bring some coffee

Rating: 6/10 (14 November 1998)

Definitely not as moving as the original "Death Takes A Holiday" (rather disturbingly left off the credits as the source material) with the inimitable Frederick March, nonetheless Meet Joe Black has its moments. It's too long, yes, and filled with pregnant pauses that don't always deliver brilliant offspring. But there are aspects of this film that provide the kinds of goods that cinema has always provided since the days of Valentino and Pickford: Beautiful people to look at. Claire Forlani is very appealing, and Brad Pitt is the best looking man in the movies today. Not enough?
OK. Anthony Hopkins is fine as the powerful media magnate who is bound for Jordan's banks. Without him this film could have been a chore.
Brad Pitt's character in the beginning of the film is very winning, but he disappears when Death takes him over. The Death character is less appealing and Pitt struggles with it, not always successfully. His best moments are the scenes with a dying Jamaican woman in a hospital. There his liveliness and intensity are evident. Of course, being Death, how lively can he really be?
And it's too long. Did I mention that?
The sub-plot about the boardroom takeover is somewhat labored and feels inorganic to the rest of the story. However, taken as a whole, this film is better than the critics are giving it credit for.
It's just too damn long.