In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
One example is below.
Q: plot : two teen couples go to a church party , drink and then drive .
they get into an accident .
one of the guys dies , but his girlfriend continues to see him in her life , and has nightmares .
what 's the deal ?
watch the movie and " sorta " find out . . .
critique : a mind - fuck movie for the teen generation that touches on a very cool idea , but presents it in a very bad package .
which is what makes this review an even harder one to write , since i generally applaud films which attempt to break the mold , mess with your head and such ( lost highway & memento ) , but there are good and bad ways of making all types of films , and these folks just did n't snag this one correctly
.
they seem to have taken this pretty neat concept , but executed it terribly .
so what are the problems with the movie ?
well , its main problem is that it 's simply too jumbled
.
it starts off " normal " but then downshifts into this " fantasy " world in which you , as an audience member ,
have no idea what 's going on
.
there are dreams , there are characters coming back from the dead , there are others who look like the dead , there are strange apparitions , there are disappearances , there are a looooot of chase scenes , there are tons of weird things that happen , and most of it is simply not explained .
now i personally do n't mind trying to unravel a film every now and then , but when all it does is give me the same clue over and over again , i get kind of fed up after a while , which is this film 's biggest problem .
it 's obviously got this big secret to hide , but it seems to want to hide it completely until its final five minutes .
and do they make things entertaining , thrilling or even engaging , in the meantime ?
not really .
the sad part is that the arrow and i both dig on flicks like this , so we actually figured most of it out by the half - way point , so all of the strangeness after that did start to make a little bit of sense , but it still did n't the make the film all that more entertaining .
i guess the bottom line with movies like this is that you should always make sure that the audience is " into it " even before they are given the secret password to enter your world of understanding .
i mean , showing melissa sagemiller running away from visions for about 20 minutes throughout the movie is just plain lazy ! !
okay , we get it .
. .
there are people chasing her and we do n't know who they are .
do we really need to see it over and over again ?
how about giving us different scenes offering further insight into all of the strangeness going down in the movie ?
apparently , the studio took this film away from its director and chopped it up themselves , and it shows .
there might 've been a pretty decent teen mind - fuck movie in here somewhere , but i guess " the suits " decided that turning it into a music video with little edge , would make more sense .
the actors are pretty good for the most part , although wes bentley just seemed to be playing the exact same character that he did in american beauty , only in a new neighborhood .
but my biggest kudos go out to sagemiller , who holds her own throughout the entire film , and actually has you feeling her character 's unraveling .
overall , the film does n't stick
because it does n't entertain , it 's confusing , it rarely excites and
it feels pretty redundant for most of its runtime , despite a pretty cool ending and explanation to all of the craziness that came before it .
oh ,
and by the way , this is not a horror or teen slasher flick . . .
it 's just packaged to look that way because someone is apparently assuming that the genre is still hot with the kids .
it also wrapped production two years ago and has been sitting on the shelves ever since .
whatever . .
. skip it !
where 's joblo coming from ?
a nightmare of elm street 3 ( 7/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the crow ( 9/10 ) - the crow : salvation ( 4/10 )
- lost highway ( 10/10 ) - memento ( 10/10 ) - the others ( 9/10 ) - stir of echoes ( 8/10 )
A: N
Rationale: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").
Q: meet joe black is your classic boy - meets - girl , boy - likes - girl , boy - gets - killed - in - horrible - accident , supernatural - entity - takes - over - boy's - body , supernatural - entity - falls - in - love - with - girl story .
based on the 1934 film death takes a holiday , meet joe black is a well acted romantic drama which explores the meanings of life and love .
william parrish ( anthony hopkins ) is a billionaire businessman on the brink of his 65th birthday .
he has built a huge media empire , and raised two beautiful daughters , allison ( marcia gay harden ) and susan ( claire forlani ) .
william has been able to negotiate his way out of many tough spots . . .
but he has suddenly begun fearing his own mortality , the one situation he wo n't be able to talk his way out of .
and he has good reason to fear , for death himself is stalking him .
however , death has a deal to make .
death has taken possession of a man who has recently died ( brad pitt ) , and wants william to be his guide in a holiday among the living .
in return , william gets to live a few extra days .
of course , he agrees .
death , under the human name of " joe black " , gets to experience life as a complete innocent .
he never before has experienced the simple pleasures of a springy matters or peanut butter .
and he 's not quite compared for the more complex pleasures when he and susan fall in love .
but , is their affair doomed to an early demise ?
at nearly three hours in length , meet joe black is a little bit on the leisurely side , though it never gets boringly lengthy .
instead , the film gets a chance to develop some nicely textured characters and situations .
you get to soak in and enjoy the atmosphere , rather than being hurriedly rushed through it .
the romantic angle works well , though , surprisingly , the interactions between joe black and william parrish are more interesting than those with his daughter .
this is most likely due to anthony hopkins , who once again displays his superb acting skills .
william is a desperate man who has had a seemingly ideal life , and does n't want to let it go .
by contrast , claire forlani is merely the romantic interest .
she gets to show joe the ropes of love , but is hardly as interesting a character .
as joe black , brad pitt seems a bit stilted .
granted , he 's supposed to be out - of - place , but the overly formal technique used by pitt begins to distract from the role .
still , he is able to hold his own , and over the course of the three hours , his character begins to grow on you .
the main character who seems out of place here is drew ( jake weber ) , an ambitious executive in williams ' company who is joe black 's main rival for susan 's affections .
weber plays the character with a hammy relish reminiscent of snidley whiplash .
this cartoonish foil an aberration in a film filled many more dimensional characters .
the supernatural elements of the film are handled murkily , but never distractingly so .
we never learn what is the exact nature of death , or why he 's never done something like this before .
it actually gets a bit creepy when death talks to the dying in their own voices / accents .
( his initial conversations with hopkins sound shockingly like hannibal lecter . . . ) and the ultimate resolution to one of the film 's supernatural problems seems , well , somewhat superficial .
still , even with the film 's length , it was a pleasant time at the movies , something you would n't necessarily expect from a film about death . . .
but one which meet joe black delivers anyhow .
A:
P