MEET JOE BLACK (M).
Director:Martin Brest
Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony
Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Marcia Gay
Harden, Jake Weber, Jeffrey Tambor,
David S Howard, Lois Kelly-Miller
Running Time:176 minutes.
The Grim Reaper comes to earth in the delectable
form of Brad Pitt in Martin (Scent Of A Woman)
Brest's $90 million remake of the 1934 romantic
comedy Death Takes A Holiday. Pitt plays death,
who adapts a human form to learn more about what
makes us mere mortals tick. He has ostensibly come
to claim William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins), a
self-made millionaire, but decides to spend a week in
his company learning more about the human
condition. Parrish is the only one aware of Pitt's true
identity, and he introduces the enigmatic stranger to
his family as Joe Black.
It is the week of Parrish's 65th birthday, and his
oldest daughter Allison (Marcia Gay Harden, from
Flubber, etc) is planning a lavish party. Parrish also
has to deal with a take-over bid from a business rival
who wants to strip his global communication
company and sell off its assets. He also has to deal
with treachery from within his own board. Parrish has
plenty of time to come to terms with his own
mortality and the legacy that he will leave behind.
Meanwhile, Joe falls heavily in love with Parrish's
beautiful young daughter Susan (Claire Forlani,
Sean Connery's daughter in The Rock, etc). As with
his character in the recent Seven Years In Tibet, Pitt's
human incarnation of Death undergoes a spiritual
transformation, as he comes to learn about love, loss
and the pain of being human. Inevitably, some hard
choices will have to be made, both by Joe and
Parrish.
Meet Joe Black explores some wonderful themes and
ideas, and the climax delivers a superb emotional
payoff. Unfortunately, it takes far too long to get
there. Brest's deliberately languid direction perfectly
suits the occasionally sombre tone of the material,
but, at nearly three hours long, the pace tends to drag
and many in the audience will tire of the film. The
1934 version told much the same story in half the
time. With judicious trimming of some unnecessary
padding, Meet Joe Black would be tighter and far
more enjoyable.
However, the film does have its compensations. It
looks fabulous, thanks to the opulent production
design of Dante Ferretti, a favourite of Scorsese,
and the warm cinematography of Emmanuel
Lubezki. There is also the usual strong performance
from the dependable Hopkins. And Pitt and Forlani
make a handsome, attractive couple - eye candy for
the younger generation. The camera loves Pitt, and
seems to caress his blue eyes, his seductive smile and
his air of boyish innocence. If only death always
looked this good then we might be more willing to go
quietly into that dark night.
Meeting Joe Black is not such a bad experience, it just
could have been so much more enjoyable and
memorable!