|
Review by Susan Granger
2 stars out of 4
The most audacious thing about this remake of "Death Takes a
Holiday" is its length. It's a romantic drama that takes its time with
each and every scene. Characters measure each syllable, often speaking
in hushed, conspiratorial tones, exchanging long, meaningful
glances. At three hours, it's more than twice as long as the
original. "Braveheart" and "Titanic" were that length but they had
sagas to tell. This is a rather simple, straightforward story - about
the inevitability of death and taxes. Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins),
a wealthy business tycoon, suffers a heart-attack just before his 65th
birthday. Around the same time, his gawky daughter Susan (Claire
Forlani) meets a charming lawyer (Brad Pitt) at a coffee shop near the
hospital where she works as a resident. But she's engaged so they
don't exchange names or phone numbers. Immediately afterwards, the
young man is abruptly hit by a car - and Death borrows his handsome
human form for a brief visit as a mysterious houseguest in the elegant
Parrish home. It's a fascinating premise which, despite a quartet of
screenwriters, never really goes anywhere beyond "if you haven't
loved, you haven't lived." There's no compelling tension or
drive. And, instead of going for Capra-esque charm, director Martin
Brest ("Scent of a Woman") approaches each scene in a visually
stunning yet dreary, reverential mode. Anthony Hopkins is magnificent,
making the most of his underwritten role. As enigmatic Death, Brad
Pitt wears a look of bemused, almost moronic bewilderment, savoring
peanut butter and sampling sexual ecstasy; his best scene is when he
speaks with a West Indian accent. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to
10, "Meet Joe Black" is a mild-mannered, languid 5. Too little happens
in too long a length of time - and there's no magic.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
|
