Long, boring at parts, but when it picked up it was great

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2000)

I was a little hesitant to watch this movie, seeing as how it was 3 hours long, but I decided to give it a try. As I sort of expected, much of the first part was fairly slow moving and a bit boring. But if you stick with MEET JOE BLACK, it gets a little more exciting and you'll find the story a bit more interesting.
William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) is a very successful businessman who has raised a good family, had a good career and has lead a good life. Then one day, Death (Brad Pitt) comes to William and offers him more time to be alive in exchange for Parrish showing him around life. Death, using the name Joe Black, really starts to enjoy life and fall in love with Parrish's daughter Susan (Claire Forlani). When this happens, he considers changing the rules of life & death.
The plot is very original and fairly interesting. I think it would have been a little less boring if there wasn't a dramatic pause between every sentence. The beginning of this movie is actually pretty good, but the rest of the first half tends to drag a bit. The second half still has similar flaws, but because the characters have been set and the plot really starts to threaten, it is a lot more interesting. I had mixed feelings for the ending. I thought it was OK, but it could have been a little better. The ending was kind of predictable, but not especially since it was hard to tell where they were going with it. Half of the movie is predictable and half of it wasn't.
The acting was superb in this movie, as expected with a veteran like Anthony Hopkins and a newer, but talented, face like Brad Pitt. Hopkins, in my humble opinion, stole the show right out from under Pitt, who I think was meant to be the showcase. Claire Forlani did pretty well as the adorable girlfriend of Pitt, and I thought the Jamaican Lady, played by Lois Kelly-Miller, and was both funny and noble. I loved the scenes between her and Pitt, and I thought Pitt was very funny speaking a Jamaican accent.
The character development in this movie was pretty good. It was pretty cool to see the Grim Reaper himself (Joe Black/Death) have feelings and curiosity about life, let alone fall in love with someone. You can relate to Parrish, even though he plays an old fart, because he knows that his death is coming and he is, naturally, trying to tie up loose knots. You would do this too if Death came to you and said "Hey, you're gonna die in a week. So, how 'bout them Yankees?" Both of Parrish's daughters represent two stereotype daughters. One was the older, favorite daughter who is struggling with her feelings about love. The other is the younger daughter who is jealous of her older sister, but is married. Again, I loved the Jamaican Lady, but I don't think I would have if it weren't for Pitt's excellent dialogue with her.
If you don't like long movies, you'd better stay away from this one. If you're a Pitt fan, you'll love it because he is everywhere on this film. I'd still say this is one great film and that you should check it out, but not if you have a bad attention span.