MEET JOE BLACK RATING: 6.5 / 10 --> So-so
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>From MALLRATS (6/10) to this!?! Claire Forlani breaks into the "show" with her first big romantic lead opposite one of the "sexiest men in the world", Brad Pitt. Director Martin Brest follows up his greatest critical success from 1992, SCENT OF A WOMAN (7.5/10), with a semi-remake of the 1934 film, DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY, a 3-hour long fantastical romance starring Death.
PLOT: Death comes to Earth and injects itself into the form of a human body (Pitt) in order to learn more about human beings and life in general. He chooses an extremely successful and rich man, William Parrish (Hopkins) to be his guide through this journey, up until the time he chooses to end it, at which point, he will take the 65-year old Parrish with him. What's the quirk in his plans? Mr. Parrish also has a gorgeous daughter, to which Death gradually takes a liking.
CRITIQUE: Despite it being too long, too slow, and not all together believable, this film still manages to whip up a kernel of cinematic magic with the wonderful performances by its leads, the beautiful scenery and a touching father-daughter subplot. Folks, before you read any more of this review, please appreciate the fact that this film truly feeeeels like three hours! Most of the scenes seem to go on for too long, the dialogue between the actors is constantly interrupted by long spurts of silence and ambiguous gazes, and the overall feel of the film is slow, slow and slow. Having said that, I might recommend this film for video-watchers, who have the prerogative to watch the film at their own leisure, and even forward the boring parts, or rewind the whispering parts (Most of which were too low to comprehend.)
That aside, the film's actual story line is sort of original, but not taken full advantage of. They basically just make Death feel like a "fish out of water" character which we've already seen done to death (no pun intended) in many a better film. As Death, Brad Pitt is good, but his character is really quite annoying and slow. His counterpart, the mousy Claire Forlani is also quite decent in her role, but their romance never really grabbed me by the throat (They might have wanted to pursue the "coffee shop" scene's ambience further in this script...). Her boyfriend in the film is also played well by actor Jake Weber, but for some reason, he downshifts into a completely one-dimensional character about halfway through this voyage. Anthony Hopkins is also great as the patriarch of this super-rich family, while managing to authenticate true feelings of his power and humanity. Jeffrey Tambor is also funny in the role of the comic-relief loser.
I must say that the conclusion of this film also left me dry in the enthusiasm department, as Death's departure from Earth was somewhat anticlimactic. And I don't care how high you jam your bombastic musical score, Mr. Brest, you will not make me cry solely on the basis of blood gushing out of my eardrums!! All in all, the film does not succeed on most fronts. It's too long, waaaaay too slow, and kind of flaky as a romance. On the other hand, if you don't mind long or slow movies, like staring at beautiful people and images for 3 hours, and are interested in the father-daughter relationship angle, which is quite well done in this film, then by all means, check this movie out...on video! And oh yeah, I never like to reveal plot points in my reviews, but just this once I'll tell you a little something that might juice this film up for you..........................are you ready?...........................Death gets laid!!
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Brad Pitt's favorite snack is pizza. His favorite cereal is Frosted Flakes. His favorite movie of all time is ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (7.5/10) (one of his favorites). His favorite TV show of all time is "All in the Family". He likes the music of Neil Young, Bob Marley, Soundgarden and Eric Clapton. (The Oprah Winfrey Show, November 13, 1998) Brad Pitt received $17,500,000 for his role in this film. He dated fellow actresses Juliette Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow for three and two years respectively, and dropped out of the University of Missouri School of Journalism when he was only two credits short of (and two weeks prior to) graduating to move to California. He was majoring in journalism with a focus in advertising. He told his parents and friends that he was off to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, because he was afraid to tell them that, in fact, he planned to relegate himself to the status of a table-waiting, limo-driving, chicken-suit-wearing, LA type, all in the hope that someday he would be famous. Pitt was the third choice for the role of J.D. in THELMA & LOUISE (8/10). William Baldwin, the first choice, left to star in BACKDRAFT (7.5/10). In 1992, director Martin Brest was nominated for an Oscar as Best Director for SCENT OF A WOMAN. He also directed the original BEVERLY HILLS COP (7.5/10) starring Eddie Murphy. Claire Forlani is British, and played the long-lost daughter of Sean Connery in THE ROCK (7/10). This film was originally titled DEATH TAKES A VACATION. Singer Melissa Etheridge once provided this Brad Pitt testimonial: "One night a few of us, shall we say, lesbians, were in the hot tub watching the guys play basketball in the pool. We were staring at Brad and we all agreed he could change a woman's mind."
Review Date: November 18, 1998
Director: Martin Brest
Writers: Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno, Kevin Wade and Bo Goldman
Producer: Martin Brest
Actors: Brad Pitt as Joe Black/ Death
Anthony Hopkins as William Parrish
Claire Forlani as Susan Parrish
Genre: Comedy/ Romance
Year of Release: 1998
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(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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