COLLATERAL BEAUTY

Will Smith stars in his most prominent dramatic role to date and is supported by a stellar cast which includes Hellen Mirren, Kate Winslet and Keira Knightley.

The story surrounds Howard (Smith) an advertising executive who, after the death of his 6-year-old daughter, reaches out to the cosmos and writes letters to three abstractions – death, love and time – asking relevant questions about life. Work colleagues employ three actors to appear before Howard as these abstractions to answer his questions. They hope this will bring him back to his former untroubled self, but there is an ulterior motive for this pretence.

Performances by a wonderful ensemble cast are admirable in this film about loss, devastating grief and the inability to let go. Smith is credible as the grieving father, maintaining the same level of anger and depression throughout, and Mirren’s whimsical portrayal of ‘death’ is also a welcoming deterrence from the morbid nature of the film.

Adversely, this story is impossible to take seriously and the bizarre twist in the final moments of the film will negate what audiences thought they learnt about the characters who portray the three abstractions.

The script also contains silly (allegedly meaningful) dialogue such as “nothing is really dead if you look at it right” (really?).

Death dominates this unique story, which is touching but mostly depressing. There’s no holiday cheer is this film which resonates that when you lose a child your mind may never be fixed.

Audiences who enjoy being emotionally manipulated should find this fable-like sentimental holiday weeper rewarding, but ultimately they too will be perplexed and ask, what is “collateral beauty”? (MMo)

★★1/2