Advertising agency founder and guru loses motivation for life following the death of his young daughter. He writes bitter complaints to Love, Time and Death who turn up in human form to make their responses to him.
Enjoy is a difficult word to use, given the subject matter. The first third has a light, comic feel, a froth, that lulls us to imagine a gentle unfolding of the narrative, which in turn serves to make the poignant sadness smack us that much harder. Many in the audience wept openly, reminding me of ‘Love Story’. Just when you thought you could relax your guard, wham, Frankel hits us in the emotional solar plexus several times again. Thankfully, the feelgood denouement leaves us uplifted. Will Smith gives us a highly credible performance as a man whose reason for living has been shattered by loss and grief. Edward Norton is engagingly gentle and wins our sympathy as the man with power, position and influence who has lost love. An absolute star turn from Helen Mirren (best supporting actress Oscar standard) playing an older, female actor immersing herself in a once-in-a-lifetime role. So playing herself, really.
Minor: the street-level shots create a lovely atmosphere of New York at Christmas so why impose the bird’s eye views flying fast over the street-grids? It adds nothing to the narrative, distracts in fact.
