MEET JOE BLACK (1998)
Rating: 2.0 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Martin Brest
Written by: Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno, Kevin Wade and Bo Goldman
Ingredients: The grim reaper, old man, beautiful daughter
Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani
Synopsis: An aging, weakened, but fabulously wealthy senior news tycoon named Bill (Anthony Hopkins) utters some words to his nubile daughter Susan (Claire Forlani) about how only the experience of true love makes life worth living. The Grim Reaper who is death personified (Brad Pitt) overhears Bill's tribute to true love and becomes intrigued. He visits Bill to cut a deal. Inhabiting the body of Joe Black, a recently deceased young man, the Grim Reaper promises to delay Bill's death in exchange for Bill showing him life. Unaware that Death is inhabiting the body, Susan remembers her dad's lecture on true love and tries to start up a relationship with Joe Black.
Opinion: MEET JOE BLACK is three hours long and feels like it is three hours long. Some of the parts are done well. For example, the scenes where Bill contemplates his impending death and begins to pay more attention to his eldest daughter are sure to bring tears. On the other hand, other scenes feel odd. For example, Joe Black's height varies throughout the picture. Another example is when an old man promises a woman he will meet her for a fireworks display at the bottom of the hill. As she is waiting for him she suddenly senses something wrong. Sure enough, the old guy is dying on top of the hillside overlooking the fireworks. Seeing him stumbling at the top of the hill, the woman runs up the hill in alarm. But oddly she completely disregards the dying man when her boyfriend arrives to woo her.
Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani do a good job acting the father/daughter bond. And for Brad Pitt fans, MEET JOE BLACK features Brad in several nice outfits, with his trademark hairstyle.
Reviewed by David Sunga November 14, 1998
Copyright © 1998 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com
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