Collateral Beauty is a 2016 American Christmas fantasy drama film starring Will Smith, Edward Norton, Keira Knightley, Michael Peña, Naomie Harris, Jacob Latimore, Kate Winslet and Helen Mirren.
Synopsis[]
Successful advertising executive Howard Inlet becomes clinically depressed after his young daughter's tragic death. Howard spends his time alone, rarely sleeping or eating, and at the office, building domino chains and structures.
Howard's estranged friends and business partners, Whit Yardsham, Claire Wilson, and Simon Scott fear for Howard's health as well as their company's future, as his behavior has cost them numerous high-profile clients and left them on the verge of bankruptcy. As the majority shareholder, Howard has also undermined their efforts to sell the company.
The trio hire a private investigator, Sally Price, to acquire evidence that Howard is unfit to run the company, allowing them to take control. Sally intercepts three letters written by Howard which he posted to the abstract concepts of Love, Time, and Death, and presents them to the group.
Whit, Claire and Simon hire a trio of struggling actors – Amy, Raffi and Brigitte – to masquerade as the abstracts respectively in order to confront Howard about his letters. Their plan is for Sally to record these encounters and then digitally erase the actors to make Howard appear mentally unbalanced, enabling them to sell the company.
In preparation for their roles, Brigitte, Raffi, and Amy spend time with Simon, Claire, and Whit, who are going through personal problems of their own: Simon is secretly battling cancer; Whit is struggling to connect with his pre-teen daughter Allison after cheating on her mother; and Claire is looking for sperm donors to conceive a child after neglecting her private life for years.
After his encounters with "Love", "Time" and "Death", Howard attends a grief support group where he befriends a woman named Madeleine who has lost her own daughter, Olivia, to cancer; which led to the end of her marriage. As Howard meets with Madeleine, she shows him a note from her husband, "If only we could be strangers again…" and continues enigmatically "And now we are." Howard also tells her about his recent "conversations" with Death, Time, and Love. Madeleine tells him that on the day Olivia died, an old woman at the hospital had told her to notice the "Collateral Beauty", which she has learned to recognize as acts of selfless kindness that follow tragedies.
As the group is discussing the actors' performances, Amy storms out of the room because she feels guilty about manipulating Howard. Whit goes to convince her to return and declares romantic interest in her. Amy rejects him, but agrees to commit to their plan if he will make amends with his daughter. Simon similarly confides with Brigitte about his condition and his fear of death. Brigitte encourages him to share the burden with his family.
"Love", "Time", and "Death" confront Howard again but he lashes out at them, particularly Love, externalizing the pain he held inside since his daughter's death. Love tells Howard he owes it to his daughter's existence to love and that he can't live without it. The next day, Howard attends a meeting with his company's board of directors in which footage of the incidents, with the actors digitally removed, is shown. Howard realizes his mental state and behavior are ruining the company and soon voices his gratitude for all that his friends have done for him, promising to be there in their times of need. He then signs the documents placed before him to enable the sale of the agency.
Simon tells his wife about his health condition; she comforts him. Claire meets with Raffi, and he states she will make a good mother someday. Claire says time has caught up to her, to which he replies that her battle with time isn't over yet, and mentions people who had had a positive effect on his young life. Whit visits Allison at school. Although she expresses anger and initially refuses to speak to him, he expresses his love for her and vows to return every day until she talks to him. Allison reconsiders, and in parting, mentions that "tomorrow is a half day of school".
Howard visits Madeleine on Christmas Eve, and she persuades him to watch a video of her husband playing with their daughter. Her husband turns out to be Howard playing dominoes with their daughter Olivia. Howard breaks down and is finally able to acknowledge his daughter's name and cause of death, and hugs Madeleine while crying. Brigitte is revealed to be the woman who had told Madeleine about the concept of collateral beauty.
Howard and Madeleine walk hand-in-hand through Central Park. Howard turns and sees Amy, Raffi and Brigitte watching from a footbridge, but they vanish as Madeleine turns toward them.
Songs[]
- "Way Down We Go" - Kaleo
- "Looking Too Closely" - Fink
- "Oh What a Beautiful City" - Bryan Terrell Clark, Mykal Kilgore and Marcus James
- "World of Love" - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
- "Let's Hurt Tonight" (Collateral Beauty Mix) - OneRepublic
Cast[]
| Actor/actress | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Will Smith | Howard |
| Edward Norton | Whit |
| Kate Winslet | Claire |
| Michael Peña | Simon |
| Helen Mirren | Brigitte |
| Naomie Harris | Madeline |
| Keira Knightley | Amy |
| Jacob Latimore | Raffi |
| Ann Dowd | Sally Price |
| Liza Colón-Zayas | Trevor's Mom |
| Natalie Gold | Adam's Mom |
| Kylie Rogers | Allison |
| Shirley Rumierk | Simon's Wife |
| Alyssa Cheatham | Olivia |
| Benjamin Snyder | Sally's Grandson |
| Mary Beth Peil | Whit's Mother |
| Andy Taylor | Father with Photo |
| Michael Cumpsty | Chairman of the Board |
| Jonathan Rivera Morales | Monster (Mexican Commercial) |
| Joseph Castillo-Midyett | Teacher (Mexican Commercial) |
| Bryan Terrell Clark Marcus Paul James Mykal Kilgore |
Homeless A Capella Singers |
| Jimmy Palumbo | Super |
| Elia Monte-Brown Crystal A. Dickinson Suzy Jane Hunt Andrés Munar |
Support Group Members |
| Claire Glassford | Junior Executive |
| Harriett D. Foy Maureen Mueller Steven Hauck Robert Toshi Chan Willie C. Carpenter |
Board Members |
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Collateral Beauty at the Internet Movie Database
- Collateral Beauty at the Movie Database
- Collateral Beauty at Rotten Tomatoes
- Collateral Beauty at RetroJunk.com
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