With an all-star cast that includes Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani, Meet Joe Black is a film about death and the value of life. The film lasts approximately three hours and fifteen minutes, it is quite slow at times, but it has an excellent plot. The shoot takes place in the big business hub of New York City, where Anthony Hopkins plays a character named Bill Parrish, who is a CEO of a billion dollar news company.
The story begins in Bill Parrish’s luxurious apartment in New York City, where he wakes up at night with pain in his chest and arm. He goes to the bathroom where he splashes water on his face and wonders what is going on, while hearing a voice that simply says “Yes”. Bill doesn’t acknowledge that he may be having heart problems and goes about his daily life as chairman of the board of his news corporation.
Next, we see Bill’s two daughters enter the scene. Susan, Bill’s favorite daughter, stops by for breakfast before going to the hospital where she resides in internal medicine. Bill’s other daughter, Allison, doesn’t seem to have a job, but she keeps busy planning Bill’s sixtieth birthday party at Bill’s property. She is planning an extraordinary party that includes fiery archers, great band ensembles, renowned vocalists, and politicians of all stripes. Bill makes it clear that he could care less about the party and several times in the movie he makes Allison upset about his lack of interest.
On the way to work, Susan stops at a coffee shop near the hospital where she meets an unnamed young man played by Brad Pitt. The young man strikes up a conversation with Susan since he’s new to town, and they end up having coffee together and telling each other how they like each other. Sadly, they walk away and don’t get each other’s contact information. As the young man crosses a busy intersection on his way to work, he turns around thinking of Susan and is killed when two cars hit him. This part of the film is very well done and is sure to surprise the viewer.
Meanwhile, Bill plans to sell his company to a media mogul. He’s uncomfortable with the idea of selling his life’s work to a man whose intentions are unclear, and he’s even more uncomfortable when he realizes he’s dying. While in his office the next day, the voice he hears causes him to kneel and clutch his chest while sweating, at the mercy of the voice. The voice tells him that the “yes” he has been hearing is the answer to Bill’s question, “Am I dying?”
That same night, Bill Parrish, his two daughters, Allison’s husband, Quince, and Susan’s boyfriend, Drew, meet for dinner at Bill’s house. Drew is Bill’s right hand man and it is believed that when Bill leaves one day, Drew will take over Parrish Communications. Dinner is just beginning when Bill hears the voice again, saying that he is at the front door and wants to be let in. Bill’s maid lets the man behind the voice into Bill’s house and meets Bill in his library. This part of the movie is filled with tension and discomfort, and the viewer realizes that as powerful as Bill Parrish is in the real world, there is still a supreme power that governs his life.
Parrish speaks to the voice, which is behind a bookcase in his large library, and the voice tells him to calm down and listen to what he has to say. Eventually the voice reveals himself to be the young man Susan liked from the cafeteria, but with a completely different personality. It’s not entirely obvious at this point, but “Death” has taken over the body of the young man from the cafeteria to enter Bill Parrish’s life. Parrish, in fact, has heart problems and is about to die in the near future, and “Death” has taken away the body of the young man so that he can learn about the life of a man who lives life to the fullest. “Death” wants to take a vacation from helping people die and wants to see what life is like for one of the best living humans.
Bill Parrish asks what they must do so that “Death” is in his life, and the young man says that he will stay at Bill’s house, have dinner with his family and work with him every day. Basically, he wants to do everything Bill does so he can see how an exceptional human being lives. It becomes obvious at dinner that the young man does not understand how humans live, as he is overwhelmed by the maids who bring him food and the comments made by the Parrish family. Bill must introduce the anonymous young man to his family and comes up with a name for Joe Black, an appropriate name for “Death.”
When Susan arrives at dinner and realizes that the young man from the cafeteria has returned to her life, she is stunned, as is her boyfriend, Drew. Joe Black realizes that he knew the young man from the cafeteria who is now dead and is not the same person she expected. She becomes frustrated and doesn’t understand why he acts differently, but Joe manages to hide his true identity. Drew comments that he doesn’t like the way Susan and Joe look at each other and breaks up with Susan. Joe tells Susan that he doesn’t like how Drew spoke rudely to him, and the two end up kissing in Bill’s entry room.
At this point, Bill realizes that Susan is falling in love with Joe Black and warns his daughter that Joe is not who she thinks he is. Susan listens, but doesn’t seem to mind, as she makes love to Joe several days later near Bill’s indoor pool. Not only does Bill have great concerns about his daughter falling in love with Death, but he has now retracted his willingness to sell his company. He tells his board of directors, with Joe by his side, that his company is not for sale. Parrish does not give concrete reasons for his decision and does not leave it open for discussion. Drew is very suspicious of Joe at this point, and Joe and Drew start an unpleasant relationship with each other. Drew does not know that Joe is an omniscient being and his wit will never match Joe’s personality and knowledge of everything in the world.
Drew is so suspicious of Bill Parrish and his dependence on Joe that he has a secret meeting with the board of directors. Allison’s husband, Quince, who is also on the board, reveals that Bill has left some of his decisions up to Joe as he has so much on his mind. Knowing that Bill is allowing a stranger to make decisions for him, the board votes to give Bill a staggering amount of money to quit after his 60th birthday party. Bill has no other choice in the matter and leaves the boardroom distraught and completely saddened.
The story now centers on Bill’s lavish birthday party. All his closest friends are there in their tuxedos and dresses and the spirits are high. However, Bill has had an argument with Joe and now knows that his life will end after the party. The discussion was about Joe who fell in love with Susan. Bill says Joe is a terrible attempt at being a person and he doesn’t want Joe to take Susan with them to the dark side. Bill says that if Joe has a heart and is actually a decent person, Joe will go and reveal to Susan who he really is and see what he thinks. Joe leaves Bill’s office where we assume Bill is finishing his will and goes straight to Susan. She is scared by what Joe reveals to her and Joe begins to see that he has been selfish and that Susan must stay alive.
The last hours of Bill’s life are sad but well spent. He is forced to take the stage at his own party to give a speech and tells his audience that he has a special memory with everyone present. The speech is short and very melancholic, as Bill is too preoccupied to deliver a moving speech. After the speech, he kisses Allison and Susan and returns to his home office. He asks his son-in-law, Quince, to invite Drew for a last-minute chat. Drew is flattered by the invitation, but when he gets to the office, he sees Bill and Joe and knows he’s gotten into a bad situation. Bill curses him and tells Drew that he knows how Drew was planning a secret partnership with the man who bought Bill’s company. Drew was going to break up Bill’s company piece by piece and ruin his life’s work to make himself and the board of directors truly wealthy. Bill gives Drew the option to resign and never show his face again, or to hire lawyers and force Drew to go to prison. Drew wisely decides to quit and begins to wonder how Bill and Joe knew so much about his immoral plans.
The last part of the film takes the viewer through each emotion. First, Joe tells Drew that he is from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and that he had a bad feeling that Drew was doing a bad deal. Through investigation, Joe says he found out about Drew’s plans, which is why Drew decided to quit and avoid prison. He realized that the battle of wits and intelligence between him and Joe was over, and Drew had been defeated by an IRS agent. With Bill’s company safe and back in the hands of the board of directors, he feels comfortable enough to return to the party and say his last goodbye.
Joe says goodbye to Susan and tells her that he will always love her. Susan and Joe get very excited when Joe walks away. Bill kisses Allison and then finds Susan and asks her to dance. They have a great time together in Bill’s last moments, and Bill tells him that whatever happens, don’t worry. Susan seems to understand that her father may be dying and begins to cry even more. She leaves to see the fireworks show and Bill leaves to catch his breath.
Bill Parrish climbs a bridge and a grassy hill to meet Joe and begin the dying process. Bill has said goodbye to the two most important people in his life, Allison and Susan, and now he can die in peace. Bill tells Joe that he admires how Susan showed the kind of love towards Joe that Bill had always dreamed of. He saw that Susan was really in love and happy and that made Bill happy. Joe tells Bill that he admires Bill as a person and is grateful for his time on Earth. They casually walk up the hill into the darkness where Bill dies, but not Joe. Susan sees the two most important men in her life walk up the hill and she begins to climb the hill herself. Watch Joe go up the hill and start walking towards it. Susan isn’t sure what’s going on, but when Joe approaches her, he sees that the young man from the cafeteria has returned. Joe ended up taking Bill’s life, but he also brought life back to the body of the young man he took at the beginning of the movie. To show that he is reasonable and that he actually has a good heart, Joe feels that making Susan happy for the rest of her life would be fair compensation for taking Bill’s life. The film ends with Susan and the man from the cafeteria walking hand in hand towards the fireworks that explode dramatically over Parrish’s property.
The plot of this movie is incredibly deep and interesting. The idea that “Death” comes to Earth to experience life in the body of a young man is truly unique. Martin Brest does a fantastic job directing this high-budget film with its all-star cast. The movie will make you laugh at Joe’s innocent antics, you’ll cry at the end when everyone has to say goodbye as Bill heads to his death, and even get mad at Drew for trying to destroy Bill’s multi-million dollar corporation. This move is a must see and due to the complexity of the story and the emotional plot it is rated 5 out of 5.