I'm going to have to listen for that soundtrack now - I can't even remember it or maybe I've blocked the horror! hehe.

A dissenting opinion from a seat a few rows back from yours ... there were moments in that soundtrack - progressions of notes that were almost 'blue' or soft-jazz - that were wonderful, almost Gershwin-like ....

Though I wasn't as taken with the light-hearted moments of the score ... choosy Death chooses Jiff ...

What annoyed me the most was the amount of time devoted to long, thoughtful silences, with character's eyes looking, searching, the eyes of another for three or four minutes before continuing the dialogue ...

A good cast ... I liked Anthony Hopkins ... and I liked Jeffrey Tambor's character very much ...

For comparison, rent "Death Takes a Holiday" (1934) with a very young Fredrick March in the title role.

Jeff, we may be on the same wavelength, as the soundtrack -- which I still felt to be overall much too sticky-sweet, overtly clichéd and loud -- came to the fore during those interminable pauses when the characters were presumably supposed to display wise and tormented reflection but came across instead as looking like they'd forgotten their lines. There were also times when I just couldn't hear the dialog over the music.

For me, for movies that aren't about the music, walking away from the theater and remembering the soundtrack is a mark of either a bad movie or a bad soundtrack. But, reasonable people may differ.

I do agree that Hopkins was wonderful, as always.

Anthony Hopkins can make any movie better. Any. Movie. (I even liked that weird one about the apes with Cuba Gooding Overactor in it because of Hopkins.)

That said, Meet Joe Black pushes two of my rules into a head-to-head disagreement.
Rule 1: See anything with Hopkins in it
Rule 2: Don't see things with Brad Pitt in them.

So far #2 is winning on this particular film.

anothony hopkins was great (as he ususally is) and i loved that movie, yes the music does come on a bit heavy at times but i still cry at the end when they walk over the bridge with the daughter trying to catch up

I own the soundtrack to this movie, but I've never seen the film itself. I had a whole Thomas Newman phase for a while, but realized, after about six of his soundtracks, that his music all sounds the same (beautiful, but the same). I haven't listened to the soundtrack for a while...

I had my own two rules:
1: See anything with Morgan Freeman in it.
2: Don't see anything with Keanu Reeves in it.

Whenever you set up rules like that, the next movie to come out will have them in it. They were in a movie. It was terrible. Since The Matrix, however, I've loosend up the Reeves thing and, oddly, switched to a two-fer: Don't see anything with Ben Affleck or Brad Pitt in it.

But Freeman? He's the man.

I don't understand all the Brad Pitt-bashing.

Did any of you see "13 Monkeys"?

Everyone is entitled to one reasonably good fluke of a movie: 13 Monkeys is Pitt's. To more deeply understand the Pitt bashing, go see Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

(I do agree with Julie about Freeman - he rocks.)

(And while I'm parentheticalling things, I will also allow that Pitt does not suck on his usual order of magnitude in the Ocean's movies...but then, it might just be that Andy Garcia makes up for a multitude of sins.)

Well, I guess these things really are subjective. My wife and I liked "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" so much that we added it to our DVD collection.

I see a lot of women bashing that movie, and pointing to Mr. Pitt as the reason. I can't help wondering (even as I edge toward the door to make a quick getaway) if their real problem with it is the presence of Ms. Jolie.

[Excuse me for a minute while I pull on my nomex. ;-)]

Actually, I adore Angelina. (Not as a person, mind you - she's a bit of a freak in her personal life, but as an actress? She's awesome. And one can't deny that she's hot with a capital H - oh heck, capitalize the O and T also. :) )

So that wasn't it for me. I just don't like Arm Pitt.

Fair enough.

We can still agree on Jolie's acting ability and her hotness. Although I tend to fixate on those huge lips whenever she's on camera. I'm sorry she and Billy Bob split up; the world needs ubër-weird couples like that, if only to make the rest of us seem slightly more sane in comparison.

Right. It's her huge lips you're watching. Got it. :)