Meet Joe Black

 "I know it is a corn ball thing, but love is a passion. Obsession. Someone you can't live without. I say fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy, and who will love you the same way back."

"How do you find them?" 

"Well you forget your head and you listen to your heart."

"I am not hearing any heart. Because the truth is, honey, there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. "

"But you have to try, because, if you have not tried, you have not lived."

Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) advise to his younger daughter Susan ( Claire Forlani) caught the attention of the "Death" who had come to take the life of this extraordinary human being and businessman who was about to celebrate his 65th Birthday in a few days time at a lavish party organised by his eldest daughter Allison (Marcia Gay Harden) and decide to negotiate with Bill to guide him through the various aspects of his life to experience its emotions first hand. He takes the body of an unfortunate young man whom Susan had met that morning at a cafe near the hospital she interns as a doctor. They had struck up a conversation and were mutually attracted the way her father had put in words for her. Just after they parted ways without asking each others name or other details the young man met with an accident and the body was taken up by Death to experience a man's life. 

Susan's surprise of seeing the young man, now under assumed name Joe Black turned, first into confusion (he didn't recognize her nor was the dashing young man she had met in the morning) and then into a deep attraction reciprocated with same intensity by her father's new friend who was all for the experience of it. Just like any other young man 'Joe Black' loses his mind in love and become like a mere human in his emotions until he is set right by the very man whose life he has come to take. 

Joe Black realizes his folly and understand the depth of the most beautiful of human emotions called love and returns achieving the objective he came for after the brief 'vacation'. 

The romantic fantasy film directed by Martin Brest is an adaption of the 1934 film 'Death takes a holiday' which was based on a 1924 Italian play 'La Morte in vacanza' by Alberto Casella. The film ran three long hours on the screen play written by Bo Goldman, Kevin Wade, Ron Osborn and Jeff Reno attracting criticism for its long dialogue ending which used emotions in long spells to communicate the falling into place realization of Susan about what is happening to her father and the true identity of Joe Black. 

Thomas Newman's music gave life to the long hours and Sir Anthony Hopkins excelled as Bill Parrish, some critics felt Brad Pitt as Joe Black was one of his most intense performances. 

Re watching the film now 24 years later brought back the memories of our own life at the time of its release in the November of 1998 at Sridhar theatre of Ernakulam where the film was played.