Great Film: Meet Joe Black
A powerful movie about not taking life for granted
It's easy to wake up every day and see what is wrong with your life.
Everyone has their vices and their shortcomings. Whether you are a
billionaire with a perfect spouse, a cottage, a beach house, nice cars
and wonderful parents or if you are a single parent struggling to get
by on measly paycheck, we can all find something that is wrong with
life. Such is human nature. But what can we do to remedy that
situation. What can we do to try and ensure that our life gets better?
And is it all really that bad? Meet Joe Black is a movie that asks us
to look at ourselves and realize that this life is a gift and one that
perhaps is taken for granted a little too much. Meet Joe Black asks us
to ask ourselves: is it really all that bad?
Anthony Hopkins plays Bill. Bill is a very successful business man but
it is his time. We all have to die one day, it is a part of life. And
this is Bill's time. But before he goes, the Grim Reaper pays him a
visit and offers him time. That is all. Just time. And in exchange Bill
will show Death what it is like to be alive. A bit of an oxymoron for
sure but true nonetheless. And what happens when Death starts to learn
about what makes our life so precious is really something that has to
be seen. Because what we take for granted, he sees as innocent and pure
and magical. For instance, peanut butter. Joe Black tastes it and
decides that it is the most amazing food that he has ever had in his
short existence. And when people are eating their caviar at dinner, he
refrains and has more peanut butter. This scene is one of the purest
and most honest scenes in the film. Not for what is on the outside, but
what it means, what it wants us to see. To me this scene is the
microcosm of what the film and what life should be about.
Life is a gift. There are so many wonderful things that we have as
human beings that we seem to forget what they are. We are so consumed
with other things that at the time seem important but when you look at
them closely they are trivial and it's the little things in life that
bring us so much joy. Like peanut butter, aka tossing the ball around
with your kids, aka. being lazy in the shade with your Collie. The
point is that life is serious enough and it isn't until others are gone
that we fully comprehend that.
Brad Pitt is perfect, absolutely perfect as Joe Black. He conveys the
innocent wonder and pure joy of discovering human elements like the
aforementioned peanut butter and more serious issues like falling in
love.
Meet Joe Black has been criticized for its length but like all movies
that are three hours plus, there is a reason for that. And that is
because it has something to say. Something important to say. Meet Joe
Black wants us to look at this film and then look at our lives and
realize that there is a lot to live for. You just have to get through
all the mist and cloudiness and you'll find it again. There is an
innocence about how this movie feels and it is such a wonderful
picture. It makes you feel good. Good to be in love ( if you are ) good
to want to be in love ( if you are not already) and good to be alive.
See this film. It will make you glad that you did. I know I was and my
life doesn't seem so bad right now even though there are many things
that I could complain about like...... Ah hell, what's the point. Life
can only get better. Meet Joe Black helped me see that.
Cast
- William Parrish played by Anthony Hopkins
- Drew played by Jake Weber
- Joe Black played by Brad Pitt
- Quince played by Jeffrey Tambor
- Susan Parrish played by Claire Forlani
- Allison played by Marcia Gay Harden
- Eddie Sloane played by David S. Howard
