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Meet Joe Black, and then say good-bye to him. Like an oddity you would meet at a friend's party, Joe Black is the sort of guy that reminds you of the person who sits in the corner for the duration of the party and says nothing not because he's shy but because he just isn't interesting. Ditto for this character study? Notice the question mark. 180 minutes of mumbling, meandering and dull facial expressions are inexcusable from a director, Maritn Brest, who has been responsible for film gems such as 'Going in Style', 'Beverly Hills Cop' and 'Scent of a Woman'. Talented in every sense of the word, Brest makes his films technically flat and academically exciting as his characters always stand out and Brest's sub text isn't always challenging but his films are usually captivating and always entertaining. What's more shocking is how a pair of actors like Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt can read a script and not use the chef's line...."It needs more flavouring!" In the dictionary under "bland", you will see a description of this movie. The most disappointing thing about this movie is that its last half hour is great and I don't understand why the same technique wasn't applied to the rest of the film.
Anthony Hopkins is a media mogul whose decency as a person shines through at every turn. He loves his family, misses his late wife, has not re-married for the sake of his enormous wealth and resists the idea of making a deal with a rival to merge with his company and under mind his life's work. Hopkins wakes up one morning and hears a strange voice that keeps saying "Yes." The key to the film's story is his daughter (Claire Forlani), a medical intern who meets an un-named man (Brad Pitt) in a coffee shop one day. She's pretty much an item with her father's right hand man in business but finds that it's more of a business arrangement and her father can sense this. After striking up a conversation with Pitt at the coffee shop, the two of them obviously feel struck by the love thunderbolt. They part strangely outside and as she goes one way and turns the corner, he goes the other and watches her fade from sight while standing in the middle of the street and is hit by a car.
Hopkins experiences chest pains at the office and convulses and hears the strange voice again and later that night before dinner, he hears it again and is visited by what we learn is death (yes, the grim reaper) who has assumed Pitt's body and wants a lesson in life before taking Hopkins to the next world and the two of them know that their time left on Earth is short. Hopkins is able to reflect on his life and Forlani thinks that the body she sees is the man from the coffee shop and the film explains things clearly later, although there is no reason for this film to be three hours in length.
When I think of films such as 'The Godfather', 'Citizen Kane' and other movie classics that can tell a story in less time than this film, I'm appalled. 'Meet Joe Black' has brief musical interludes here and there, too many close-ups and much of the dialogue is barely audible giving the impression that it could pass as a silent film if subtitles were added which would probably get the words across more clearly than the underachieving vocal chords of the cast.
Based loosely on the 1934 classic 'Death Takes a Holiday', 'Meet Joe Black' is written by Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno, Kevin Wade and the brilliant Bo Goldman who is way off the mark by allowing his name, along with director Martin Brest to be attached to this film.
'Meet Joe Black' is not a bad movie. It is, however, a very under achieving and disappointing one. It has no punch to move an emotional nerve in the body of a movie fan and while a film like '2001: A Space Odyssey' can be hypnotic and mistaken as boring, 'Meet Joe Black' doesn't even have the technical supplements to warrant being what it is, flat and unappealing.
By : Walter Frith
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What would you do if you were informed that you only have a very limited time to live? This would be the ultimate life crisis. Some would spend their remaining days putting their affairs in order to make life easier for their families. Others would work on getting right with their god. Certainly some would jump into that familiar river Denial and ignore the situation.
The most common answer is that one would do all those things that he had been putting off. Tell a loved one how much she means to you. Express to your friends the importance they've had in you life. Explain to your children the lessons you've learned so maybe they won't have to make the same mistakes. Visit Bali like you've always wanted to. Of course the reality that we all do have only a limited time rarely sinks in and we continue in our work-a-day world oblivious to the ticking of the countdown.
Media mogul William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) is approaching his 65th birthday and is sure he is about to die. He has it from the ultimate authority. Death, himself, delivered the news over dinner.
Parrish's daughter Susan (Claire Forlani) has had better luck. Involved in a loveless relationship with Drew (Jake Weber), a business partner of her father's, she meets a handsome stranger (Brad Pitt) in a downtown coffee shop. There's an instant connection and they almost drown in each other's eyes.
That evening, she's shocked to find the man at her family's table. Parrish introduces him as "Joe Black", a new associate. Unbeknownst to the rest, Death has taken over the young man's body to spend some time on earth and try to discover what being human is all about. He and Parrish have a deal. The Grim Reaper will delay harvesting him as long as he acts as tour guide to our reality.
What Joe doesn't count on is falling in love with Susan. Although the two seemingly don't have much in common -- she's a doctor from a very wealthy family, he's an immortal force of nature -- they find themselves drawn together.
Director Martin Brest ("Scent Of A Woman") has taken a potentially fascinating look at coming to grips with mortality and the nature of supernatural beings and ignored what should have been the film's strong points. Loosely based on the 1934 "Death Takes A Holiday", there's promise in the concept but it doesn't deliver.
The film's biggest sin is its length. At three hours, the admittedly satisfying ending comes about 60 minutes after it should have. Virtually every scene goes on longer than it needs to. Entire sub-plots could have been eliminated without detracting from the movie.
Mostly what Parrish does during his last days is defend his company from a hostile takeover. Headed by Evan, his board of directors ousts him from the firm and he must fight to regain control of the business he's built. The corporate takeover doesn't add much to the story except a couple brief witticisms about death and taxes.
As part of their deal, Parrish can't explain who Joe really is to his business cronies. In the real world if a handsome young stud suddenly showed up constantly hanging out with a rich older man and they both refused to tell what was going on, there would be an obvious guess as to their relationship. I was surprised that this suspicion was never voiced.
The movie is filled with one-trick ponies. Forlani plays Susan as a nervous hesitant woman, especially in the love scenes with Bill. She does a great job at it, but about the fifth time it happens, you'll find yourself impatiently tapping your fingers on the armrest.
Pitt's Death is understandably an enigma, but one that makes little sense. At times Joe is childlike. He doesn't know what food is about. He can't figure out how to tie his tie. He can barely walk. Think Peter Sellers in "Being There". At other times, he delivers the insights that you'd think an entity who has spent forever observing mankind would have.
The relationship between Susan and Joe is occasionally touching, but not very believable. After all, she is in love with the guy she met at the coffee shop, not this unnatural being inhabiting his body. As clueless and cold as he is when they meet again, it's difficult to understand what she sees in him.
There are some well-done bits.The last minute of Joe and Susan's first meeting comes out of left field and is a great cinematic moment.
The one time that the overly long scene work is when Susan seduces Joe into discovering the garden of earthly delights. It takes forever for them to undress each other and it's a slow heat coming to a full burn. Forlani has an offbeat beauty that can be enticing at one moment and uninviting at others. Not happening to be of the sexual persuasion to fully appreciate Brad Pitt's physical attributes, I can only mention the involuntary "oohs" and "aahs" from the women in the audience when his shirt comes off.
Hopkins is wonderful and it might be worth seeing the film just for him. He's a grand actor, but at times he seems to be in a room by himself, reacting to things that we can't see.
The movie misses the boat. There are interesting ideas to explore. Susan's older sister Allison (Marcia Gay Harden) has spent her life trying to please her father. Her husband Quince (Jeffrey Tambor) is the most human of the bunch but gets little screen time. Surely Parrish has something better to do after finding out he's about to die besides spend his time in the boardroom. But these aspects get slighted in favor of far too much time spent on corporate wheelings and dealings and Joe and Susan who get dull fast.
After what seems to be five or six hours into the film, you'll begin to wonder whether Death is coming for Bill Parrish or this movie.
By : Michael Redman
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