Worst love story before Gigli happened

Rating: 2/10 (14 January 2020)

My two star rating is largely for the production values and a star cast that includes luminaries Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt. The highly implausible, largely senseless story and plot get a zero unless you're a tween girl who cares for nothing other than seeing a wooden/stoic Brad smooching his leading lady (unknown Claire Forlani), which must be why this film gets scores in the 8/9/10 range. Yes, it's a fantasy that involves death personified but granting you that as an element of the story is fine. It's the presentation and execution of this character that shows a level of immaturity and implausibility not typically associated with director Martin Brest, but then again this is the guy that went on to direct Ben Affleck and J-Lo in "Gigli" one of the worst romances of all time, so bad in fact, that it was Brest's last stint as a director! So, clearly "Meet Joe Black" was a descent into the disastrous "Gigli".