Meet Joe Black was released in 1998 and stars Brad Pitt as both a pro-bono lawyer and the grim reaper. This week everyone tweeted about its bombastic death scene.
Confused? If you haven’t seen the film, Pitt is struck and killed by a car early on in the movie, and death takes over his body so he can experience what it’s like to be a human. It’s a modern remake of 1934’s Death Takes a Holiday. The film, which stars Claire Forlani as the love interest to Pitt’s dual characters, is heartfelt in a sappy kind of way. There are some genuinely good scenes—it also features Anthony Hopkins.
But the scene where Pitt’s lawyer character “dies” is absolutely ridiculous. The film decided to go with the “standing in the middle of a busy street for no reason” death trope. After meeting at a cafe, Pitt and Forlani’s characters keep looking back at different times. And you wonder why someone didn’t just exchange a business card or something. After about 100 look-backs, Pitt’s character is hit by an oncoming car, and then a taxi from the opposite side. It’s so over-the-top that it feels like a sketch.
Rose O’Shea shared a clip from the scene on Twitter yesterday with the caption, “This is the most bonkers one minute of a movie that I have ever seen.”
This is the most bonkers one minute of a movie that I have ever seen pic.twitter.com/wjRxHlIBO4
— Rose O’Shea (@ladyastronauty) April 11, 2019
Her tweet has since been liked more than 80,000 times and quoted by thousands of users—many of whom did not know of the film’s existence until now.
“I have no idea what this movie is and I don’t want anyone to ever tell me,” comedian and actor Paul F. Tompkins said.
I have no idea what this movie is and I don’t want anyone to ever tell me https://t.co/kHAoZFroFn
— Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) April 11, 2019
Other people are reminiscing on when they saw Meet Joe Black in theaters back in 1998.
I saw this in the cinema when I was like 15 and I’m not sure I’ve ever laughed harder https://t.co/nMeEf7wlfS
— Alan (@alan_maguire) April 11, 2019
it’s always a real joy whenever twitter rediscovers this scene from meet joe black, a movie i have never seen save for this part, which I have memorized https://t.co/HjnLZ8kHbZ
— rachel (@rachelmillman) April 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/carmenmmachado/status/1116467013898129408
Anyway, the consensus is that it’s a perfect clip.
https://twitter.com/dansinker/status/1116443705236512769
LMFAO THE END WAS PERFECT https://t.co/y0rt3p5iwd
— Tim Chantarangsu (@TimothyDeLaG) April 12, 2019
This is the funniest fucking sketch I’ve ever seen and it’s not actually a sketch, it’s a scene from the drama “Meet Joe Black.” https://t.co/Bb9YtqyQT0
— Duke Max “Carnival Lawyer” Ash (@mynameisntdave) April 11, 2019
this is the most insane piece of cinema i’ve ever seen https://t.co/iPxTxCVYIx
— Trey Smith (@SlimiHendrix) April 11, 2019
This certainly isn’t the only wild scene from Meet Joe Black, though. Pitt also speaks Jamaican Patois to a woman at a hospital.
https://twitter.com/geekylonglegs/status/1116449434156576775
If you are now dying to watch the rest of Meet Joe Black, it’s currently streaming on Netflix.
Correction: Meet Joe Black is drama.
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