Why very little middle ground?

Rating: 4/10 (5 September 2006)

Having been lurking on this site for quite a while, some fellow writers have arrived at the conclusion that some movies apparently have their creative team or fan club jump on the site to deluge it with high praise. I typically dismissed such claims, but with a movie like this, I have to wonder. Seriously, 10 out of 10 stars? Casablanca material here? Citizen Kane?
I agree with some of the readers here that the first part of the movie has energy and engaging dialog and I kept thinking, what happened as the movie progressed? Hmm, let's see the problems I have with it.
Claire Forlani--It took me a while to figure out what it is about her that bothers me...it's as if she is trying to prevent her lower eyelids from coming up and closing her eyes. Like she is constantly battling it. Then at other times, she just closes her eyes while she talks. Is she on Demerol? Watch her next time and you will not be able to stop thinking about it.
Brad Pitt--First, his character at the beginning is interesting. As Death, he is not. I could care less if he wants to experience being human. I don't exactly feel compassion for him. He falls in love, then he is a smart azz to Hopkins when Hopkins objects to him using his daughter as a test lab for his feelings.
Anthony Hopkins--His performance was, as typical, very good. It's as if the movie starts MOVING again when he comes on screen. However, I have problems with his character. Why, when he got upset at Death fooling around with his daughter, and objected about it, and Death basically said "Too bad", did he say, "What are you going to do, kill me?" Everyone was waiting for him to say that. Also, as to show the screenwriters dearth of ideas, they don't give us anything interesting to chew on. If you were Hopkins, wouldn't you be asking "Where do we go when you take me"? What's it like? Where did you come from? What can you really see? His character doesn't ask these questions because the screenwriters aren't creative enough to come up with anything.
Length--Lots have been said about the films length. Perhaps some people can become more engrossed than others. But man does this film go on. There are whole scenes that don't need to be there, then they ramble. The last scene even drags on and on...walk over the damn bridge already!
What's good about the film:
1) Central idea 2) Supporting actors like Tambor 3) Cinematography and overall "look" 4) Anthony Hopkins
So, overall a fair package. I can enjoy a moving, romantic or sentimental film. But long passages of nothing happening, with piano music draped over it, does not make the scenes for me automatically moving, or profound, or even interesting.
One of the other writers I read wrote that he left the theater a number of times and came back. This is one of those few films that you can do that with, because very little actually does happen during the course of the film.
10 stars? Geez.