Entertainment

'Collateral Beauty' Clip Asks About Life's Purpose

by Jordana Lipsitz

Are you prepared to think deeply? This featurette for Will Smith's new film, Collateral Beauty probes you to ask a few big questions. In the beginning of the video, Smith, as his character Howard Inlet, a successful advertising executive, asks his employees why they "even get out of the bed," what drives them, and what their "why" is. Then, Smith, Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, and Keira Knightly talk candidly about what drives them. These acclaimed actors discussing their passionate desires will undoubtedly make you think about your own personal "why."

The film follows Inlet after he is forced to deal with a devastating tragedy. Instead of seeking the comfort of his concerned friends, the New York executive stays isolated. He begins to reflect inward and outward by writing letters to the abstract ideas of Love, Time, and Death. When he begins to receive thoughtful and deeply personal responses from these supposed inanimate objects, the answers to his questions start to become clear. With the help of his new friends he starts to unravel his grief and comes to a healthy conclusion. The three ideas: Love, Death, and Time are a necessary constant for a well-lived life, and though a loss might sadden us, it will also show beautiful moments we would previously never have even stopped to consider.

In the featurette Will Smith reveals that he believes his "why" is to "improve lives," because "that's the thing that gives [him] the most joy." How sweet is that?

Collateral Beauty hits theaters Dec. 16.