Want to see a movie not even Anthony Hopkins can save?

Rating: 2/10 (1 August 2000)

And I'm not talking about "The Edge", either.
The cinematography is very good. Set, costumes, music, sound. The direction isn't bad, and some actors give stand out performances (not Brad Pitt or Claire Forlani, but excellent performances from Hopkins, Tambor and Weber seem to even things out).
However, the script is absolutely appalling. The screenplay is credited to four writers, and you can see why. Each one probably took over as the other got bored with it.
The tag-line in my TV guide said "Death takes a holiday and makes a deal with a dying billionaire". It takes about an hour to establish this premise. That's it, just establishing it. Then, apparently, Death falls in love with the billionaire's daughter. Well, how or why Death does this isn't explained, but it's certainly made easy when the daughter is written as a slut. A slutty billionaire's daughter getting her just deserts? That would make an interesting movie.
At just under three hours, this is an agonising movie ... I was forced to fast forward, and ended up with a terrible ending that involved Death pretending to be a member of the IRS. What the hell was that?
Look, seriously, take the screenwriters, tie them up in a basement somewhere, and make sure nobody feeds them. Please, for mercy's sake.