root for them to stay apart, we do not do so because we like each individually but, rather because it is so obvious that there is nothing between them worth saving. Worse, we don't particularly care about their individual well-being: Isa is a bullying pedant, who philanders and lies, and Bahar, although not deceitful, is vacuous and demanding.

While filmmaker Ceylan is to be commended for his unvarnished depictions of the characters, his narrative is thin and relies on a gimmick rape/rough sex scene to enliven its dull demeanor. Similarly, the numerous conversational silences are glossed with over-ripe aesthetics, particularly the intermittent insect-buzzing to signal the relationship's odious scent.

As an actor, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's minimalist portrayal of the sour college instructor is telling and, perhaps, his most accomplished contribution to the film. As his conflicted wife, Ebru Ceylan radiates decency and, with clear subtlety, also illuminates the shrill nature of her character.

Under Ceylan's dull direction and the equally leaden editing, technical contributions are lackluster and straight-forward. Similar to the script, they only serve to distend an undernourished central story.