The years go fast but the minutes crawl in Wim Wenders’ new drama, filmed in murky 3-D so that, apparently, we can feel as if we’re living through a dozen dull years right along with its main character.

James Franco is Tomas, a novelist who accidentally runs over a young boy on a sled near his Canadian home. The boy’s brother, Christopher, survives the incident, and tortured Tomas begins an awkward friendship with Christopher’s benumbed mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose unique beauty was made for silent grief).

As years pass, Tomas breaks up with one woman (Rachel McAdams), moves in with another, and sees his writing career improve since the sled accident. Too bad the film can’t say the same. As Tomas is stalked by the teenage Christopher, the film hovers near the intersection of identity drama, guilt gluttony and almost-kinda psychological thriller. In attempting empathy, Wenders (“Paris, Texas,” “Wings of Desire”) has made the first 3-D movie that makes you think nothing is there.