Directed by: David Frankel
Starring: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Naomie Harris, Michael Pena, Jacob Latimore, Ann Dowd
Soon after filming wrapped, I picture the cast and crew of Collateral Beauty predicting how many, Oscar nominations would be bestowed on them and the film. After all, look at the cast and look at the story. How could it miss? Critical reviews to date and disappointing box office suggest that they should all sleep in on the morning the nominations are announced. The film has been called shamelessly manipulative and hokey, but while it isn't a total success, it nearly works. Sometimes it is OK for a movie to jerk some tears with a story of grief and finally accepting loss. It is no Manchester by the Sea, but then again, most movies aren't.
Will Smith stars as Howard Inlet, who three years ago was on top of the world as the big boss at a rising Manhattan advertising firm. His partners Whit (Norton), Claire (Winslet), and Simon (Pena) were all raking in the big bucks and life was good. Fast forward three years and things suck. Howard is now a shell of a man after losing his daughter to illness. Whit is now divorced and living with his mother. Claire is hearing the ticking of her biological clock and wants to adopt a baby. Simon has a telltale cough that could only mean bad things for him.
Howard's three partners are concerned for him, but are more concerned that the firm is suffering financially. Howard couldn't care less, but the partners see a lucrative deal on the horizon to sell the firm at a substantial profit. They see Howard forever building intricate rows and rows of dominoes only to knock them down. They think he may be mentally unstable and thus be forced to forfeit his controlling interest in the company if he is found to be insane. How to do this? By hiring a private eye to tail him and dig up dirt. What dirt? Well, Howard writes three unaddressed letters to Time, Death, and Love. He is pissed at all three concepts and writes letters to express this. The letters are retrieved and after encountering a pretty actress at an audition for one of the firm's ad campaigns, Whit has a brainstorm. Hire three actors to play Time, Death, and Love and have them talk to Howard. The meetings will be secretly recorded and, after some nifty editing, the videos will make Howard appear insane. Lovely.
The actors are Amy (Knightley), who will play Love. Raffi (Latimore), who plays Time. And then Brigitte (Mirren), who will play Death. They agree to play the roles in exchange for hefty sums which will help them produce a future play. It should come as no surprise that Time, Death, and Love are paired up with the partners who seem to need them more than Howard does. Also helping Howard on his journey is Madeline (Harris), who runs a grief therapy session because she too lost a child. They became friends and, if not for their inner turmoil, would be able to develop something deeper.
The movie itself feels like a Hallmark Movie of the Week with an A-list cast that made its way to the big screen. There are plot twists indeed; one of which is fairly obvious and one which was a bit surprising and touching. Is Collateral Beauty manipulative and after a cheap tear? Yes, but it isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world. The actors give much better performances than the material deserves and everyone in one way or another has his/her problem solved at the end. Collateral Beauty isn't deep, although it thinks it is, and critics have been raking it over the coals for being a shameless tearjerker. But, I've seen a lot worse. Sometimes critics have a way of piling on.
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