meet joe black is your classic boy-meets-girl , boy-likes-girl , boy-gets-killed-in-horrible-accident , supernatural-entity-takes-over-boy’s-body , supernatural-entity-falls-in-love-with-girl story .
based on the 1934 film death takes a holiday , meet joe black is a well acted romantic drama which explores the meanings of life and love .
william parrish ( anthony hopkins ) is a billionaire businessman on the brink of his 65th birthday .
he has built a huge media empire , and raised two beautiful daughters , allison ( marcia gay harden ) and susan ( claire forlani ) .
william has been able to negotiate his way out of many tough spots . . . but he has suddenly begun fearing his own mortality , the one situation he won’t be able to talk his way out of .
and he has good reason to fear , for death himself is stalking him .
however , death has a deal to make .
death has taken possession of a man who has recently died ( brad pitt ) , and wants william to be his guide in a holiday among the living .
in return , william gets to live a few extra days .
of course , he agrees .
death , under the human name of ” joe black ” , gets to experience life as a complete innocent .
he never before has experienced the simple pleasures of a springy matters or peanut butter .
and he’s not quite compared for the more complex pleasures when he and susan fall in love .
but , is their affair doomed to an early demise ?
at nearly three hours in length , meet joe black is a little bit on the leisurely side , though it never gets boringly lengthy .
instead , the film gets a chance to develop some nicely textured characters and situations .
you get to soak in and enjoy the atmosphere , rather than being hurriedly rushed through it .
the romantic angle works well , though , surprisingly , the interactions between joe black and william parrish are more interesting than those with his daughter .
this is most likely due to anthony hopkins , who once again displays his superb acting skills .
william is a desperate man who has had a seemingly ideal life , and doesn’t want to let it go .
by contrast , claire forlani is merely the romantic interest .
she gets to show joe the ropes of love , but is hardly as interesting a character .
as joe black , brad pitt seems a bit stilted .
granted , he’s supposed to be out-of-place , but the overly formal technique used by pitt begins to distract from the role .
still , he is able to hold his own , and over the course of the three hours , his character begins to grow on you .
the main character who seems out of place here is drew ( jake weber ) , an ambitious executive in williams’ company who is joe black’s main rival for susan’s affections .
weber plays the character with a hammy relish reminiscent of snidley whiplash .
this cartoonish foil an aberration in a film filled many more dimensional characters .
the supernatural elements of the film are handled murkily , but never distractingly so .
we never learn what is the exact nature of death , or why he’s never done something like this before .
it actually gets a bit creepy when death talks to the dying in their own voices/accents .
( his initial conversations with hopkins sound shockingly like hannibal lecter . . . )
and the ultimate resolution to one of the film’s supernatural problems seems , well , somewhat superficial .
still , even with the film’s length , it was a pleasant time at the movies , something you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a film about death . . . but one which meet joe black delivers anyhow .