Collateral Beauty is
the latest Will Smith vehicle, this time directed by The Devil Wears Prada director David Frankel. The film is about a
guy who is a major player at an advertising agency dealing with the death of
his daughter. For risk of spoilers, I cannot say more. The film stars Will
Smith, of course, as well as Edward Norton, Keira Knightley, Michael Peña,
Naomie Harris, Jacob Latimore, Kate Winslet, and Helen Mirren. Overall, I
thought the film was ok. It surprised me from the outset but did a few things
near the end that spoiled much of the enjoyment I did get from the film.
On the positive side of things, I was definitely interested
in the characters in the film and I did care about their problems. Smith,
Norton, Winslet, Peña, and Harris all play characters who have something
weighty going on in their lives and they almost universally got me to care
about the issues they had going on which was fairly impressive. I also found
Jacob Latimore incredibly magnetic in his scenes.
I also really enjoyed the way this film looked and the
visual cues it throws you throughout the film. It really makes a lot of mundane
things look very clean and attractive and I really enjoyed looking at this
film. I also found that its short runtime and good pace kept me involved in
what was going on and even with some heavy content it never became too dour.
The problems with this film are somewhat hard to discuss. It
makes a choice early on and does something with that choice later in the film
that kind of wrecked some good will the film had built with me. The film also
thinks it is much more clever than it really is. There is another plot related
thing I can’t really say and it unfolds in a way that was both unbelievable and
inherently obvious. That really just felt obnoxious and much like it was trying
too hard.
Sort of on the topic of the film thinking it is more clever
than it is, this film feels very “wrote” and manufactured. It has a lot of
humanity and, honestly, a lot of heart. But it lacks soul. It lacks realism. It
lacks human flaws. There are so many convenient parallels in this story and it
moves in ways that make you notice that the film is written by someone and not
a story that happened and is being told. Obviously it is a work of fiction, as
are many things, but the sign of a great film is the ability to step back and
see a storyteller weave together something that you buy into even though you
know it’s fake. I didn’t get that sense from Collateral Beauty at all and that is probably the most criminal
thing about the film.
Overall, I found Collateral
Beauty to be a lot better than the train wreck I was expecting. It did some
interesting things, it looked good, and it kept moving forward with everything.
The actors also made me care about them. That said, it really tries too hard
and felt fake. It also makes a choice toward the end that ruined some good
faith with a choice it made early on.
Ryan’s Score: 6.5/10
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