Meet Joe Black

PG-13

Released Nov 2, 1998

3h 0m

Fantasy

Romance

Drama

TRAILER

for Meet Joe Black: Trailer 1

List

45%

51 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins), businessman and devoted family man, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday. However, before he reaches that landmark, he is visited by Death (Brad Pitt), who has taken human form as Joe Black, a young man who recently died. Joe and Bill make a deal: Bill will be given a few extra days of his life, and Joe will spend the same time getting to know what it's like to be human. It seems like a perfect arrangement, until Joe falls in love -- with Bill's daughter.

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Critics Consensus

Meet Joe Black is pretty to look at and benefits from an agreeable cast, but that isn't enough to offset this dawdling drama's punishing three-hour runtime.

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auriel lovell g

Love the story. Amazing. The Acting is great too. I fell in love with Claire Forlani in this movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/12/24

Full Review

Susan Elaine S

Despite all the negatives... Anthony, Brad and Claire and so many good points in the show, make this a movie I love. Yes, the flaws are there but the positives keep it sooo good.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/12/24

Full Review

Richard S

Brilliant story, and fantastic acting.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/24

Full Review

Cindy B

I love this movie so much. The story is amazing, the music is beautiful, and well, I just love everything about it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/24

Full Review

yep N

people say it's long, and yeah I guess it is, but I kinda like it's pace. parts of it remind me of a happier, kinder version of succession but with good people rather than evil self centered people. I liked brad Pitts performance because there are times when he's super weird and awkward and aloof which makes sense for his character and times where he really dials into some intense moments of competence and I like the range of that character in general. Anthony is great. the story is romantic but also kind of a refreshing and non depressing take on death. critics hated it but whatever. if it's too long for you watch it in hour slots like episodes of whatever hour long show you're used to binge watching.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/24

Full Review

Llyeton E

One of the best films I've ever watched Sooooo lovely, marvelous Fucking hell, best story, best romance, best quotes, best writing, best actors, fun and funny, sad and tragically beautiful, love and happiness, tax and death, super lovely and beautiful. Compare to everyone, i didn't want the film to end, my heart couldn't. It was super fun to watch! 10/10 , peak writing and perfect time to produce such film. Just wonderfully awesome. It's going to seat on the top with interstellar as my all time favorites.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/10/24

Full Review

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Martin Brest

Director

Brad Pitt

Joe Black

Anthony Hopkins

William Parrish

Claire Forlani

Susan Parrish

Jake Weber

Drew

Marcia Gay Harden

Allison

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Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - I Like You So Much

3:00

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Lightning Could Strike

2:58

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Mystery Man

2:30

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Joe Says Goodbye

2:51

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - That Was Wonderful

3:00

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Peanut Butter Man

2:23

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Bill Introduces Joe

1:53

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Am I Going to Die?

2:34

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Bill's Birthday Speech

1:35

Meet Joe Black: Official Clip - Undressing Joe Black

2:35

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Meet Joe Black: Trailer 1

2:26

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Joe Clay

Times (UK)

[A] glossy but overlong update of Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 comedy Death Takes a Holiday.

Mar 28, 2023

Full Review

Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

A savory, extralong feature whose obvious plotlines unfold with an almost painful slowness that somehow makes them deeper.

Oct 26, 2020

Full Review

Ann Hornaday

Baltimore Sun

To call the three-hour-long "Meet Joe Black" leaden would do an injustice to lead.

Rated: 1/4

Oct 26, 2020

Full Review

Brian Costello

Common Sense Media

A gimmicky premise is made even worse by iffy acting, hilariously bad dialogue, and a slow pace.

Jan 17, 2024

Full Review

Ade Adeniji

AdeAdeniji.com

Meet Joe Black was a box office flub back in the late 1990s. But the three hour fantasy-romance movie isn’t all bad and like other cult classics like The Room, is so confidently ridiculous at times, you won't soon forget it.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 20, 2022

Full Review

Total Film Staff

Total Film

Not bad, just not as good as it could have been had the editor been allowed to hack an hour or so off the running time.

Oct 26, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins), businessman and devoted family man, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday. However, before he reaches that landmark, he is visited by Death (Brad Pitt), who has taken human form as Joe Black, a young man who recently died. Joe and Bill make a deal: Bill will be given a few extra days of his life, and Joe will spend the same time getting to know what it's like to be human. It seems like a perfect arrangement, until Joe falls in love -- with Bill's daughter.

Director: Martin Brest
Producer: Ronald L. Schwary
Screenwriter: Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno, Bo Goldman
Distributor: Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us]
Production Co: Universal Pictures, City Lights Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 2, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 18, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $44.6M
Runtime: 3h 0m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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