Susan doesn't make sense

Rating: 4/10 (30 December 2014)

Media mogul Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) is close to his 65th birthday. He has two daughters Susan (Claire Forlani) and Allison (Marcia Gay Harden). Allison is busy planning the celebration. Susan is a medical resident who is in a passionless relationship with Drew (Jake Weber). William tells Susan that he likes Drew as a business underling but he doesn't sense that she truly loves him. He urges her to find true love. In a diner, she meets a young flirtatious man (Brad Pitt). He seems to melt her heart but unbeknownst to her, he is killed crossing a street. Bill keeps hearing a voice which is Death who comes to visit and learn from Bill. He takes on the name Joe Black.
Throughout the entire movie, I kept trying to work out what Susan thinks about Joe Black. The best that I can come up with is that he's really pretty. The problem is that I completely bought into their first encounter. Brad Pitt is quite charming as well as being pretty. I don't understand her thinking after seeing him acting like a completely different person. He's either faking the first encounter or he's faking later. At the very least, he's up to no good. The movie seems to use Pitt's pretty face as a patch-all for any deficiencies. Basically she falls for two different personalities. The only thing that stays the same is the pretty pretty Brad Pitt.
The second half has a bit better chemistry between Pitt and Hopkins. At least, their story gets a bit interesting. However it doesn't solve the original problem or make it bearable to sit for 3 hours through this. The best way to solve some of these problems is just to cut out the diner scene. It wouldn't change much in the plot and the story would make more sense.