With an all-star cast including 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. Filming takes place in the hub of big business in New York City, where Anthony Hopkins plays a character named Bill Parrish, who is the CEO of a billion-dollar news company.
The story begins in Bill Parrish’s luxurious New York City apartment, 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’s going on, as he hears a voice that simply says, “Yes.” Bill does not recognize that he may have heart problems and goes about his daily life as chairman of the board of directors of his news corporation.
Next, we see Bill’s two daughters enter the scene. Susan, Bill’s favorite daughter, stops by for breakfast before heading to the hospital where she is an internal medicine resident. Bill’s other daughter, Allison, doesn’t seem to have a job, but she keeps busy planning Bill’s 60th birthday party at Bill’s estate. She’s planning an extraordinary party that includes flaming archers, big band ensembles, well-known vocalists, and politicians of all stripes. Bill makes it clear that he doesn’t give a damn about the party, and several times in the movie he makes Allison annoyed at her lack of interest.
On her 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 is new in town, and they end up having coffee together and telling each other how they like each other. They regretfully walk away and do not get each other’s contact information. As the young man crosses a busy intersection on his way to work, he turns around thinking about Susan and is killed when he is hit by two cars. This part of the film is very well done and will surely surprise the viewer.
Meanwhile, Bill plans to sell his company to a media mogul. He is uncomfortable with the idea of selling his life’s work to a man whose intentions are unclear, and is even more uncomfortable when he realizes that he is dying. While he was in his office the next day, the voice he hears makes him drop to his knees and clutch his chest as he sweats, at the mercy of his 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 gather for dinner at Bill’s house. Drew is Bill’s right-hand man and it is believed that when Bill is gone 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 film is full of tension and discomfort, and the viewer realizes that as powerful as Bill Parrish is in the real world, there is still an ultimate power that rules his life.
Parrish speaks to the voice, who is standing behind a bookshelf in his large library, and the voice tells him to shut up and listen to what he has to say. Eventually, the voice is revealed to be the young man Susan liked from the coffee shop, 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. In fact, Parrish has heart problems and will die in the near future, and “Death” has taken the young man’s body 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 humans alive.
Bill Parrish asks what they should do about “Death” in their lives, and the young man says that he will stay at Bill’s house, have dinner with his family, and go to work with him every day. Basically, he wants to do everything Bill does so he can see how an exceptional human being lives. At dinner it becomes obvious that the young man does not understand how humans live, as he is overwhelmed by the maids who bring him food and by the comments Parrish’s family makes to him. Bill must introduce the anonymous young man to his family and comes up with the name 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 shocked, as is her boyfriend, Drew. Joe Black realizes that she knew the young man from the cafeteria who is now dead and that he is not the same person she expected. She gets frustrated and doesn’t understand why he’s acting differently, but Joe manages to hide his true identity. Drew makes the comment that he doesn’t like the way Susan and Joe look at each other and breaks off his relationship 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 foyer.
At this point, Bill realizes that Susan is falling for Joe Black and warns his daughter that Joe is not who she thinks he is. Susan listens but doesn’t seem to care, 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 now he has retracted his willingness to sell his company. He tells his board of directors, with Joe at his side, that his company is not for sale. Parrish gives no concrete reasons for her decision and does not leave it open for discussion. Drew is very suspicious of Joe at this point, and Joe and Drew start a nasty relationship with each other. Drew is unaware that Joe is an omniscient being and that his wits will never match Joe’s personality and knowledge of everything in the world.
Drew is so suspicious of Bill Parrish and his dependency on Joe that he holds 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 the decision-making to Joe, as he has too much on his mind. Knowing that Bill is letting a stranger make decisions for him, the board votes to give Bill a staggering amount of money to resign after his sixtieth birthday. Bill has no choice in the matter and leaves the boardroom distraught and completely saddened.
The story now turns to Bill’s lavish birthday party. All of his closest friends are there in their suits and tuxedos and 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 falling in love with Susan. Bill says that Joe is a lousy attempt at being a person and doesn’t want Joe to take Susan with them to the dark side. Bill says that if Joe has a heart and is really a decent person, Joe will go and reveal who he really is to Susan and see what she thinks. Joe walks out of Bill’s office where we assume Bill is finishing his will and heads straight for Susan. She is scared by what Joe reveals to her and Joe begins to see that she 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 go on stage at his own party to give a speech and tells the crowd that he has a special memory of everyone present. The speech is short and very melancholy as Bill is too preoccupied to make 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 over for a last-minute chat. Drew is flattered by the invitation, but when he arrives at the office, he sees Bill and Joe and knows he’s gotten himself into a bad spot. Bill curses him out 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 enrich himself and the board of directors. Bill gives Drew the choice to resign and never show his face again, or 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 IRS and that he had a bad feeling that Drew was doing a bad deal. Through the investigation, Joe says that he discovered 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 emotional when Joe walks away from her. Bill kisses Allison and then finds Susan and asks her to dance. They have a beautiful time together in Bill’s last moments, and Bill tells him that whatever happens, he shouldn’t worry. Susan seems to understand that her father may be dying and she begins to cry even more. She leaves to watch the fireworks show and Bill leaves to catch his breath.
Bill Parrish walks up a bridge and up a grassy hill to meet Joe and start the process of dying. 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 a kind of love for Joe that Bill had always dreamed of. He saw that Susan was truly in love and happy and that made Bill happy. Joe tells Bill that he admires him as a person and that he is grateful for his time on Earth. They casually walk over the hill into the darkness where Bill dies, but Joe does not. Susan sees the two most important men in her life walking up the hill and begins to climb it herself. She sees Joe walk back up the hill and start walking towards her. Susan isn’t sure what’s going on, but when Joe approaches her, she sees that the young man from the cafeteria is back. Joe ended up taking Bill’s life, but he also brought life back to the young man’s body that he took in at the beginning of the movie. To show that he is reasonable and actually has a good heart, Joe feels that making Susan happy for the rest of her life would be a fair trade for taking Bill’s life. The film ends with Susan and the cafeteria man 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 of directing this big budget movie with his all-star cast. The movie will have you laughing at Joe’s innocent antics, crying at the end when everyone has to say goodbye as Bill heads to his death, and even getting 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.