Great Acting, Slow Pace

Rating: 6/10 (13 December 1998)

Meet Joe Black. Meet Brad Pitt, for 3 hours. This is a movie that spends three hours on a screenplay that was written and rated for two. It's a fine idea of a story. Death (Pitt) comes to take a holiday with a dying millionaire (Hopkins) and just happens to fall in love with his daughter (Claire Forlani). Meanwhile,a two-faced, untrustworthy man, who happens to be engaged to Forlani, attempts to steal the family business from Hopkins. Death, however, has come to save the day for Hopkins, only long enough so that he can bring him with him to the great beyond. It's a great plot with an excellent cast. Yet, this movie fails to deliver the goods.
The main problem that this film has is that they must have fired the editor before they took the final copy to edit. This movie is three hours long. And it's a long three hours. As a result, it flows along like a turtle who is in a hurry to get to the end of a mile long stretch. Some scenes are painfully long. I kept waiting for something to happen that would move it along, but it never came. The climax of this film (you know, the part where all of the movie's problems get solved) lasts well over an hour. I kept waiting for it to end, but it kept on going.
Many women that I've discussed this movie with think that it's the greatest movie they've ever seen. Why? Simple...Brad Pitt. I keep thinking that if they hadn't cast Brad Pitt in the lead, this movie would have been a complete failure. I like Brad Pitt, and I find that he has great acting skills and an ability to captivate his audience by his charm and good looks. His presence somehow makes this movie tolerable.
The guys in the audience will find newcomer Claire Forlani equally attractive. She offers a stunning screen presence and surprisingly good acting skills.
Hopkins, of course, is a genius of an actor. He brings credibility to this movie. Who else could play a millionaire with such style and finesse in such an honorable way. Once again, he provides a great performance.
I gave this movie a 6 for the following reasons. High marks for the exceptional acting from Hopkins, Pitt, and Forlani; and a clever idea of a script. Low marks for the slowness of its pace. All in all, it's a better than average film that is dragged down by it's length and pace.