A strangely fascinating film

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2010)

Every time this film comes on I watch it...not because I really want to. But, for some reason, I just can not help myself. It's like not being able to take stop stealing glances at a beautiful woman you see on a bus.
I read many of the reviews above and I am taken by how long they are. People are wanting to tell how much this film touched them in a place that is both tender and worrisome. We must all face death eventually. We don't know what that will be like...probably not nearly as traumatic as our birth was. But, we like to imagine we can somehow deal with it....that is, to face it, accept it and then be able to look back over our days and hope we see something there worth leaving behind...that we regret leaving behind as much as Joe and William do. We end up envying them rather than feeling sorry for them. "Meet Joe Black" is that imaginary inevitable moment in color.
I don't think the film is that good in any one specific thing. It is great, though, when all the parts are assembled. It lingers too long...wanting the audience to dread the leaving of it...as the actors do as they portray the characters, savoring, enjoying the last slowly vanishing morsel of flavor from that favorite dish...like lovers tasting and holding and feeling and smelling each other for the last time before a long time apart...like watching the last sunset from the front porch of your home before leaving it for the last time.
Yet...in spite of the flaws....the long facials, the continual lingering of it all...I simply can never get this film to leave me alone when it is on. I just have to watch it.