MEET JOE BLACK
*** (out of 4)
Release Date: November 13, 1998 Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey Tambor Directed by: Martin Brest Distributed by: Universal Pictures MPAA Rating: PG-13 (an accident scene, some sexuality, brief strong language) URL: http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio/reviews/1998/meetjoe.htm
There's a way of bringing romance to the screen without tipping your hand. Successfully, a romantic picture will have finesse rather than power, and style rather than substance. It will also have a chemistry between lead roles that is thick and palpable -- nobody wants to watch a pair of deadbeats fall in love. The script will be skillfully drawn out, with devotion to both realism and fantasy, and it will have at least one important thematic element to deliver. This definition is just as well the description of Martin Brest's latest film, MEET JOE BLACK, an inspiring drama about life and death and the love that falls within.
Director Brest made the original BEVERLY HILLS COP, but hasn't directed a feature since 1992's SCENT OF A WOMAN. He makes a fine return here in masterfully helming a picture that runs nearly three hours in length - never an easy task. The script he's given to work with isn't fantastic in terms of extensibility, for it does not spread itself out over the three hours. There are moments when it proceeds at an interminable pace, making sixty-second conversations into five- or ten-minute affairs. Brest takes advantage of the script's shortcomings, however, by styling the movie around them -- and thus MEET JOE BLACK ends up having a thoughtful air about it. The audience definitely ponders the same questions that the characters do.
The cast does their best to highlight the plot, and the names involved are certainly worthy of note. Anthony Hopkins has the main character but in an interesting shift of dynamic, he's relegated to a supporting role as Brad Pitt takes center stage. Pitt plays Death, in the body of Joe Black, a young man killed in a car crash at the movie's open. And so Death visits successful communications exec Bill Parrish (Hopkins) to let him know that his time is up -- but before they travel to the next world, Death wants Parrish to show him around Earth a bit. And so Death's vacation becomes a life experience as he learns what the human way is like; the crux of the trip, however, is the love that begins to grow between Death and Parrish's daughter Susan (Claire Forlani). So when Bill's time is up, it becomes a pivotal point in time for all three characters.
The acting corps does a fine job all around. Hopkins is the highlight, delivering many spectacular lines in fine form (although he does wax a bit poetic too early on). He lends a sense of robust energy to his character that sharply contrasts the appropriate lack of emotion in Pitt's Death. But the grounding factor in the movie is Claire Forlani, who gives an excellent turn as the daughter of one character and the love interest of another. She lends a passive sensuality to the movie that strengthens the romance as well as the life story of Bill Parrish, and the movie is certainly greater because of her. The other supports are in fine form as well, from Jake Weber's bad guy to Jeffrey Tambor's comic relief. All in all this becomes a very inspiring and thoughtful movie to watch, and it's questionable only for its three-hour length. Compared to other films of such length, like the recent BELOVED, MEET JOE BLACK is definitely worth the price of the ticket.
-- Craig Roush kinnopio@execpc.com -- Kinnopio's Movie Reviews http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio
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