Will Smith's Collateral Beauty Shaping Up To Be Worst Reviewed Film Of 2016

If you're trying to come up with a list of the worst movies of 2016, we've been blessed with [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

If you're trying to come up with a list of the worst movies of 2016, we've been blessed with things like Kevin Spacey getting turned into a cat for Nine Lives, not one, but two disappointing DC films, and a plethora of other abysmal atrocities we'd rather soon forget. But before you write those "Worst of 2016" lists in pen, the reviews for the Will Smith-starring Collateral Beauty have started to come out and it looks like it's going to give every awful film a run for their money.


Only a handful of reviews are in on Rotten Tomatoes, but the film is sitting at a measly 14%. Considering it's opening up against Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we don't think it ran any risk of winning the box office weekend, regardless of reviews.

The film sees Smith as a rich businessman of some sort who's dealing with the loss of his daughter, and gets so fed up with the universe, he writes letters to the concepts of Time, Love, and Death, much in the way children write to Santa Claus. To his character's surprise, the personifications of these concepts arrive on his doorstep, willing to chat about the bigger picture of the universe.

With the year coming to a close, critics have sharpened their talons and have their last chance to get in as brutal of comments about the theatrical disaster as they can, and many critics dove right in.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian writes:

"This horrifyingly yucky, toxically cutesy ensemble dramedy creates a Chernobyl atmosphere of manipulative sentimentality, topped off with an ending which M Night Shyamalan might reject as too ridiculous."

Dan Callahan at The Wrap says:

"An all-star cast submits to flagrant actor abuse in Collateral Beauty, which is every bit as lame as its title. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, this is a movie where we watch Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, Naomie Harris, Keira Knightley and several other fine players bore holes in themselves so that we can watch the sap run out."

Of Smith's performance, Alan Scherstuhl says in the Village Voice:

"[Smith is] really convincing as someone who doesn't want to be there. It's the kind of serious performance you sometimes see from Adam Sandler or Robin Williams when they mistake 'seriousness' for giving us nothing."

Yikes. Considering only a few reviews are out, it's possible that some critics found something enjoyable in the film and its ratings will swing into the positive, but if the trend of these reviews keeps going, Smith might have another box office bomb on his hands.

[H/T Entertainment Weekly]

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