Meet Joe Black
Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 13, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
43
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
14
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie contains elements that make it very good, and a lot of other elements besides. Less is more. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Sometimes clever and enjoyable, even touching, yet too often the film makes you feel as if you're in Sunday school. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Meet Joe Black flows nicely, and the whole of the film is bathed in some of the most sumptuous cinematography (courtesy of "Like Water for Chocolate's" Emmanuel Lubezki) of the year. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Ultimately, the movie is a perfect mirror of its star -- looks great, seems empty. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Meet Joe Black is a hefty three hours long, and just so you know, it is at least two before Claire Forlani, as the Parrish daughter, Susan, unbuttons Pitt's shirt. Read full review
60
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Meet Joe Black is Hopkins's movie and, despite the film's unnecessary length, his quiet and dignified performance almost carries the ball across the finish line. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
A businessman is visited by an otherworldly presence who has the nerve to fall in love with his daughter in this savory, extralong feature, whose obvious plotlines unfold with an almost painful slowness that somehow makes them deeper. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It doesn't pay to look too closely at this sumptuous fantasy, but if you're in the right mood to let it wash over you it's very warm and fizzy indeed. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
What might have been an effective fantasy if handled with sophistication and insouciance is instead weighed down by ponderous pacing, overstuffed production values and an instance of miscasting. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
With a too-many-cooks screenplay credited to Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno, Kevin Wade and Bo Goldman, it's so long that every character regrettably wears out his or her welcome. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's not just that Pitt's performance is bad. It hurts. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
You feel the full weight of the movie's three hours, since the filmmakers only had 90 minutes' of plot. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Clocking in at a self-important two hours and 59 minutes, this elongated romantic fable is impossible to sustain at a running time better suited to the fall of the Roman empire. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Brest deserves credit for letting the story unfold at a thoughtful pace, but the drama falls apart in the last half-hour, gushing with exaggerated emotions and abandoning its fairy-tale premises for an unconvincing feel-good finale. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
There are many unanswered questions here (why, for instance, does Pitt's Grim Reaper seem semi-retarded?), not to mention unintended spasms of comedy; in the end, however, they all get swallowed up in the mush. Read full review
50
Washington PostRita Kempley
Meet Joe Black, with Brad Pitt, is a near-death experience: Time seems to stop as we stiffen in our seats and the actors all whisper as if they're at a wake. Read full review
40
SalonLaura Miller
The high-concept premise of Death taking a long weekend off to mingle with us mortals brings out the worst in filmmakers. Read full review
40
SlateDavid Edelstein
Is Brad Pitt the worst actor on earth? The case could be made, and Meet Joe Black could serve as Exhibit A. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Meet Joe Black has the dubious distinction of being the longest film to date of 1998. It is also one of the most tedious and bombastic. Read full review
37
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A movie about death that stubbornly refuses to come to life. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
This ponderous, didactic weepie aspires to "Titanic" stature even if the only ship it sinks is itself. Read full review
20
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
Meet Joe Black takes an interesting idea--Death assumes human form and comes to earth to learn about human existence--and reduces it to a flat, uninspired, interminably slow movie. Read full review
10
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
It's probably not the year's worst film, but it would be difficult to imagine three more interminable, snooze-inducing hours of film than you'll find watching this narcoleptic dinosaur. Read full review
0
NewsweekJack Kroll
Every once in a while a film comes along that's so inexplicably ghastly that there's just no point in making nice about it. Read full review
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