good cast, good cinematography, great score, no substance

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2003)

I can understand why many users commented on how much they loved this movie, as I do agree that it had a decent cast, great musical score, good cinematography, but that isn't all that makes a good movie. This is one of those movies that had all those great things on the surface, plus an interesting premise (death personified, and in love), but no substance to back it up. During the whole [looooong] 3 hours, I was waiting for the movie to really start. When a movie is built on a premise as profound and abstract as the personification of death, one would expect it to have an equally profound and abstract message at the end, but in my opinion "Meet Joe Black" fails. The message about love is the same as every other movie ("these things have a way of working themselves out"), and the message about life is basically to live and die without regrets. Wow. Amazing. *insert sarcasm* I also had a hard time buying Death's love for Susan...her own feelings are understandable, as she thinks she's looking at the same man she met in the coffee shop, but he hardly knows anything about her or even spends any time with her, and the next thing we know, they're having sex.
So basically, if you like long, dramatic but pointless movies, then you'll love "Meet Joe Black." Brad Pitt fans, stay away from this one, and just go watch "Legends of the Fall" and "Fight Club" again...Anthony Hopkins fans, stick to "Silence of the Lambs."