Think about the title for 30 seconds, imagining what the trailer is like. Yep, it's exactly that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpFyds_pS2E
Release Date: December 16
Director: David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada)
Writer: Allan Loeb (Rock of Ages)
A Beautiful Mind meets Crash meets The Odd Life of Timothy Green...
This looks like a complete disaster, right? The worst kind of failed Oscar-bait.
Oh dear God. It's trailer 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1tfLWxcEzw
New theory. This movie is a trojan horse for the off-brand version of Scientology that Will Smith and his kids have cooked up.
Will and Jaden Smith Give Fucking Insane Interview About Patterns (http://gawker.com/will-and-jaden-smith-give-fucking-insane-interview-abou-510087159)
Jaden and Willow Smith on Prana Energy, Time, and Why School Is Overrated (http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/jaden-and-willow-smith-exclusive-joint-interview/?_r=1)
Something good has finally happened in 2016...
Collateral Beauty is a career box office low for Will Smith
http://deadline.com/2016/12/rogue-one-star-wars-story-preview-box-office-social-media-1201871704/
Warner Bros.' release of New Line/Village Roadshow's tearjerker Collateral Beauty was up slightly today with $2.75M over Friday's $2.38M. The studio is calling the pic's weekend at $7M (ironically, that's the same amount of cash that Sandra Bullock's Our Brand Is Crisis died with last year on a non-competitive weekend), and it stands as Will Smith's lowest wide release opening of his career. Some industry estimates have this pic filing lower, like near $6.8m, so its fate could change tomorrow.
In our previous update, we detailed the calamity that this film faced as it was buried by critics yet embraced by Friday night audiences with an A- CinemaScore. To what degree moviegoers enjoy Collateral Beauty remains a question as PostTrak's polling tells a different story from CinemaScore: The total positive score is 76% (not amazing) with a meh definite recommend of 55%. Like CinemaScore, PostTrak shows a heavy turnout by older women (55% females, 78% over 25).
From
Elena Lazic's review (http://lwlies.com/reviews/collateral-beauty) for Little White Lies:
Quote from: Elana LazicPre-release trailers for David Frankel's Collateral Beauty positioned the film as yet another contemporary update of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' with a Scrooge archetype visited by angels who are tasked with making him realise the error of his ways.
Grieving father Howard (Will Smith) is called on by the physical embodiments of Death, Love and Time having penned angry letters to them following the death of his young daughter. These manifestations (played by Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jacob Latimore) try to reason him into seeing beauty in the world again.
But what the trailer doesn't tell you – and this isn't a spoiler but rather the mad premise of this film – is that the recipients of said letters are in fact not angels but actors hired by Howard's colleagues. In order to regain control of his advertising company, three terrible friends plan to film him talking to the fake angels then edit them out of the footage as proof he is no longer fit to be their boss.
[...]
Beyond the psychotic awfulness of the scenario, there is something inherently off about the film's attempt to reconcile the existential topic of grief with the more materialistic world of business affairs. We are told that for the past two years Howard has been going to the office every day but neglecting his work, instead spending all his time in a room entirely dedicated to symbolic domino-based activities. In what world would the total absence of a boss take two years to impact on a company's business? What sort of company can afford to have an entire room dedicated to dominos? Did anyone suggest counselling?
Wait, what? That can't be true. Is that.... wow. No.
This is somehow even worse.
That's the most batshit insane thing I've ever heard. I almost want to see it now.
Two excellent podcast episodes on Collateral Beauty:
The Flop House (http://www.flophousepodcast.com/2017/04/episode-228-collateral-beauty/)
Slash Film Cast (http://www.slashfilm.com/collateral-beauty-is-morally-reprehensible-bonus-podcast/)