Movie Review: Meet Joe Black

3/5

This movie was a bit of a surprise to me. It was a surprise enough that i actually found myself liking this movie, and this normally wouldn't be my kind of movie. It's a bit dated, but no more so then what say A Clockwork Orange is. The story is about Anthony Hopkins' character dying, and Brad Pitt being Death, coming to take him away. Along the way he falls in love with the soon-to-be-deceaseds' daughter, although he's not really sure what is love(cue instant music refernece here!). The movie may or may not be too long (3 hours), but i found it enjoyable. Now, when i say this, I don't mean I enjoy the long(and I mean LONG!) pauses in between dialouge with Brad Pitt. I mean the scenes with Anthony Hopkins, one of my favourite actors of all time, doing a fantastic job with the material, and turning this shitty movie into a watchable movie. You want to watch him, as when you look at him, no matter how he smiles, how he talks, how he looks, he's still Dr. Lecter, which is the reason some people(including me, admitingly) watch his movies. The movie does get a fair bit over-dramatic, mostly with scenes involving Brad Pitt(in his Pretty Boy era look), but don't worry, they only last 10 minutes too long each time. I mean, my God, do we have to see EVERYTHING that this man is thinking. he's about as charming as a poster, which ironically, is what he was around the time. The only time he's somewhat watchable is when he's not Death(spoiler), but I won't ruin that for you. If you have some time to kill, and you enjoy overly long 90s dramas(see The English Patient/Forrest Gump/Dances With Wolves) then you may yet enjoy this mixed bag of a film, but other then that, I'd put it in the catagory of The Reader, for a movie of overly long/but good acting/drama