Collateral Beauty
Starring: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Helen Mirren, Naomie Harris, Michael Peña
Directed by: David Frankel
Rated: PG-13
Don't do it. Don't see this movie. I know, the long list of actors is appealing. Trust me, I understand. Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley and Will Smith? I get it. I really do. I'm telling you this for your own good. You don't want to waste your money on this endlessly frustrating experience. Why? Read on to find out.
After his daughter dies, Howard (Will Smith) is unable to do his job due to overwhelming grief. He spends most of the day building immaculate domino creations, only to tip them over as he dramatically walks away to alt-rock. Honestly, who does that? Who walks away while the dominoes fall? WATCH THE FRUIT OF YOUR DOMINO LABOR. He also writes letters to love, death, and time as a coping mechanism. Howard's co-workers are worried about their friend and that his grief will affect the company. Because of this, they hire 3 actors to portray death (Helen Mirren), love (Keira Knightely) and time (Jacob Lattimore) to help Howard through his loss. Can Howard get through his grief and see the Collateral Beauty in the world?
Almost time to tip them over and walk away!
Where should I begin with this movie's long list of issues? Have you ever watched a movie trying so hard to be profound but it's not that deep? Yeah, that'sCollateral Beauty. Throughout its runtime the characters give monologues about death, life, the universe and the "Collateral Beauty" that surrounds us all! Wow! At points in the movie, I thought some of these speeches actually sounded deep. But then I thought about them after a character would speak. After breaking them down, I came to the conclusion that they are just a string of long fancy words spoken in succession, but hollow in meaning. They're meant to sound profound and cerebral, but ultimately they are just pretentious.
My biggest issue with this movie takes place in the last 15 minutes. The film was already pretentious, sad core entertainment. However, it was watchable. But then, it happened. They really went there. A major twist is thrown in that ruins any narrative credibility whatsoever. A twist so random, so ridiculous, that it is just not logical. People around me groaned. "Are you kidding me?" I heard a few rows in front of me. Well, it did surprise us. I'll give it that. Then they throw in one more twist for good measure! Just in case one wasn't enough. Seems like the screenwriter may have watched one too many M. Night Shyamalan movies before writing the script.
In terms of performances, Collateral Beauty is fine, but nothing particularly special. With a film so star-studded I expected exceptional performances. Will Smith is all right, but he has been much better in the past. He spends most of the movie half-crying or yelling. Kate Winslet doesn't get much to do here except worry she won't have time to have a baby. Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren (as love and death) save this on the acting front every time they appear on screen injecting energy and emotion into their scenes.
"We are all connected" reads the tagline to Collateral Beauty. Yes we are, connected in a general consensus that this movie is terrible.
My Rating: 3/10