At best and on the surface "Meet Joe Black" is a tolerable film for pure entertainment, upon further inspection, a snail paced three hour patriarchal time suck.

I just had two major issues:

1) That Jamaican accent - the accent itself is actually pretty good, it's the context that's problematic. Sure, there is the faintest inference to Baron Samedi, Vodou Loa (spirit) of the dead (Death himself), in the use of Jamaican patois and the reference of "duppy", "spirit" and "obeah"... but that's not widely general knowledge. It wouldn't have come across so unsettlingly infantilizing if the inference were instead a direct reference, something overt so the audience wouldn't be confused by the sudden switch, instead it appears as though he's speaking to a child (he's literally standing above and talking down to her) almost mocking. Death has many names, they could have had the old lady just say it during her address to Joe (Baron Samedi) -simple fix.

2) Relegating the women to mere objects of service (constantly weeping, making things... preparations, food, notes, "love") added a tang of bitterness to this otherwise mostly pointless drama.


As someone else said, at least now I can tick it off my list.

I liked the idea of the movie and it is definitely one you might enjoy if you don’t think too much about it.. However, here are a few issues I had with it:

1. Let me start by saying that I don’t mind long movies, as long as they manage to captivate my attention. However, this one was just too long and slow! There were too many silences, too many stretched out scenes..
2. What is up with that Jamaican accent scene? Why? Like did Death really need to change his accent to communicate with the woman? It felt so out of place for me
3. The movie seems to hesitate between what Joe knows about the humans and what he doesn’t… Like food, towels, beds, crossing the road, all that are strange things he is exploring for the 1st time yet he manages to easily navigate through the city on his own and even come up with the IRS plan at the end
4. Anthony Hopkins is great but I don’t understand what the attraction was to Death here? Why did Joe pick this guy? It is not like we see much of the great businessman that Parrish is after Joe enters the scene.

I don’t really know how exactly to rate this movie but at least I can say I finally got that one off my watchlist.

Joe Black ( Brad Pitt ) as the Grim Reaper arrives on the doorstep of wealthy businessman Bill Parrish ( Anthony Hopkins ) after borrowing a body of a man killed that morning. After experiencing chest pains and hearing voices Bill Parish is due to die and Joe has come to escort him to the other side. Bill, playing for more time, engages with Joe and manages to persuade him to spend a little more time on earth. Joe’s interest in humanity and experiencing life is particularly heightened when he and Bill’s daughter Susan start to form a relationship.

 “Meet Joe Black” centres more on the relationship of Joe and Susan rather than Deaths design for Bill. As a Romeo and Juliet style story of forbidden love, “Meet Joe Black” tries hard to play on audience emotions. Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins give solid performances but the lengthy run time makes it hard to sustain interest in both the story and any of the characters. The premise is quite good and the Stella cast try to make the most of the concept of the spiritual firepower of love. However it’s over complication and unnecessary sub plot ( bid to take over Bill’s company) just makes “ Meet Joe Black” unnecessarily long.

***Captivating commentary on love, life and death***

The Grim Reaper (i.e. the Angel of Death) comes to take billionaire industrialist Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) but instead decides to take a holiday in the corporeal universe by possessing the body of a young man (Brad Pitt). Death's deal with Parrish is that, as long as he's entertained, he'll delay Bill's death. Mr. Death materializes as a mysterious stranger with child-like qualities known as 'Joe Black.' His "holiday" is complicated when he falls for Parrish's daughter (Claire Forlani).

"Meet Joe Black" (1998) is a re-imagining of the 1934 film "Death Takes a Holiday" (which I've never seen). It has the confidence to take its time at almost 3 hours, but is so captivating that it feels shorter than most 90-minute mindless flicks. The plot is reminiscent of other good "fish out of water" stories like Spock in Star Trek, “Starman” (1984), etc.

Yes, it's outlandish but the film expertly presents the bizarre situation in a totally believable manner. In other words, this is indeed a serious drama, which nicely balances out the heavy moments with lighter touches. I would compare it to "The Green Mile" (1999), another long drama with supernatural touches and wholly captivating.

Despite its fantastical premise, "Meet Joe Black" consistently offers profound insights to the most vital topics of the human experience — love, life, death and numerous others, e.g. betrayal, rivalry, hostility, comeuppance and the mysterious beyond. One good example is when Parrish's son-in-law (Jeffrey Tambor) offers a definition of love to Joe Black: To know the worst thing about someone and it's okay, presuming they’re penitent. This is just one example; the film is filled with such insights.

"Meet Joe Black" cost $90 million to make and only made half of it back at the USA box office. Fortunately it has gone on to garner an enthusiastic following and rightly so 'cause this is a near-masterpiece of filmmaking and genuinely moving. I consider myself a masculine man, but tears flowed through approximately 1/3 of the runtime. This is a sign of a potent and affecting picture.

It's a travesty that dreck like "Pirates of the Caribbean" makes gazillions of dollars and garbage like "American Beauty" are hailed as masterpieces while true gems like "Joe Black" are often overlooked. The good thing is that time was on Joe Black's side. The word got out.

The film runs 2 hours, 58 minutes, and was shot in Warwick, Rhode Island (Aldrich Mansion); Manhattan; and Teaneck, New Jersey.

GRADE: A/A-