This film revolves around a trite trigger for tragedy: the death of a child (and it’s set at Christmas to make it even more hackneyed). In this case, it’s Will Smith who’s can’t recover from his young daughter’s death. Three partners of his New York ad firm (Kate Winslet, Edward Norton and Michael Peña) concoct a plot to address his depression by hiring 3 actors to portray Time, Death and Love. Now, you’ve got Helen Mirren in the mix, but even her screen charms can’t rescue this tear-laden attempt to stir the emotions. The dramatic effects of the story affect everyone involved with painfully predictable results. Smith cries in almost every scene, turning his misfortunes into shameless treacle. Although most of the performances are effective, David Frankel’s direction and the script’s transparent manipulation had my eyes rolling, instead of crying.

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