Rating: 
Summary: One of this century's best!
Review: What a delightful surprise! From the previews, I was not expecting much... I even postponed watching it until it came out on video and I had nothing better to do. It was late, and I worried over the extra running time, but boy was I surprised. Anthony Hopkins is by far one of the most talented actors ever, and Brad Pitt has finally won me over with this one. We live in a very fast paced age and most of today's movies leave me thinking surely they could have developed the story line better. And finally this one did. I applaud Martin Brest for going up against critics and giving the viewers something to cling to. Without a doubt, if you have any kind of sensitivity or desire to live and love, you will love this movie.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best films of the year
Review: This movie is an extrodinary story about Death coming to take a man who's turning 65,and gives him a warning of it, and time. Death also falls in live withe the mans daughter. This is a great movie with great acting and should have been nominated for "BEST PICTURE."
Rating:
Summary: A matter of opinion
Review: The simple fact is that some people will adore this movie and that some will hate it. There's very little room for a middle ground but I urge everyone to take a chance anyway because if you're one of the many who loves this movie it'll stay with you always.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-indulgent and interminable.
Review: I fail to see why this film has captured so many people's attention. Horrible pacing (3 hours? It's called "editing;" try it) and shoddy characterization don't go a long way to create a memorable drama. A couple minor characters have a few good lines. Pitt is tolerable, at times even effective, but overall the viewer can't get close enough to the film to care. And it's not just that it's bloated at three hours running time. Long movies are fine if they deliver the goods and merit the viewer's investment. Long movies that could be trimmed back by 45 or 50 minutes--but AREN'T--are usually turkeys. I mean, what WAS that "love scene" between Pitt and Forlani (forlorn)?? Felt like forever and they both looked like they shot heroin during it. If I want that, I'll rent Permanent Midnight (a much better flick). Sheesh. Maybe with a couple casting changes this could have been fun. How about Richard Beltzer (Homicide) as Death and Roseanne as Susan Parrish? NOW all those peanut butter scenes will have some verve! No mas.
Rating:
Summary: Brest Ever
Review: Meet Joe Black is now my favorite movie of all time,it stirred up emotions that I haven't felt watching any other movie. Was it 3 hours? It could have gone on forever for me. Brad Pitt was brilliant to all the naysayers who now want to knock Brad down. Don't you wish you were as good looking and talented too.
Rating:
Summary: A Movie I will watch again, and again
Review: I read everyone's reviews and the haunting theme thru the movie just got to me I enjoyed all the actors they were truly hand-picked for their rolls. But the music will ALWAYS get to me
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: After viewing this film I must say that I enjoyed everything about it. The storyline was great and the acting was admirable. The chemistry between Pitt's and Forlani's characters was incredible. This is demonstrated not so much in words spoken as it is in the eye contact generated between the two. This was one one of those movies that I just did not want to end. Equally as entertaining as Brest's last movie Scent Of A Woman.
Rating:
Summary: BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!! DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVORITES!!
Review: When I first saw the coming attractions for "Meet Joe Black", I really wanted to see it. I never got around to seeing it in the theater, but when it came out on tape, I rented it on a night that I knew I wouldn't be able to put the tape(s) on until at least 11:00p.m. I figured I'd give it a shot, and if I wasn't totally into it, I'd shut it off and save it for another day. Well, once I put the tape on, I didn't want it to end. I think the acting was incredible and I LOVED the story. I didn't think it was even one minute too long. I'd definitely recommend this movie (in fact, I already made a few people watch it, and they loved it too!!) I've seen it 3 times already, and I can't wait to see it again. DEFINITELY two thumbs up!!!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, even if too long.
Review: If the movie wasn't so long, I would have given it 5 stars. It was still a great movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn
Review: "Meet Joe Black" was a drag. It kept dragging on, not wanting to end. Think of a stubborn spike being driven into a piece of knotty oak. The finality of this film came three and one-half hours in, in what seemed like eternity with what seemed like every out-take left in. Pacing and length, towering above any apparent cinematic style, provided excellent saboteurs in making this film one of unfilled potential. For the most part this movie was deadpan serious and a yawner save coming alive on occasion with exchanges of some clever dialogue. Yet even with this little spark, it failed to ignite MJB, for just about every single scene was excruciatingly long and tiring. It seemed as if either the editing machine broke down or the makers of the film got so enamored with their handiwork they couldn't decide what cuts to make. The result was that everything got left in. What probably could have worked as a shorter film - or even as a farce - was too melodramatic and hokey. The filmmakers took the topic and indeed themselves way too seriously. The old saying that "the good die young," might aptly be restated: "To 'Meet Joe Black', Death came too late." Death's usurping the body of a young man to fulfill a special earthly mission while falling in love promised to be a tricky proposition to pull off. From this standpoint of plot, the film wasn't a disappointment and did fulfill its almost self-fulfilling prophecy to come up short. The body that was chosen for Death - Joe Black - couldn't have come in a prettier form of blood and flesh. Brad Pitt could steal any woman's heart, I suppose, even if in this miscast role of Death he did come across as if he had been born the day before. Wide-eyed and fresh-as-new-snow in his knowledge of life and its pleasures, he showed himself to be a fast learner, puckering up those lips for the obligatory love scene. Seeing that Adonis physique getting hot and bothered showed that even Death can be human. It gave the ladies in the audience and those of nontraditional sexual orientation their money's worth. It wasn't hard to imagine these raw images firing up sounds of oohs and aahs in viewers as he and Susan Parish (Claire Forlaine) cooed and cawed and grimaced and earned the movie its PG-13 rating. From my lofty perch, however, it's hard to conceive of anything death wouldn't have known about in life, for the two go hand-in-hand. Death/Brad Pitt was ingenuously out of touch with the happenings in life, yet paradoxically possessed so much insight on other things. In the matter of love, which is intrinsic to life, Death knew nothing about. But he knew the skinny - all the dirt and good things, too - about the key players in the film. It would seem that to know death (which Mr. Pitt was) is to know life. Why then was Death clueless about female wiles while knowing so much about everything else? Is this too philosophical? Too picky? Or am I the one who is taking myself too seriously instead? All this wetness behind Death's ears notwithstanding, one cannot help but to get a chuckle out of the movie's second best running gag. Death's ET-like mulling over the spoonful of peanut butter and the ways to down it did cut into the monotone of this feature-and-a-half-length picture. Praise be to Death who did come through in the clutch stealing the show and saving the day, ultimately, by giving the wannabe corporate cut-throat his comeuppance with the best gag about nothing being certain but "Death and Taxes". Not to take anything away from an overly serious film. it did have its lighter moments, although few and far between long takes in which everybody spoke in low tones as if they had trouble expressing their true, innermost feelings like those at an Inner Child Within meeting or something. When Mr. Parish (Anthony Hopkins) became infuriated, Death tried to settle him down. "Don't have a heart attack. . .you'll ruin my vacation." There should have been a few more doses of comic relief like this in an all-too-serious film like Meet Joe Black. Such seriousness may not be as big a culprit in the film's lack of punch as the slow pace and long length. What could have been a well-versed screenplay turned out to be an unwitting accomplice to the movie's failure. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. Getting nothing is a terrible letdown. For one thing, it took too long for the plot to begin to unfold, and when it did, it was hard to discern what it was. Too often the dialogue was cryptic and impeded the understanding of the film. May I use the word, "Serlingesque"? I just did. . .left to your interpretation. I hate to rant on. (I could be accused of being long-winded myself). But I do have one more thing to say. . . or to ponder. This has to do with the film's budget. Was it on a low budget affair or did it just appear that way? In its use of special effects it looked amateurish and its use of extras looked like a tightwad was at the helm of production. Joe Black (before Death usurped him) hurtling through the air the way he did after getting hit could have been itself comic relief. It looked so much like a dummy and the set for that scene looked like an honest-to-goodness sound stage. A tight film budget may have reared its head on the board of directors, who remained mum and stoic throughout their presence on screen. Seriously, a few words would have been called for from a few members during the cloak and dagger meeting in which the ouster of Parish was raised. This scene demanded interaction. The cynic in me asks if these characters sat stone silent because the producer was too cheap to pay them the upgrade from extra to bit player. Though redeeming qualities in Joe Black were infrequent, there were some. A few scenes could be preserved for a film school acting class and on screenwriting dos and don'ts. The film did not look like it was directed by someone of Martin Brest's track record and capabilities. Weaknesses in the movie rest squarely on his shoulders. The actors seemed strained at times and the dialogue pulled out like hot water taffy. That's because everything was way, way too long. The 40 minute ending had the makings of a tear-jerker, but the duration to get it over with (Parish's demise) got in the way. (Had he made a secret deal with Death behind the scenes for "just one more day. . .?) 20 minutes for all this would have given people time enough to cry and get it out of the system. Instead, it gave them time to dab their eyes dry and await another emotional farewell of false endings. By the time the real ending came around, it hurt too much to cry (being so long). Meet Joe Black should have been a comedy. In a sense it was.
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