MEET JOE BLACK Review by Victory A. Marasigan http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~vmaras1/reviewsidx.html
Here's how the story goes: Death decides to take a rare vacation on Earth, using a sunny-blonde out-of-towner (Brad Pitt) as his corporeal vehicle. In exchange for a temporary extension on his life, wealthy tycoon William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) agrees to give Death, a.k.a. Joe Black, a tour of humanity. The child-like -- and ironically angelic -- Joe eventually finds himself head-over-heels in love with Susan Parrish (Claire Forlani), putting the elder Parrish at odds with the daughter for whom he wants nothing but the best (Imagine Dr. Kevorkian dating _your_ daughter).
A pretty silly idea for a movie, isn't it? To the contrary, the adult's fairy tale _Meet Joe Black_ rises above the obvious pitfalls of its premise to tell a thought-provoking and heart-warming story of deep universal relevance.
For once, Pitt is able to use his suave doofus persona to create a likable character. He and Forlani make a charged, intense on-screen couple. More central to the story is Hopkins' relationship with his daughters, which he works to resolve before his impending demise. As cliche as his character's situation is, Hopkins great performance (one of his best since _The Silence of the Lambs_) and writers Ron Osborne and Jeff Reno's eloquent dialogue make all the difference in letting us forget that we've seen this story many times before.
At three hours, the film does carry a bit of a squirm factor, but objectively, little could have been excised without changing the film's impact. If _Meet Joe Black_ moves at a glacially slow pace, it is because there is so much to take in in every single shot (a Stanley Kubrick influence, perhaps?).
With its complicated lessons on family relations and the inevitability of death, _Meet Joe Black_ resonates on a very personal level. It is definitely not a movie to go out and see with "the gang." Ideally, the film should be viewed in a mostly empty theater, where the movie's blissful quiet can invigorate you.
GRADE: B+
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