Saved by Hopkins

Rating: 3/10 (18 November 2006)

The way I look at this movie is, what if Anthony Hopkins had NOT starred in it? How good or bad would it still have been? The only answer I can find is that the movie would have been the absolute pits. AH sustained this movie from start to finish. Without him, it would not be worth the cost of blank DVD disk.
The story was blah, the other actors were more blah. Claire (Susan) was unbearably saccharine and inept to the point where she made me wince with embarrassment. That constant flitting of her eyes up and down and left and right.. ugh! Coupled with her shifty smile/grimace, it was enough to bring out the barf bag. I cannot understand how this can be anyone's definition of emoting.
Brad Pitt didn't have a whole lot to do, except stand around looking impassive and making monosyllabic dialog. Wouldn't have been any better/worse if they'd picked the other actor best suited to playing a lamp-post - Keanu Reeves.
In terms of storyline, it was just passably interesting. "Heaven Can Wait" with Warren Beatty was more interesting, in the same theme.
I watched it on AMC too, and cussed my way through every commercial break. Just wanted the damn thing to finish, so I could check it off my to-watch list. In the end, I wasn't sure whether I cussed more at the commercials or at the movie itself.