Collateral Beauty

Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet,

Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, 

Michael Pena,  Naomie Harris

"Connect to the Beauty of Life"

The film opens with Howard (Will Smith), the charismatic co-founder of a successful ad agency giving a pep talk to his team. He asks them "What is your why"? He replies "Time, Love and Death.  They connect with every person in this universe. We long for love. We wish we had more time.  And we fear death". Good points to ponder on.  

Three years later, we again see Howard but this time he has been reduced to an empty shell, a melancholic person wallowing in misery. Yet he has a good reason, he lost his 6 year old daughter to cancer. He still goes to the office but he doesn't talk to anyone, he just spends his days building mazes of dominoes which he eventually 'demolishes' and starts building them again. He hardly sleeps, goes out on his bike being reckless biking on the wrong side of the road. 

His 3 co-partners are worried about him, about the fate of the ad agency which isn't doing well so they resort to hiring actors at a local theater to 'stalk' Howard. This is brought about by 3 letters which Howard wrote to Time, Love and Death. His missives are mostly guilty stricken, longing for answers and deeply emotional letters. 

So Claire (Kate Winslet), Simon (Michael Pena) and Whit (Edward Norton) think the best way to salvage the agency is to prove that Howard is mentally unstable so they can sell the company to another media outfit.

The film is focused on Howard talking with these 3 actors named Rafi, Amy and Brigitte who have been assigned to tackle the persona of Time, Love and Death. 

Time (Jacob Latimore) is paired with Claire, a workaholic who may have wasted time by focusing too much on her career instead of starting a family. Love (Keira Knightley) is paired with Whit, a single dad who is trying to win back his daughter's love. While Death  (Helen Mirren) is handled by Simon, who hides his terminal illness from his family and friends.  In their encounters with Howard and their respective handlers, we see how their interaction slowly make an impact on their dispositions, and their overall attitude towards life.  

Howard also seeks the help of a counselling group whose goal is to help their members cope with grief after losing a child. The group is headed by Madeleine (Naomie Harris) a divorced mother whose daughter succumbed  to a rare form of cancer. At first, Howard is hesitant to join them but slowly inches his way into the group during his frequent 'run-ins' with Time, Love and Death.

Surprisingly, this movie flopped at the box office and the critics lambasted it. The presence of the strong cast could not salvage it but I liked the movie. It deals with profound grief which isn't an easy subject to tackle. Certainly, the plot had some loopholes like that unexpected twist towards the end but I think the cast more than made up for it  with their heartfelt delivery and strong performances.

Now allow me to venture a guess as to why this melancholic film didn't rate high with the critics. I believe it is because it was given the "Hollywood" treatment. Well this isn't necessarily a bad thing, mind you. Yet in certain movies, it can completely ruin the story by veering too far off from the main message by throwing in too many distractions like unnecessary side plots. They tend to confuse complex with complicated and this doesn't bode well for any narrative, no matter how good the cast are. 

I reiterate though that I liked this emotional movie and was deeply touched by its essence.