| TOP OF SITE | TOP OF ISSUE | TOP OF SECTION |
| PREVIOUS STORY | NEXT STORY |
|
Joe Black : Death in human clothing By Will Raiman and Sean Morrison Death's Little Helpers ATLANTA November 13, 1998
Studio : Universal Studios Running Time : 175 minutes Rating : PG-13 Starring : Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Claire Forlani Acting : 5.0 / 5.0 Action : 1.0 / 5.0 Drama : 5.0 / 5.0 Humor : 3.0 / 5.0 Suspense : 3.0 / 5.0  Meet Joe Black is the story of Death (played by Brad Pitt) on vacation. He has chosen as his guide to the world of the living wealthy businessman Bill Parrish (played by Sir Anthony Hopkins). Death chooses Parrish because of the life he has lead, and because it is time for him to die. Death and Parrish strike a deal: Parrish introduces Death (known as Joe Black to all of the other mortals) to the world of the living, and Parrish gets to live as long as Joe sticks around.
Will: Sounds like a good deal to me. I wonder who his agent is. Of course, Death gets a little bit more out of the deal than just a tour of the mortal realm. Immortal spirits tend to get the better end of a deal, don't you know. In this case, Joe Black gets Bill Parrish's daughter Susan, played by Claire Forlani. Sean: And that is quite a deal if you ask me. Although in the past, Will and I have shown a penchant for chauvinism, let me point out that the first thing that jumped out at me about the movie was not Claire Forlani (she WAS second, however). No, the first thing that I noticed was the acting. It was good. All throughout, it was real good. Will: No one out there will be surprised to hear that Sir Anthony Hopkins has turned in another great performance. He was simply excellent. It may be hard to believe in a man who has accepted that he will die and is ready to pass on to the next world, but Hopkins pulled it off masterfully. Add to the good acting roster Claire Forlani and, dare I say it, Brad Pitt, and you've probably got a good movie. But acting alone was not all that sold this movie. Sean: Definitely. This movie had a lot of strong points. Along with Claire Forlani and the acting, the story itself was skillfully, dare I say seamlessly, put together. This movie deals with a lot of situations that are... unusual in everyday life. It would have been very easy for the screenwriters to concoct unbelievable reactions from characters, but they dodged that bullet. The characters react believably, in part due to good acting and in part because the writing was thoughtful. |
Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board
submit a letter to the Editor
e-mail the Entertainment Editor with a comment about this story
e-mail the Online Editor if there's a technical problem with this page