Meet Joe Black

Meet Joe Black
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martin Brest
Produced by	Martin Brest
Written by	Bo Goldman Kevin Wade
Starring	Brad Pitt Anthony Hopkins Claire Forlani Jake Weber Marcia Gay Harden Jeffrey Tambor
Music by	Thomas Newman
Cinematography	Emmanuel Lubezki
Editing by	Joe Hutshing Michael Tronick
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	November 13, 1998 (1998-11-13)
Running time	181 minutes (Original) 129 minutes (Alan Smithee cut)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$90 million
Box office	$142,940,100

Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American fantasy romance film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday. It was the second pairing of Hopkins and Pitt after their 1994 film Legends Of The Fall.

Plot

Billionaire media mogul William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) is considering a merger between his company and another media giant, while also about to celebrate his 65th birthday with an elaborate party being planned by his eldest daughter Allison (Marcia Gay Harden). He begins to hear mysterious voices, which he tries with increasing difficulty to ignore.

His youngest daughter Susan (Claire Forlani), an internal medicine resident, is involved with one of Bill's board members, Drew (Jake Weber). 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 thereafter, Susan meets a vibrant young man (Brad Pitt) at a coffee shop. She is instantly enamored but fails to even get his name. Minutes after their encounter (and unbeknownst to her), the man is struck by multiple cars in what appears to be a remarkably serious motor vehicle accident.

The grim reaper of Death arrives at Bill's home in the body of the young man, explaining that Bill's impassioned speech has piqued his interest after an eternity of boredom. Given Bill's "competence, experience, and wisdom," Death tells Bill that in return for a few extra days of life, Bill shall be his guide on Earth. Bill agrees, and Death places himself at Bill's right hand as "Joe Black" and establishes a constant presence in Bill's home and work. Susan finds Joe appealing, but cannot understand why he is treating her like a stranger.

Bill's best efforts to navigate the next few days — knowing them now to be his last — fail to keep events from going rapidly out of his control. Drew is secretly conspiring with a man bidding for Parrish Communications, so he capitalizes on Bill's strange behavior to convince the board to vote him out as Chairman, using information given to him inadvertently by Bill's son-in-law Quince (Jeffrey Tambor) to push through approval for the merger which Bill had decided to oppose.

Susan falls deeply in love with Joe, who, now under the influence of human desires, becomes attracted to her as well. Bill angrily confronts him about it, but Death intends to take Susan with him for his own.

As his last birthday arrives, Bill makes a last attempt to demonstrate to Joe the meaning of true love and all it encompasses — especially honesty and sacrifice. Realizing finally that Susan was never in love with him, but rather the young man whose body he now uses, he abandons his plans to take her. He also comes to Bill's assistance in regaining control of his company, exposing Drew's underhanded business dealings to the board.

Informing her that he is leaving without saying why, Joe says a last goodbye to Susan. She senses the fact that he is more than he appears, and through an intense moment, she realizes who he really is, though she is unable or unwilling to vocalize this realization. Nonetheless, she is now aware of what is really going on between Joe and her father, and she dances with her father one last time, knowing he will be departing with Joe afterward. Bill takes the time to assure her that everything is alright, and that he has no regrets. As the fireworks go off at the end of the party, she tries to get Bill to go down and watch them with her, but he realizes it is time for him to go with Joe, and though he merely says "I'm just going to catch my breath." Susan knows that she won't see him again, so she gives him a final hug and walks down to watch the fireworks. Bill meets Joe at the top of a hill overlooking the party and together they reminisce about how difficult it is to let go of life. Joe escorts Bill away, with Susan observing from a distance. She then is astonished to see Joe return, only to discover that he is the young man whose body Death used, and this is his first glimpse of her since the coffee shop. Susan says, "I wish you could have known my father," knowing now that he is gone but that she is not alone.

Cast

• Brad Pitt as Joe "Death" Black / Young Man in Coffee Shop
• Anthony Hopkins as William "Bill" Parrish
• Claire Forlani as Susan Parrish
• Jake Weber as Drew
• Marcia Gay Harden as Allison Parrish
• Jeffrey Tambor as Quince
• David S. Howard as Eddie Sloane

Location

Most of William Parrish's country mansion scenes were shot at the Aldrich Mansion.

Box office

Meet Joe Black opened on November 13, 1998 and grossed $15,017,995 domestically upon its opening weekend (11/13-15) at #3, behind The Waterboy's second weekend and the opening of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

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.

Critical response

The film received mainly mixed reviews by critics. Siskel and Ebert gave it "Two Thumbs Up", with Ebert adding "there's so much that's fine in this movie". The film has a 50% "Rotten" response from Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus calling the film "Glacially slow, [and] uneventful." Anthony Hopkins was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actor and Claire Forlani was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. However, the film also earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Remake or Sequel.

Edited version

A two-hour version was made to show on television and airline flights, by cutting most of the plotline involving Hopkins' character's business. As Brest derided this edit of his film and disowned it, the director's credit was changed to the Hollywood pseudonym Alan Smithee.

External links

• Official website
• Meet Joe Black at the Internet Movie Database
• Meet Joe Black at AllRovi
• Meet Joe Black at Box Office Mojo
• Meet Joe Black at Rotten Tomatoes