People usually go to cinemas in order to be entertained. For most of them being reminded of their mortality is hardly an entertainment. This is the reason why Death rarely appears as a character in modern films. After Meet Joe Black, 1998 drama directed by Martin Brest, such instances are even less likely.
The plot, inspired by 1934 Hollywood classic Death Takes a Holiday (itself based on Alberto Cassella's play), is dealing with William Parrish (played by Anthony Hopkins), New York media mogul who, at his 65th birthday, feels that his life is nearing an end. His suspicions are validated by the arrival of Death itself, which took the form of a young man (played by Brad Pitt) who goes by the name "Joe Black". Death is, however, intrigued with the way Parrish became rich while not straying from his moral principles. Death agrees to spare Parrish for a while and use him as guide in the world of living. Soon "Joe Black" finds many things to like - peanut butter and Parrish's beautiful daughter Susan (played by Claire Forlani) who decides to leave her fiance Drew (played by Jake Weber) because of mysterious stranger.
In many ways Meet Joe Black represents 1990s Hollywood at its worst - a film that attracts audience solely with the names on the billboard, script being "developed" by a committee for almost two decades and, last but not least, budget that somehow managed to reach 90 million US$ without reflecting that on the screen. The script is, of course, full of logical holes again showing modern Hollywood's inability to really grasp deep philosophical concepts. Although the character actors (unlike uninspired Pitt and Forlani) show competence in their roles, they can't solve this film's main problem - excessive length. The word "overlong" is actually understatement for Meet Joe Black which is more than twice longer than its 1934 predecessor. What could have been a charming, interesting or at least watchable supernatural drama is ruined by Brest's glacial pacing. Before the end credits Brest succeeds in making death attractive, although in way different than casting Pitt. For many people death is going to be preferable to spending an eternity with films like this one.
RATING: 2/10 (-)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on October 12th 2004)
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