Entitled

Will Smith's new film, Collateral Beauty, had a poor opening weekend.  Apparently, those who saw it liked it, but it's hard for films to come back from a bad start these days.

The film tested well, but the critics piled on, and perhaps the concept just didn't play with the audience at large.  I wrote about the film's trailer, which I didn't think much of.  I'm not sure how to sell such a film, though there must have been a better way.

But that's not what I want to write about.  I was looking over some of the reviews when I came across Kyle Smith's pan in The New York Post.  The headline is "'Collateral Beauty' does collateral damage."

I don't know if Smith writes his headlines, or if an editor is responsible.  Whoever it is, I guess they're trying to be clever, but the title Collateral Beauty is obviously playing off the phrase "collateral damage." So to use that phrase, as if you're witty for pointing out the resemblance, is an embarrassment.

If critics want to impress us with their cutting thrusts, they shouldn't humiliate themselves before they even start.