Rating: 
Summary: Movie - 5 Stars / Music - 5 Stars -- a 10 Star WINNER
Review: I loved the refreshing style of this movie! It seems to capture the elegance as well as the dialog and timing of the old movies . This movie is not like any other I've seen in years. I wish I had seen it on the big screen!It's got a great cast and is well written. Of course the score by Thomas Neuman is excellent too. (I liked it so well I bought the soundtrack on CD). Some people I know said they didn't want to see it because it has Brad Pitt in it. His past movie roles have been kind of weird characters, but this one is very different. He plays a "nice guy" laywer that Claire Forlani meets in a coffee shop. As Death, he plays the part of an extremely polite and well mannered, well spoken preppy type. He shows a naive, vulnerable, tender side that I don't recall Pitt ever playing before. The romantic scenes are fantastic and so tastefully done. The way he looks at Claire Forlani is incredible -- he truly looks like he's in love! After seeing this movie, anyone who still thinks Brad Pitt can't act, just doesn't know what acting is about.
Rating:
Summary: CLASSY creative movie with WONDERFUL music!
Review: Very sensitive and romantic movie (with some humorous moments). I reluctantly picked up this movie thinking it might be a sad story about dying, but was I surprised! It does have some sad parts but mostly it's an uplifting story about life and relationships. Death just wants to sample a slice of life so he needs a 3-day tour with billionaire William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins). He certainly decided to vacation in style! The photography in the movie is lush. The sets are richly decorated with lots of artwork and antiques. The makeup artists make the stars look gorgeous. Hopkins never looked better. Claire Forlani is stunningly beautiful and Brad Pitt looks awesome. The lines are thought provoking and timed perfectly. The acting is superb and well polished. Facial expressions and gestures say so much about the feeling of each scene. The movie is 3 hours long, but each scene is significant, continually building on the theme of the story. It would be difficult to edit any of it without losing an important aspect of the story. The music is really a wonderful blend of strings, woodwinds and brass that adds feeling to scenes that are already emotion filled. I loved watching the story the first time, but it seemed even better the second time. For anyone with an appreciation for sensitive and romantic movies, this is a must see movie experience.
Rating:
Summary: This movie conveys so much feeling!
Review: The acting in this movie is intense. All 6 of the major players are excellent. Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt and Clair Forlani have some especially difficult parts to play and they do them so well! The dialog is timed for slow delivery and the rest is all acting. It gives the viewer some time to really study each situation and relate to what's going on. In some ways it resembles a Hitchcock movie, but with some lighthearted humor thrown in. It starts out spooky with Hopkins hearing a voice in the night, then there's the coffee shop where Susan (Forlani) meets Mr. Nice Guy, Brad Pitt. Just when you get into the story, things turn a little sad, then eirie. Susan gets a second chance to know the stranger from the coffee shop, but he's more of a stranger than before... I loved watching these two get to know each other even though at first Susan is upset with him for being so aloof. This relationship quickly turns into a tender and passionate interlude that lights up the screen like movies seldom do anymore. Most interesting is the metamorphasis of death (Joe Black). Pitt is superb is this role. He goes from being a rather cold and uncaring figure, curious about the mortal world to someone much like Mr. Nice Guy from the coffee shop. He's fallen in love with Susan and life itself. What a tough situation, but it's played with such emotion! One more thing... the music is GREAT!
Rating: 
Summary: Great idea for the plot but misses the mark.
Review: Some people love it while others hate it because it isn't in the top ten best or ten worst movies ever made. It is too long and dragging and the Jamaican scenes should have been cut out entirely. Brad Pitt is great to look at but gives a bland performance. Claire Forlani's performance is believable and very natural. This movie was entertaining once but I have no need or desire to watch it again.
Rating:
Summary: critics were wrong
Review: I'm relieved to see so many positive viewer reviews about this movie! After I heard what many critcs had to say about MJB, I thought that maybe there might be something seriously wrong with my mind because they were so critical, but I absolutely loved MJB the first time I saw it and the second time I saw it. I think most movie critics have simply watched far too many movies. They have forgotten what really good movies are all about --- the incredible depths of human feeling involved in being alive, in being a parent, in being a lover, in being a daughter or son. This is a great movie!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie! They don't make them like this anymore.
Review: I don't know what I was expecting when I watched this movie. But I can tell you the emotions that went through me were compelling enough to keep me watching. I was not disappointed. Brad Pitt's perfomance as well as Anthony Hopkins was wonderful. It was a romantic movie as well as sad at times. I loved every nuance, look and comment made between the characters. I will see this movie over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: A great, great movie
Review: This was an exceptional movie. If the movie would have been four hours long it would have just been a better movie. Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins are both superb. This was a great, great movie.
Rating:
Summary: The best movie I have ever seen...
Review: I didn't even know this movie existed until my friend and co-worker, David, suggested I see it. Oh, my...was I ever taken and enthralled from the very first scenes! I watched it twice in two days. I still can't believe it is 3 hours long...it goes by in a flash. It is by far the best movie I have ever seen. I am recommending it to everyone I know. I don't even remember seeing it out in the theaters and I am shocked to read that it didn't get good reviews. But I look at all the reviews here before mine and realize that the critics must not know what they are talking about! This film is a must-see...and more than once!
Rating:
Summary: Savor the depth and lightening may strike!
Review: To have lived and not loved deeply is never to have lived at all. So it goes in the sage advice of William Parrish. I am a doctor who deals with "death" on a regular basis. I lost my own father five years ago and I struggle with the questions of why and how and what if, daily. MJB, though fantasy, rings with a truth and warmth so intensely human that if you really pay attention, you just might learn something. I was so moved by this film. The performances by Hopkins, Pitt and Forlani are vivid, intelligent and fully formed. It is rare to see a film that allows us to get to know the characters so well. The depth, the humor and the warmth provide a feeling of being invited into the drawing room and taking part in the activities. We are not watching, we are included. It is rare to find a film with such subtle portrayals and nuances so finely tuned. We live in a brash world that constantly assaults our senses. So much so that I feel we are becoming dull. This film awakens emotion so intensely, it must have scared the critics who couldn't catogorize it and therefore villified it. I will forever wonder how Pitt and Forlani were brave enough to show such intensity to the world during the love scene. It was certainly the most tastefully done and well acted scene like this that I have ever seen. If you don't take the time to watch, listen and savor this film you are cheating yourself. Rarely will you find such a full-bodied and complete work in today's hack shop movie industry. Kudos to the entire cast; most noteably Pitt who seems to have reached a level of maturity in his craft that is breathtaking. To convey the depth of a soul in the glance of an eye is an astounding talent. It is too bad that so few individuals recognize the depth behind the visage.
Rating:
Summary: The kind of movie you enjoy seeing over and over!
Review: The story and music are wonderful, but the acting is truly sensational! Claire Forlani and Anthony Hopkins are excellent, but Brad Pitt as Joe Black is the real focus of the movie. You'll be entertained by his style, humor, and intensity in the role of death. Even if you've never been a fan of his before, you'll surely take notice in this work of art. Death is not portrayed as a dark figure, but one who is enjoying life's experiences while on vacation in a borrowed body. At first his style is that of a child who enjoys bouncing on the bed, and finds he is fond of peanut butter and cookies. It gets interesting when he falls in love with Susan. Unlike death, he and is no longer in control of his feelings. This movie is packed with details. Each time you watch it you'll appreciate something you've never discovered before. It's a beautiful romantic drama with bits of humor here and there. The story also conveys an important message about saying what's on your mind and being direct with people. Those who are direct get what they want and those who are quiet never quite get things to go as they would like. It portrays William Parrish as a powerful executive who is very direct and expects direct answers from people. He asks his daughter about her love interests and advises her to find real passion and wait for lightening to strike. However, when confronted with death, he finds he is in a situation where he is not in control. He chooses to communicate his loving feelings for his family before it's time to go. Susan is also direct. However, in the coffee shop, she chooses to be "agreeable" and not state how she feels while chatting with the young lawyer (Pitt). He, however, is so direct about his feelings that he embarreses her with flattery. She is smitten with the guy, but he does not ask for her phone number, and she regrets having to leave without knowing if she'll ever see him again. This is the saddest part of the movie. The music is haunting - you keep wanting them to go back to each other. But it's not meant to be. During the rest of the movie, she tells him exactly what she feels and love blooms. Susan's older sister and her husband are more quiet, wanting only to please other people and be liked. They are less influencial and percieved as unimportant. After a time they each realize the need to speak up to set things right before it's too late. Joe tells Quince, "You need to explain to Bill and he will understand". Quince finds out he is. As a result, Quince is key to getting everything resolved regarding the business crisis. Joe goes back and forth between being up front with people and staying quiet so as not to expose his identity. He is extremely direct with Bill (Hopkins) and keeps control of the situation by telling "how it is going to be". In his interaction with Drew, he tries to remain quietly polite as expected in a social setting. The tension builds and eventually "drives the dagger home" to put Drew in his place in a comical way. With Susan, Joe wastes no time expressing his interest in her. Romantic passion abounds. He "knows what he wants and he is going to have her". But he can't -- because he's from "the next place". A fate worse than death. The movie and music expresses so many emotions -- but overall it's one that makes you feel so good you want to see it again and again.
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