Great beginning, good middle, slow end

Rating: 7/10 (9 February 1999)

In this movie Brad Pitt plays Death on vacation in a human body. I have to start out by saying that the car accident in with which he obtains his host is the best RTA I have ever seen comitted to film. Genuinely disturbing, but not as disturbing as the people who insist on laughing at unfunny things in the cinema.
Following from the interesting beginning the movie moves slightly into 'fish out of water' mode. However it dabbles in this genre just the right amount. It doesn't go overboard as you would expect in a kids' film, and these moments show Pitt at his best.
As we approach the middle of the film, the romantic interests come out and things do start to slow down. Some scenes are torturously drawn out and over-long.
Having been charmed by Pitt's character, we now come to realise that by not being human Pitt doesn't just not know which knife to use at dinner, or what peanut-butter is, but he doesn't understand the love or comittment that humans can demonstrate for each other. He doesn't realise that human beings are not toys that you can just take without paying for.
Come the latter part of the movie things have all but ground to a halt. This movie could easily lose half an hour. It is very unfortunate as the ending *is* good, just tainted by the length of time taken to resolve plot points.
All in all quite an original film, but you are forced to suffer somewhat before they give up the goods. Kinda like having to wait in a long queue to go on a rollercoaster ride, or having to sit through a time-share demonstration before you get to pick up your free prize.