COLLATERAL BEAUTY

Will Smith   Edward Norton   Kate Winslet   Michael Peña  

Helen Mirren   Keira Knightley   Jacob Latimore   Naomie Harris   Ann Dowd

          Whimsical movies with heart and soul make for fine holiday fare, and Collateral Beauty fits the bill, if the viewer doesn’t mind some attention given to death.  Collateral Beauty is more than whimsical; it illustrates how devastating the loss of a child can be for a parent.  Director David Frankel’s film, like Hope Springs, Marley and Me, and The Devil Wears Prada before it, makes insightful observations about the human condition in some of its variants (including issues of the three other main characters), mixed with good doses of plain humor, black humor, and pure fancy.  I found this movie hilarious at times, extremely moving to the point of tears at other times, and simply delightful, ultimately.  

         The problem at hand is that the head honcho of a business is going through an extended bereavement reaction (he stops coming to work at all), threatening the livelihood of his partner and business associates and employees.  Howard (Smith) has lost his daughter, so Whit (Norton) his partner, and colleagues Claire (Winslet) and Simon (Peña) try everything they can think of to help him function again, but nothing seems to work.  In desperation, Whit has a brilliant idea involving a private detective (Dowd) and three actors.  The actors will represent love, time, and death, the abstractions Howard has literally been writing letters to and dropping in the mailbox.

        Something like angels—but not quite—death (Mirren), love (Knightley), and time (Latimore) visit Howard at unexpected times, producing the letters he has written to them in which he claims that all have betrayed him.  The actors function something like therapists, addressing his comments like (to death) “You’re dead tissue that won’t decompose.”  And Howard reacts belligerently to all of them.  But he also lurks outside a bereavement group room, peering in the window and then walking away.   

          It’s clear that writer Allan Loeb and director David Frankel want us to think about life, time, and death in a different way; they can be serious and weighty, but just as well fanciful, truthful, and truly funny.  These are non-respecters of person; as the film points out, Whit, Claire, and Simon all have challenges, just like Howard does.            A strong cast, along with the script and direction, make this movie sing, boosted by the music of Theodore Shapiro.  A bonus is the trope of progressively falling dominoes signifying the vast reach of human connectedness.

         Collateral Beauty reminds me of Lars and the Real Girl in their sometimes serious, sometimes humorous depiction of human neuroses and the protagonists’ overcoming them with the support, understanding, and patience of family and friends.  The former is a little more absurd and artificial, especially the twist at the very end.

Not your typical Christmas tale, but warmly human and amusing.

Grade:  B                                By Donna R. Copeland

INFINITELY POLAR BEAR

Mark Ruffalo     Zoe Saldana     Imogene Wolodarsky

Funny and tenderly sad, Infinitely Polar Bear gives us a taste of what it’s like living with bipolar disorder as a person and as a family member.  Writer/director Maya Forbes apparently knows of what she speaks because every bit of the film rings true, from the mental disorder, to the kids’ behavior, to the challenges one parent takes on in pursuing an education and the other taking on household responsibilities with little prior experience.  It’s also remarkable in showing the amount of patience, love, and commitment it takes for each person to muddle through.  Finally, it’s refreshing to see a film about a family in which the communication is out front, including allowing the children to speak their minds freely.

           The story begins on a rather pessimistic note with Cam (Ruffalo) getting fired from his job and entering a manic episode.  He is admitted to the hospital where he looks like a zombie at first, but gradually becomes well enough to go to a halfway house.  His wife Maggie (Saldana) plugs away at a job far beneath her qualifications, and their girls Amelia (Wolodarsky) and Faith (Ashley Aufderheide) have to transfer to a substandard school. 

           Then good problem solving gets them on a better—although not ideal—track.  Maggie is accepted by Columbia University to work on an MBA, the downside of which is that she must be away from home during the week for 18 months.  At first, Cam is taken aback and overwhelmed, but Maggie expresses her confidence in him to take care of the girls.  As expected, it’s rocky along the way, what with lapses on Cam’s part, car breakdowns, and the endless demands of keeping up with the dishes and the laundry.  But the young girls admirably step up to the plate and take on more responsibility, which is good for them.  It’s also rewarding to see how handy Cam is in fixing whatever is broken and creatively constructing all kinds of solutions to meet their needs.

           The story ends on a hopeful note, although not with everything tied up neatly with a bow.  But I can say that in the end, we are confident that “the kids will be all right.”

           My hat is off to Mark Ruffalo for being willing to take on a househusband role and be impaired to boot!  And he does a magnificent job!  I hope he receives nominations for such a challenging project.  He and Zoe Saldana work together beautifully and convincingly in portraying heroic parents in reality-based troubling situations.  It is gratifying to hear that young Wolodarsky—without any prior acting experience—nails her role.  It’s in her blood literally, I suppose, in that she is the daughter of Forbes and one of the producers, Wallace Solodarsky. 

           Ah, the music in this film!  Whenever a scene needs it, award-winning Theodore Shapiro  (Hope Springs, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Marley and Me, The Devil Wears Prada) comes up with exactly the right songs and orchestral interludes to enhance the effects of the drama.

An infinitely rewarding film.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland