Movie Review: Collateral Beauty

Movie critics are not always right

Wasn’t sure I wanted to see this movie since the title is controversial, but I like Will Smith as an actor and Helen Mirren is one of my favorite actors, as well as Kiera Knightly and Kate Winslet. Movie critics didn’t rank it high (see Rottentomatoes review), but I don’t always follow other’s opinion and in this case a friend highly recommended the film. Like us, you may be surprised how the movie turns out. I like mysteries and the line-up of actors was enticing enough for me to see the movie. The film had already moved into the economy theaters with less luxurious seats and funny smells, big screen is always nicer for date-night than watching on a TV screen 🙂

What is the movie about?

Without giving away more than the general description found online (in case you want to see it yourself), the movie is about a successful ad executive who has everything, until he suffers a great loss that changes his life dramatically. He cannot cope with the new reality and risks losing everything else. His friends are desperate to get him back from a dark place, this place where he writes letters to the abstracts, trying to get answers from Love, Time and Death.

I like how it’s not immediately clear what happened and how the story develops over the course of the movie. Some like to know from the beginning, but to me that’s like going to the end of a book when you’re still on Chapter 2. I’d rather go along with the story and enjoy the craftsmanship of writers, actors, film producers, etc. Otherwise what’s the point of reading books or watching films?

The concepts of Love, Time and Death are all interwoven parts of life that are sometimes hard to understand, if any. I thought they were beautifully represented in the movie and I could not believe there were so many negative reviews. It amazes me how a group of people can watch the same movie and have such different opinions.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Reviews ranged from disappointment, waste of talent, failure to mean-spirited, I couldn’t help wondering if these (amateur) critics had watched the same movie I did!
Then I found some positive reviews that were more agreeable to what I saw: deep & insightful, poignant & touching, great cast & acting, great story line… What a relieve that I wasn’t the only one who saw all of this.
And I agreed with some of these other comments too: …movie went over the heads of general public…, …you can’t take a terrible rating at face value …, thank action cinematic films for your inner death…
A bit harsh, but understandable. I like action movies too, but most of the time there is a lot of action and not a lot of story in those. They may have some entertainment value, but are usually not realistic.

A beauty of a movie (imho)

Collateral beauty is one of those that can touch you deeply, because it’s a movie about real life and how people deal with their challenges, all in different ways. Loss, love, pain, time, meaning, death, all things we will experience in our life, one way or the other. I guess this film is only appealing to people who understand the deeper meaning of life. Not everything works out well for everyone, and that is just a fact of life.

Someone said that there were no surprises in the film. How could they have missed that? I was surprised! Really didn’t expect what came in the end, but it was good. Although not everyone may be happy in the end, there is still hope that can give life meaning (again).

In my opinion, the movie was beautifully put together by the screenwriters and film makers. The actors were marvelous, funny, emotional, provocative, some famous, some new. All in all, I thought it was great to see a movie again that could touch the emotional side of us. Watch the trailer or the movie, and tell me what you think in the comments below