Review of Collateral Beauty (2016) by Mydistuniverse — 31 Dec 2016

It is no coincidence that Collateral Beauty is set around the Christmas time and hit the cinemas during the festive season. As beautiful as the story is, it would have a hard time working at any other time of year. We meet Howard at the height of his game. He is an advertising executive with a loyal group of friends and business partners around him. Together they just opened a new office in New York and life is good. Fast forward three years and the picture has changed. Howard has changed. Two years ago he lost his daughter and is unable to process the grief that consumes him. He is no longer able to cope with his surroundings. Instead of working he stopped talking to people and spends his days building elaborate domino structures.

This, of course, threatens the wellbeing of the firm and it’s staff and his friends are slowly running out of options. Whit, Claire and Simon worked hard to keep the ship afloat but big contracts depend on the connection that Howard had with the clients. Without his input the business has taken a turn for the worse. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. They have an offer to sell the company but Howard won’t hear any of it. In their desperation Whit suggests to hire a private detective to help gather evidence that Howard is unfit for business. At first hesitant, Claire and Simon eventually agree and the PI discovers that Howard wrote three letters: one each to Love, Time and Death.

They decide to hire three actor to portray Love, Time and Death. The actors are at first supposed to interact with Howard to shake him out of his stupor. That failing they go on to the next steps in the plan.

All the while Whit, Claire and Simon are directing Love, Time and Death they also struggle with their own personal problems and how to deal with them. Whit gets a lesson in love, that he desperately needs because his daughter hates him after his divorce. Claire has dedicated her life to the company and made the staff her priority. Now feels she ran out of time to create her own family. And Simon is in dire need of advise from death himself.

Meanwhile Howard spends his evenings watching a support group for bereaved parents through a window. One night he gathers up the courage to go inside and join. The group leader is a woman called Madeleine, who lost her daughter to a rare form of brain cancer. Although he is unable to speak about the loss of his own child, this together with the appearances of Love, Time and Death are the begin of the healing process he so desperately needs. With Collateral Beauty there will be no middle ground. It’s like Marmite. There will be people who love it and there will be people who hate it. I love it. It is such a beautiful story. Will Smith is giving one of the best performances of his life. Considering that his character doesn't speak for most of the time all his emotions are portrayed by facial expressions and body posture. The man is a terrific actor!

Helen Mirren is a brilliant as always. She can do no wrong in my mind. Her portrayal of Death could have been awkward, but in fact is was just the right balance between serious and light hearted. Kate Winslet is a wonderful actress. Unfortunately the role didn't do it for me. It didn't do her acting ability justice. It's almost as if the actress was bigger than the role. Although, on the occasions when her talent could be shown - show it she did.

I was disappointed with Keira Knightley’s performance. Not quite sure if she was meaning to play a **** but she certainly came across that way. Not very nice for someone supposed to portray Love. Naomie Harries plays Madeleine, the woman that Howard meets at the support group. She gives a stellar performance in her portrayal of the heartbroken mother who lost her little girl in such a cruel way. I can certainly see, where the critics are coming from. There aren't any ups and downs and in a way, the story is also quite predictable. Yet, I really loved it. I can see myself pulling Collateral Beauty out every Christmas together with all the other Christmas movies such as Love Actually & Co. Collateral Beauty is a very moving film. It took me several days of mulling it over in my head before I was able to put my thoughts into words. In fact I actually went to see it when I first came out here in Ireland on December 26. But I felt that I wanted to keep it close to me for a while, before talking about it. That in itself makes it special to me, because I don't get this feeling very often.

It also is a very sad movie but it also is full of hope. In so many ways. It gives hope that we have enough Time and Love before Death comes and gets us. And hope that we will be able to see the Collateral Beauty all around us in those we lost.