Collateral
Beauty
(2016/Warner Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C+ Film: C
From
the director of The
Devil Wears Prada,
David Frankel, comes Collateral
Beauty
(2016) - the latest in the line of many Will Smith-led dramas that
don't quite hit the mark. Lacking the heart that made Pursuit
of Happyness
(2006) a hit for Smith over a decade ago, this mean-spirited drama
proves that even the strongest cast including Keira Knightley, Kate
Winslet, Edward Norton, Michael Pena, Naomie Harris, Jacob Latimore,
and Helen Mirren can't save a convoluted screenplay. This film
should be shown in a screenwriting course at film school as an
example having too many metaphors and beating your audience over the
head with them.
Smith
stars as a successful advertising agent who is totally destroyed by
the death of his daughter. Two years after the fact he barely
speaks, eats, sleeps or interacts with his fellow coworkers. His
only ways of coping are long bicycle rides, sitting on a park bench
in a dog park, and writing and mailing letters addressed to 'death',
'time', and 'love'. Concerned about his well being and the future of
their employment, his coworkers (Norton, Winslet, Pena) hatch a hair
brained scheme to have three actors (Knightley, Latimore, Mirren)
play 'death', 'time', and 'love.' Thinking these actors are
hallucinatory bi-products of his depression, Smith starts to snap
back into reality and gain back his sense of self worth. In the
meantime, the very three coworkers end up confronting these same
three obstacles in life themselves.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and
a great sounding lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
(48kHz, 24-bit) mix, there's little to complain about technically
when it comes to the presentation of the film on disc. The
cinematography is very strong in the film with some interesting ideas
of color (namely a game that Smith plays in the film with blocks is
effect and gorgeous.) For the most part, the look is more real and
less stylized, with detail and skin texture highly evident in this
Blu-ray presentation. A digital UV copy is also included.
There
aren't many special features except for:
-
A
Modern Fable: Discovering Collateral Beauty
If
it weren't for the big names involved, it's likely this story but
would be a prime time TV movie.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
