Length matters

Rating: 4/10 (23 July 2001)

Meet Joe Black had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it failed one of the most important tests of filmmaking: the length test. It was much too long to keep me entertained.
When I went to see this movie, I had no idea what is was about. For all the trouble I went through while watching the film, I'm still glad I saw it. I liked the message it presented. It was new, and it was presented in a rather unique way. Sir Anthony Hopkins, as usual, performed tremendously. I saw this as a rather unusual role for him (at least from the films I've seen). He lights up the screen every time he appears in this movie. Brad Pitt also gave a good performance. He has real acting potential if he settles down a little bit (Check out Fight Club and Snatch.). Cinematography was well done. It added a subtlety to the film that I thought was necessary.
Unfortunately, the film was too drawn out. The love scene should have been a minute long...not 15 minutes long. It became unnerving after a while. The scene of the accident was just ridiculous. It completely halted the mode/tone of the film. It made me realize that we were watching a movie...bad move. There were moments of lengthened silence and dialogue that were also not needed. The film should have been 2 hours long...not 3 hours.
The ending was fitting but much too melodramatic (and drawn out). That's why I consider the music to also be a weakness in this film. It added to the melodrama, which there already was enough of.
In short, the movie shows potential and has many memorable scenes (The first meeting between Pitt and Hopkins in particular is quite good.). However, it loses its power the longer the movie goes along. For a three hour movie, this is not the trend I wanted to see.
4/10