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Meet Joe Black
Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
Meet Joe Black
tells the story of media tycoon William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins), whose charmed and orderly household are suddenly disrupted by the arrival of an enigmatic young man named Joe Black (Brad Pitt) who proceeds to fall in love with Parrish's beautiful daughter Susan (Claire Forlani). For Parrish, Susan and the rest of his family, the consequences of this romance are profound, complicated and bittersweet, for Joe Black is actually the personification of death.Also starring Jake Weber, Marcia Gay Harden and Jeffrey Tambor. Inspired by the film Death takes a holiday.
Cinematic intelligence sources
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
A little bit too much.Meet Joe Black comes in at about three hours, which I believe is too long for a romantic drama. For epics that length is fine, but this film is so up close and personal that it's too much. For me, anyway.
Apart from clock-watching, however, this is a darned good film. The premise is brilliant (Death decides to see what life is like), the acting is great (Anthony is polished, Brad stumbles a bit, but gives the best "Losing my virginity" performance of all time), the humour is warm, the drama involving, the ending tearful. And for those who are interested in such things, you get to see Brad with no clothes on.
There is also one scene which deserves its own mention: the coffee shop. This is where the young man whose body Death takes for his own use (ie Death kills Brad) meets Susan. The chemistry between Brad and Claire is intense while the humour and poignancy are balanced to perfection. The "Looking back over the shoulder to see if the other person is looking back over their shoulder" section is bittersweet to the point of pain. The death of the young man is the most unexpected and well-executed demise I have ever seen.
While this is undoubtedly a chick movie, the more esoterically-minded will also enjoy Meet Joe Black for its philosophical aspects (ie death and life) and the cinephiles can enjoy the performances and lavish sets. There is room for improvement, but not much.
Security censorship classification
*
Not for public release in Australia before date
11 March 1999
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