Meet Joe Black (Movie Reaction)

Thank you very much for another wonderful movie reaction! I love Meet Joe Black! For me... it's just a phenomenal movie and so well acted by everyone in it. I normally don't care much for Brad Pitt as an actor, but the way he plays Death is really just incredible. I love all of the characters outside of Drew of course... although, the actor (Jake Weber) who plays him, does a really great job playing someone you're meant to hate. Claire Forlani as Susan Parrish, Marcia Gay Harden as Allison Parrish, and Jeffrey Tambor as Quince are all lovable and brilliant characters whom I love too. Although... Brad Pitt as Joe Black, or Death and as the man in the coffee shop, and Anthony Hopkins as Bill Parrish both stand out above the rest of the characters, just as they're meant too. I really love Bill throughout this movie, and he has a number of heartwarming moments throughout this movie, not just with Death, but with both of his daughters as well. And Death... I absolutely love the idea of seeing Death as a character and how Brad Pitt plays such a complex role like this. I just love how he acts whenever Death is introduced to new feelings, emotions, and even everyday things that is so normal to everyone else. Things like peanut butter and especially love. Brad Pitt's acting is just phenomenal, and far above his acting in any other role and movie I have ever seen with him. He plays Death brilliantly. And I love him as just the man in the coffee shop as well. He and Claire Forlani in both roles throughout this movie have such strong chemistry, and I also absolutely love how Brad Pitt as Death plays off of Anthony Hopkins as Bill Parrish too. In regards to your strangeness towards Death's romance with Susan... a part of me agrees with you to some small degree, because it is definitely a bit strange. And yet overall... I really love it too, because Death is a being, or a supernatural entity as some might call it, that has no understanding of love and other human emotions or feelings, nor does it have any such appreciation for things that we as humans typically take for granted. Things like peanut butter. However, I absolutely love how curious he is to learn what makes us as humans feel as we feel. And Susan slowly helps him to find such feeling and appreciation for all of it as they grow closer throughout this movie. Especially love. And it's all really quite beautiful to watch. Even when Death is prepared to take away Susan's life so that they can continue to be together after Death must leave them in order to return to Heaven, or wherever it is Death resides. However, Susan then shares how it's the way the man in the coffee shop had spoken with her that has made more of an impact on her life than any of her experiences with Joe have done. The man in the coffee shop is who has made Susan feel as her mother made her father feel all the years of their happy life together. The way Bill wishes for his daughter to feel all the days of her life with the man she chooses to spend the rest of her life with too. And Death comes to understand that while Susan has fallen in love with him as Joe Black, it's still their initial meeting with the man in the coffee shop that is who Susan really loves, which is why he finally changes his mind and says goodbye to her in the end, carefully revealing to her and helping her to understand who, or what he really is. And it's really beautiful. And more so... I also absolutely love and adore the friendship between Death and Bill throughout this movie too. I love how they both struggle to come to terms with their partnership of sorts Death forces upon Bill so that he can try to understand why humans feel and act as they do, and that how over time, their qualms with one another grows into a powerful friendship and understanding between one another by the end of the movie. As for my favorite moments throughout this incredible movie... I love the very end between Death and Bill once Bill has said his goodbyes to his daughters and to Quince, as Bill is finally ready to die and to move on with Death at his side as a very close friend. I love how Death thanks Bill for showing him what it means to love and be human, and how Death assures Bill that he's a good man. What a powerful and emotional moment! Another of my favorite moments is between Bill, Joe, and Drew, when Joe finally reveals himself to be an IRS agent in order to help Bill to save his company and legacy for his family. Drew is such a snake and he gets his comeuppance in the best way possible. I love that by Drew mocking Joe earlier within the movie about death and taxes, that it sparks the idea in Death to use the analogy to help Bill, and that his final words to Drew before he walks dejectedly out of Bill's office upon being fired are "Death and taxes". Absolutely brilliant!! Next... I love Death's first introduction as Death when he comes before Bill to tell him what's to come and how his life is ending, then reveals how he's taken over the body of the man in the coffee shop, whom he killed simply to take his body so he could spend some time on Earth among Bill and his family. Also... I love the moments between Death and the dying woman in the hospital, and how she recognizes him as who he really is and not as the imposter he's pretending to be for everyone else's sake. I love how she sees him as Death, and pleads with him to take her to Heaven to finally end her pain. I also love how Death speaks with her in her native accent too. Really quite beautiful. And lastly... I love Bill's final moments with his daughters and with Quince as well. I love how Bill tells Allison how much he loves her after she assures him she felt loved all of her days. I love how Bill forgives Quince for being unwittingly manipulated by Drew and assures him he's a good man. And I love the moment he dances with Susan and reminds her to follow her heart and to find the kind of love she deserves. Overall... I absolutely love Meet Joe Black very much, and I am so happy you enjoyed watching it as well. This is a very long movie, but it's really quite beautiful and in no way does it feel three hours long. At least not to me. I really appreciate you for watching this movie for me. So thank you very much!!! Like always... I'm excited for many more movie reactions, as well as more Once Upon a Time and hopefully some more of the shows that I've recommended for future reactions too! Thank you again, my friend!! I hope you and your family remain healthy, and be happy! :) Sincerely, Heidi

Heidi Elizabeth Marcum