Starring an ensemble cast of Will Smith, Edward Norton, Keira Knightley, Michael Pena, Naomie Harris, Kate Winslet and Helen Mirren, “Collateral Beauty” is a powerful, emotional and thought-provoking film about the many important aspects of life like love, time, and death. While many reviewers argue that it is clichéd, formulaic, manipulative and overstuffed with themes and devices meant to produce emotions in a gimmicky way, viewers with an open mind and warm heart will likely love this movie.
Howard Inlet (Smith), a successful New York advertising exec, loses his only child and enters into a dysfunctional state of mourning. His friends and co-workers make many attempts to get through to him, but as his depression and overall withdrawal isn’t getting any better and becomes a threat to the company, they take action to prove he may not be in the right mind to be making critical business decisions.
After hiring a private investigator to follow him and prove his incompetence, they find out he has been writing letters addressed to “Love”, “Time” and “Death” as a way to reach out to the universe in search of answers. They then decide to take it a step further by paying actors to approach him pretending to be Love, Time and Death, answering his letters and provoking him into talking about his feelings.
As Howard’s friends, Whit (Norton), Claire (Winslet) and Simon (Pena) attempt to help Howard get through his grief, they begin to see things about themselves that parallel the various themes Howard is presented with. Local stage actors, Aimee (Knightley), Raffi (Jacob Latimore) and Brigitte (Mirren) play the roles of Love, Time and Death, respectively. As Whit, Claire and Simon coach the actors, their performances to Howard ultimately force his friends to see truths about their own lives.
The film is clearly overstuffed with themes, devices and quality actors that many believe to be underused, but most of the complaints I’ve heard about this film only make it stronger in my eyes. The story starts out a bit scatterbrained and seems to briefly steer away from Smith’s character but quickly gets back on track and culminates in an extremely creative and magical finish. There are a handful of twists, surprises and neat parallels throughout, that while formulaic and perhaps even forced at times, only appeared to further back up the concepts of Love, Time and Death.
For viewers who tend to get emotional about certain aspects of the film, be prepared to dry your eyes quite often. From the death of a child to multiple realizations and truths about the aforementioned themes and life in general, there are several moments throughout the film that are more than touching, to say the least. The experience is different for every viewer, but most of these moments didn’t appear to be overly depressing as much as simply relatable, somewhere in between heartbreaking and heartwarming. Luckily, there are a handful of genuine laugh-out-loud moments that balance out the sentimental times.
This film is being called one of the worst reviewed films of the year, which seems to be true from the comments I’ve seen, but my thoughts couldn’t be more opposite. Perhaps I’m a more sentimental person than most and tend to be easily pleased by most films, but I truly believe this film has a lot to offer for many audiences. If you’re anything like me, you’ll leave the theater thoroughly entertained, impressed, and teary-eyed.
“Collateral Beauty” is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language. Running time is 1 hour and 36 minutes.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Hayden Pittman is a special contributor to WFAA.com and a freelance writer, photographer/videographer, and filmmaker in Dallas, TX. You can find more of his work on Selig Film News. He is a film, TV, and sports enthusiast, and when he is not reviewing movies, Hayden works in film production. Don't like what he has to say? Let him know at hpittman87@gmail.com, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter at @HPMoviePitt. Enjoy the movies!
