The longest three hours you will ever endure.

Rating: 2/10 (5 May 2003)

It is totally beyond my comprehension that an experienced director could imagine that the subject matter of Meet Joe Black would justify a three hour running time. There are indeed some movies that can pull this off, such as the Lord of the Rings films, or Gladiator (which is two and a half hours), however these do it by employing strong plot elements, exciting action sequences and quality character development. They do not do it by sticking a bunch of big-name actors together on screen, with no clear idea of how their characters are supposed to behave, no sense of purpose throughout the movie, and a script that consists largely of people staring at each other and saying nothing for a long time -- but this is exactly what Meet Joe Black attempts to get away with. The character development is virtually non-existent, with Joe Black (Brad Pitt) undergoing more personality changes than you can count; the plot itself is melodramatic to the point of farce (including an excruciatingly embarrassing scene where Brad Pitt puts on a poor Jamaican accent to talk to a dying old lady), and the music so tedious that you will be wanting to scream by the time the credits roll. Unfortunately it seems that Meet Joe Black is victim of the "lovey-dovey" film culture of Hollywood, whereby innocent lonely hearts can be duped into thinking a film is touching simply because it purports to contain romantic elements. Don't fall for it.