Reviewed by Naomi Larkin
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber
Director: Martin Brest
A whole hour could be chopped off this three-hour odyssey without ruining the experience. And much of the trimming could come from the lengthy gazing and moist pondering which all the main characters are guilty of.
Adapted from the 1934 film Death Takes A Holiday (78 minutes long) Meet Joe Black is about the Grim Reaper hanging up his scythe for a couple of days. Packaged in the handsome, muscular body of Joe Black (Pitt), Death chooses media tycoon William Parrish (Hopkins) to be his guide.
Parrish's household is caught up in the feverish preparations for his 65th birthday - a party of immoral grandeur - and his business faces a takeover spearheaded by his soon-to-be son-in-law, Drew (Weber).
But Death's aim of experiencing life goes awry when he falls for Parrish's daughter Susan (Forlani).
Hopkins gives a wistful, charming performance but he is trapped by his character's inconsistency. Despite being supposedly worldly wise and a great pontificator, Parrish expresses no interest or curiosity in the afterlife. Likewise Pitt gives the Grim Reaper his best shot with a goofy blankness but is hindered by his character's meandering - one minute he's naive and curious, the next he knows everyone's shortcomings and secrets.
Death's main discovery - apart from Susan - is peanut butter. (One of the film's more fun moments is watching the bleached-blond Pitt slip into the patois of an elderly woman).
Forlani, however, seems capable of only two expressions: a pained, about-to-cry look or laughter. Weber is well cast as Drew and has the strongest, wittiest lines which are devoid of the many platitudes the others choke on.
If you can get over the unrealistic plot, the many unanswered questions and the bum-numbing length, then there are some romantic and tender moments to enjoy. * *
