[A] glossy but overlong update of Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 comedy Death Takes a Holiday.

A savory, extralong feature whose obvious plotlines unfold with an almost painful slowness that somehow makes them deeper.

To call the three-hour-long "Meet Joe Black" leaden would do an injustice to lead.

...Meet Joe Black was savaged by critics at the time, but looks a more interesting prospect today, not least because we know how just how far outside his comfort zone Brad Pitt’s deeply strange, yet memorable performance is...