Meet Joe Black (Ultimate Edition)
by Martin Brest, Mitchell Leisen
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DVD details
Actor: Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Evelyn Venable, Fredric March, Guy StandingDirector: Martin Brest, Mitchell Leisen
Brand: Universal
Writer: Alberto Casella
Writer: Bo Goldman
Writer: Gladys Lehman
Writer: Jeff Reno
Writer: Kevin Wade
Writer: Maxwell Anderson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 260 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-17
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Meet Joe Black (Ultimate Edition)
DVD Review: Death Takes a Holiday
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this 2-disc "Ultimate Edition" of "Meet Joe Black" because Disc 2 contains the film upon which the Brad Pitt vehicle is based--1934's "Death Takes a Holiday," which stars Fredric March and Evelyn Venable. The old flick isn't for everyone, but I love it. It's not available by itself on DVD, so this is the only way to own a copy. And "Meet Joe Black" is a decent film in its own right.DVD Review: Interesting - Occasionally brilliant - Could have used some judicious editing
Summary: 4 Stars
Death decides that he (she? it?) wants to experience life as a human being. He also wants a good tour guide. Death starts tracking William Parrish, an uber-wealthy, but apparently also uber good and moral and ethical businessman. When Bill Parrish's heart starts moving towards the final heart attack, Death inhabits Brad Pitt's body and gives Mr. Parrish a deal - as long as Death is entertained by Mr. Parrish, Death won't take Mr. Parrish to the great beyond.
Parrish is played by Anthony Hopkins, just a few years removed from "Silence of the Lambs" and "The Remains of the Day". This performance is critical to the movie, because you have to believe that with Kings and Queens and Captains of Science and Industry to choose from, Death would finally choose a guided tour from Bill Parrish than from, say, Gandhi or Bill Gates or Abraham Lincoln.
Parrish has two daughters. Marcia Gay Harden is Allison, the eldest daughter who is married to Jeffrey Tambor as Quince, an executive at Bill's company. Allison is type A and is putting the finishing touches on Bill's sixty-fifth birthday party - the kind of party with hundreds of guests that include the President. Quince is believable both as the kind of man who'd be married to Allison, as well as the kind of man who'd be on Bill's board of directors by merit rather than nepotism.
The second daughter is Susan, an Internal Medicine resident played by Claire Forlani. Susan is probably going to marry Drew, who is the Shark at Bill's company, and although Bill likes Drew at his company, he thinks that Susan should wait for lightning to strike rather than marry Drew because it seems a good match.
Susan met the man owning the Brad Pitt body at a coffee shop soon after getting the "lightning strike" advice from her father, and in a lengthy, drawn out scene, you get the idea that both Susan and the Brad Pitt Coffee Shop guy think lightning may be striking.
When Susan meets Death later on she is taken aback, not because she knows she is speaking to Death, but because the man with the Brad Pitt looks seems different from the man at the coffee shop.
After Death tells Bill the "rules" of their arrangement Bill realizes he can't just walk around and say "hello... I'd like you to meet my new friend, Death..." and improvises the name "Joe Black".
Many stories depend on the transformation of their characters, and sometimes one transformation is enough for a good story. In some ways "Meet Joe Black" is a little too ambitious because it tries to show Death's introduction to the human experience, complete with kissing and peanut butter, Bill's transformation toward the end of his life, Susan's acceptance of the need for "lightning", Allison's realization that she's not her father's favorite and Bill's Board of Directors learning that some business deals shouldn't happen.
Most of the films that run three hours earn that right. Theater turnovers and audience attention spans have made a two hour standard something that is rarely exceeded. Meet Joe Black clocks in at 2:58. The film has many awkward pauses - often in the character's dialogue - that don't advance the plot. A well timed and infrequent pause can heighten the dramatic tension. Too many and poorly timed pauses can make a 2:20 movie 2:58.
Still - the Mrs. and I enjoyed it.
DVD Review: This will be a classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
The subject matter & character development are finely constructed. This will be a classic long into the future.DVD Review: Fan of Hopkins and Pitt but...
Summary: 3 Stars
I'll make this sweet and to the point.
I had never seen this movie until yesterday. I had heard some of the hub-bub when it first came out, skipped the theater release and never got the DVD (back then still had a VHS). The film starts out as a 5-star movie but the last hour was just painful. Why? Death never reveals himself. I mean c'mon! Although beautiful, did we really need to see about half an hour's worth of "Susan's" face looking lost and forlorne. If I were directing I would have changed the script. Death er... I mean Brad... I mean Joe Black would have wacked Drew, mr. death would have revealed his true self in some funky ghostbusters way, and you would have seen the look of horror when Susan walks a little further and sees her dad's lifeless body. But instead, she is smitten by Pitten and walks off in the moonlight. Give me a break. Death takes a holiday alright.
DVD Review: ONE OF THE GREAT CHICK FLICKS, LONG AND SATISFYING
Summary: 5 Stars
The film includes three main story lines: a na?ve Angel of Death (Brad Pitt) first experiences with simple pleasures such as peanut butter, his chosen guide's attempts to keep his business based on the principles on which he founded it, while coming to terms with his own mortality, and a romance between "Joe Black" and his guide's daughter, Susan (Claire Forlani). It includes a large quantity of profane language and several emotional themes.
The movie opens with an introduction to the guide, Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins), who doubts that he will live for many more years. Indeed, he is approached in his home and work by what he thinks are hallucinations, wherein Death himself has come with the intention of escorting him to the afterlife.
Bill, touched by his dream-like brush with mortality, expresses his desire for his daughter, Susan, to live a life with passion. She is considering marriage, but her father is not favorably impressed by her relationship. When she asks for the short version of his impassioned speech, he simply says, "Stay open. Who knows? Lightning could strike!".
Shortly after hearing this advice, Susan meets a vibrant young man of whom she is instantly enamored. Immediately after this encounter, the man dies of collision with two cars. Death returns to Bill's home in the form of the young man, explaining that his impassioned speech has piqued his (Death's) interest after an eternity of boredom. Given Bill's "competence, experience, and wisdom", Death has chosen him and tells Bill that in return for an extended lifetime, Bill shall be his guide on Earth. Notably, during his time on Earth, Death's personality alters to become mildly curious, ruminative, and gentle, having been worldly, sardonic, and arrogant until he reveals his appearance.
Death then places himself at Bill's right hand, under the name 'Joe Black', and establishes his place in Bill's home and work, instructing Bill to reveal his identity to nobody. This last task is complicated when the Board of Directors of Bill's corporation are urging a union with a larger company at the instigation of Susan's fianc?e, Drew (Jake Weber). After a tense Board meeting wherein Bill advises the Board against the merger, Joe ventures into the city to explore it. He visits the hospital where Susan works as a doctor to see her and in doing so, observes the human aspect of mortality, which was apparently unknown to him. A dying Guyanese patient recognizes him as a spirit; upon learning that he is Death, she asks to be taken to the afterlife. Joe instead soothes her pain and promises to take her later.
He returns to visit Bill, who describes his late wife, to whom he was strongly attached. Their conversation is interrupted by Drew, who is bothered by the reversal of Bill's decision regarding the merger. Bill becomes angry at the prospect of the company that he built becoming less than he planned, believing that a man should leave something of integrity in his passing, whereupon Joe cautions "Easy, Bill; You'll give yourself a heart attack and ruin my vacation".
Realizing that Joe could end his delay at any time, Bill unprecedentedly arranges for dinner with his family two nights in a row, prompting them to be afraid. Bill attempts a broken and awkward speech focusing on the idea of family, after which he invites them all back for dinner again the next night. Touched by his feelings, they all agree, with one exception; that being Drew, who is angered by the presence of Joe Black, who appears to have taken the ear of Bill Parrish and disrupted Drew's plans. He is even more rankled by the increasing closeness between Susan and Joe. After a number of snide comments aimed at Joe over dinner, Drew confronts Susan about her feelings for Joe, which ends in Drew's uncertainty.
After a flirtatious conversation with Joe, who has overheard the argument with Drew, Susan is warned by Bill not to become attached to this mysterious stranger. During the next day, Drew has gathered the board of the company, advising them that Parrish has been unconditionally influenced by "Mr. Joe Black" and telling them that the offer from the rival company will be accepted with or without Parrish as Chairman.
After a scene wherein Parrish is reminded of the importance to himself of his family when he distresses his other daughter, Allison (Marcia Gay Harden), who is trying to organize Bill's sixty-fifth birthday party, he answers the door to Drew, who starkly threatens that the Board will see him removed from the Chair. Drew then leaves, angrily announcing to Susan that this is "the end of my chapter with the Parrishes. And the end began with this guy", indicating Joe, who has also followed. After a tense and crude standoff, Drew leaves Susan and Joe alone. They are interrupted by Bill, who shows concern for his daughter.
The following morning, Parrish is confronted by Drew and the Board of Directors, who reiterate their intentions regarding the merger. After Bill's emphatic refusal to accept both the merger and the Board's request for the identity of Joe, they vote to make Bill "Chairman Emeritus", thus depriving him of power. After the meeting, it is revealed that Drew was in collaboration with the rival company with the intention of seizing power and then selling off Parrish Communications for a huge profit.
Bill and Joe return home, where Bill, disheartened, goes for a nap. Joe comes across Susan; after an awkward moment, they make love. Afterwards, he meets with Bill, who defies this union and reminds Joe of his purpose in the universe. Joe disregards Bill's words.
Shortly after another encounter with Bill's daughter, Joe realizes that she is not enamored exactly of him, but rather of the man whose body he has assumed. Joe returns to Bill, who tries to entrap Drew. Joe assists by claiming that he is an IRS agent investigating Drew's dealings; a play on the saying "death and taxes". Bill is restored as chairman and the merger is canceled.
In his speech at the lavish gala celebration, Bill Parrish fondly expresses his appreciation to his daughters for their work preparing it as well as his love for both of them. Joe later escorts Bill out of sight over a nearby bridge, presumably to his own death. Joe then sends back to life the young man whose body he borrowed, allowing Susan that chance to pursue a relationship with him. Susan tells him she wishes he could have met her father, indicating that she understands (as hinted earlier) that Joe Black was Death, and that her father is dead. The story ends as both of them are watching the fireworks celebrating her father's birthday.
Although the film's story and characters were praised highly, many critics felt that its three hour running time was excessive, and thus reaction became mixed, with one half of the critical spectrum branding it boring, and the other half claiming that its slow pace made the story more poignant.[1] The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films nominated it for a Saturn Award in three categories - Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Music - the film was also nominated in the Worst Remake or Sequel category at the Razzie Awards. Gary Richied of the Westchester Gazette gave the movie a 4 star rating, citing the Academy Award deserving performances by Pitt and Hopkins. It also received positive reviews from Siskel and Ebert, who gave it "Two Thumbs Up", with Ebert adding "there's so much that's fine in this movie".[2]
While the film had a disappointing domestic box office return of $44,619,100, it fared much better overseas. Taking in an additional $98,321,000, the movie grossed a worldwide total of $142,940,100.
A two-hour version was made to show on television and airline flights, by cutting most of the plotline involving Hopkins' character's business. Brest derided this edit of his film and thus disowned it, so the director's credit was changed to the Hollywood pseudonym Alan Smithee.
Description of Meet Joe Black (Ultimate Edition)
Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black (Brad Pitt), who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan (Claire Forlani).Meet Joe Black seemed almost fated to fail when it was released in 1998, but this romantic fantasy--a remake of 1934's Death Takes a Holiday--deserves a chance at life after box-office death. Although many moviegoers were turned off by director Martin Brest's overindulgent three-hour running time, those who gear into its deliberate pace will find that Meet Joe Black offers ample reward for your attention.
Brad Pitt plays Death with a capital D, enjoying some time on Earth by inhabiting the body of a young man who'd been killed in a shockingly sudden pedestrian-auto impact. Before long, Death has ingratiated himself with a wealthy industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and pursues romance with the man's beautiful daughter (newcomer Claire Forlani), whom he'd briefly encountered while still an earthbound human. Under the assumed identity of "Joe Black," he samples all the pleasures that corporeal life has to offer--power, romance, sex, and such enticing pleasures as peanut butter by the spoonful.
But Death has a job to do, and Meet Joe Black addresses the heart-wrenching dilemma that arises when either father or daughter (the plot keeps us guessing) must confront his or her inevitable demise. The film takes its own sweet time to establish this emotional crisis and the love that binds Hopkins's semidysfunctional family so closely together. But if you've stuck with the story this far, you may find yourself surprisingly affected. And if Meet Joe Black has really won you over, you'll more than appreciate the care and affection that gives the film a depth and richness that so many critics chose to ignore. --Jeff Shannon
Meet Joe Black seemed almost fated to fail when it was released in 1998, but this romantic fantasy--a remake of 1934's Death Takes a Holiday--deserves a chance at life after box-office death. Although many moviegoers were turned off by director Martin Brest's overindulgent three-hour running time, those who gear into its deliberate pace will find that Meet Joe Black offers ample reward for your attention. Brad Pitt plays Death with a capital D, enjoying some time on Earth by inhabiting the body of a young man who'd been killed in a shockingly sudden pedestrian-auto impact. Before long, Death has ingratiated himself with a wealthy industrialist (Anthony Hopkins) and pursues romance with the man's beautiful daughter (newcomer Claire Forlani), whom he'd briefly encountered while still an earthbound human. Under the assumed identity of "Joe Black," he samples all the pleasures that corporeal life has to offer--power, romance, sex, and such enticing pleasures as peanut butter by the spoonful. But Death has a job to do, and Meet Joe Black addresses the heart-wrenching dilemma that arises when either father or daughter (the plot keeps us guessing) must confront his or her inevitable demise. The film takes its own sweet time to establish this emotional crisis and the love that binds Hopkins's semidysfunctional family so closely together. But if you've stuck with the story this far, you may find yourself surprisingly affected. And if Meet Joe Black has really won you over, you'll more than appreciate the care and affection that gives the film a depth and richness that so many critics chose to ignore. --Jeff Shannon
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