*How* can I *love* this when I can't endure Brad Pitt??

Rating: Null/10 (6 June 1999)

My first thought, after seeing about half this film, was that it had to be this particular studio & director's answer to/version of the Nicholas Cage/Meg Ryan '98 film "City of Angels." After all is said and done, isn't it just the Angel of Death coming to Earth, falling for a female mortal, and being disappointed in the end (as Death in this case, not as a human mortal male)? After about 20+ viewings this past week, this is what stays with me most, at any rate.
For those who totally panned this film, stop and rethink this POV: isn't this done *much* more "tongue-in-cheek" than "City of Angels" was? "City" seemed to take itself much too seriously, and it left me highly p****d off at Meg Ryan's character for being so foolhardy. "Joe" leaves me smirking, if not LOL, which BP constantly seems to be on the verge of doing due to some of the downright puerile lines he was given. Then again, if *I* were Pitt, I'd laugh my a**e off all the way to the bank, too. As for Sir Anthony Hopkins: poor man fared much better with "Silence of the Lambs" as Hannibal the Cannibal, didn't he? He seemed almost too restrained to me at most points, when he should have been raging against his all-too-soon-to-be fate ("I shall *not* go gently into this good night," and so on.). Several times I during the film, I wish to see the *originally* filmed version, instead of this editor's idea of something we should *pay* to see. I seriously doubt a "director's cut" will ever be available, but if so, I'd like to see it. Still, with all its flaws, and all the dumb lines and improbable situations there is something about this that's like Black's peanut butter (or better yet, a Lay's potato chip): I just can't put it aside. I find something new to love about it every time. P.S. Thought: I wonder who told the costume designer what Pitt's clothing sizes were *supposed* to be for this film? Whoever it was didn't do the job at *all* well, speaking as a clothier. JMNSHLO.