Excellent but underrated film

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

In the recent thriller The Edge, Anthony Hopkins played a wealthy businessman who is transformed by a harrowing encounter with death. In Meet Joe Black, Anthony Hopkins plays Bill, a similar character confronting similar themes, but with a very different twist. Here he meets Death as played by Brad Pitt. Death informs Bill that he wants to see what life is like and he wants Bill to teach him. So long as Death is interested and learning, Bill gets more time. When Bill has to introduce Death to his family at dinner, he fumbles around for a name, eventually coming up with Joe Black.This is hardly the first film to depict bargains with Death. In Ingmar Bergman's Seventh Seal the allegorical figure of death (complete with shroud) is challenged to a game of chess. His intended victim hopes to forestall the inevitable. Bergman's Death character is reprised in Woody Allen's Love and Death, The Last Action Hero, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. In Meet Joe Black we are spared the shroud since Death decided to borrow a body from one of his victims. (If you gotta' have one, might as well borrow one that looks like Brad Pitt, I guess.)The real twist in this film comes in what could be taken as the sub-plot. Death falls in love with Bill's daughter Susan. Susan is involved with Drew, her father's right-hand man in the business world. Drew meanwhile is conniving at some underhanded business deals of his own. The plot takes more than a few twists and turns along the way, but in the end it is neither the plot nor the grand theme (if there is one) that makes the film engaging. Sometimes its the ride itself that makes the journey worthwhile.Frankly, there are more than a few problems of plausibility here (even after we grant willing suspension of disbelief to the central premise). As one small example, Joe Black is fluent in Jamaican patois, but doesn't know how to tie a tie. The cinematography is good, but not outstanding, and the performances are no more that what we would expect under the circumstances.Still in all, there were more than a few moments along the way where the audience laughed pretty hard. At one point the audience applauded (in the middle of the movie no less), and I'm sure there were more than a few smiles on more than a few occasions. By the end of the film, director Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman) has given us quite a few simple pleasures along the way. If there is a grand theme to the film, perhaps that is it . . . . it's the simple pleasures that make life good, and in the end, caring is everything.

The only positive thing I can say after seeing this is: I want to get drunk. And that is the only reason why I am giving it two stars. I want to get drunk to forget what I just witnessed. I just wasted 45 minutes on this «masterpiece». I saw the first 45 minutes but then had to FF the rest of it, I found no joy nor entertainment. Consider yourself lucky if you haven't seen it, I cannot unsee this and I am probably scarred for life.

Fantasy, mystery, drama, romance and even comedy... They all were melted in the crucible in an excellent way. I felt all of them throughout the movie, I began to grieve while laughing, I thought about fantastic issues while getting carried away with romance, etc. The last time I saw a movie like this is a long time ago... It was The Bucket List (2007) and put a smile on my face. Meet Joe Black is well-formed with acting, editing, and dialogues. It does not bother you even though it lasts 3 hours nearly, someone might not realize how the time passes. I could wish more than it as for me.Another feeling I had towards the end of the movie is that it would be half black and half blue if the movie were a color.

In this film, Death takes the body of a person to be able to approach William Parrish, a media mogul to whom she asks for information about human life. Speaking in these terms, it looks like an old tale brought to this day. However, although the idea is good and the film has truly beautiful moments, its far from perfect. The film is quite elegant and has a beautiful cinematography, full of warm colors and little contrast, as if everything developed in a late afternoon or next to a fireplace. The actors are veterans that we like to see working, the environments, sets and costumes are exquisite... its good, the film has quality! Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins make a good pair when they split the screen, being able to get the best of each other, as well as being both icons of male charm, each on its own way. Claire Forlani also made a good, very restrained but strong performance, although the romance with Pitt's character is as cold and impersonal as his character. I said the movie was not perfect, remember? Beginning with the actors, Pitt made several mistakes and did certain things he shouldn't. His character is always lacking in human warmth and, if Death really wanted to learn more about humanity, this was something that should have gradually emerged in this character, especially when he falls in love. Love is the most intense and transformative human feeling and this is never suggested to us... I don't know if Pitt accepts without criticism everything directors and writers say he has to do, but it's his duty not to let his character fall, so he should have had the perception of the mistake that would be to keep such coldness from a certain point. But there are more problems: the script has an excellent main plot but is too dense and there are too many subplots, and that only helps to get the film out of focus. The director, Martin Brest, did a good job filming but clearly didn't give great relevance to pre and post production. He should have scrutinized the script better, eliminating some things, as well as requiring the editing team to cut out what was left over. And there's plenty of leftovers in a super slow movie, which drags on for three hours without any need, with overly long or ancillary scenes. It's a beautiful movie, but it's tedious to watch because we just lost the patience needed to watch something so long and so empty.