The God Committee

The plots are developed in slow and boring ways. It's too bad because the acting isn't that bad. Julia Stiles is wonderful as usual but is portrayed in a relationship that is utterly unbelievable.

This interesting and unique story - from a play by Mark St. Germain, was written and directed by newb filmmaker Austin Stark, in his second full length feature film. I haven't seen the play, but the screenplay was only just interesting, and lacking of any real real excitement, or anyone to cheer for. The pacing was too slow, and there just wasn't enough substance to make the 98 min runtime fly by effortlessly. It played well into the Medicine vs. Morality vs. Commerce conflict in the donor decision making process, but that could've easily been portrayed in a much shorter screenplay. Performances were decent, especially Kelsey Grammer and Julia Stiles (although their relationship wasn't convincing), but in general, the obvious lack of proper "cast direction" from Stark's inexperience was evident. Everyone seemed monotonic in their dialogue and body language. The cinematography I found a little bland, and the score was nothing really spectacular. Nevertheless, a decent effort and presentation by Stark. If anyone is in the medical field, or has dealt with the donor process, I'd say it's a must-see, as they'll probably appreciate it more than a general audience.

I watched this primarily because of the cast, and though the film was ultimately a let down, I only have myself to blame. The days of being able to use actors or a cast, even high profile ones, as criteria to asses a movie are officially over. Although there have always been some occasional incidences of this occurring, 2020 saw this become a widespread and more or less standard phenomenon which is now commonplace. I have seen some reviews with very high scores here, and I would simply suggest that some may be less than genuine. If you are looking at this from an informational perspective... more as a documentary rather than an entertainment piece then I could understand why you may find this somewhat more interesting, but as a movie for entertainment, I think a five out of ten would be a generous score. The performances from the cast are pretty solid and the story the movie is trying to portray is a good one. Unfortunately it isn't depicted interestingly and the result is, for the most part, a boring representation of what should have been a very interesting and highly charged topic. There are problems with the script from the get go, a lot of rambling monologues and wordy exchanges with heavy undertones, innuendo, an implication throughout. The screen play never really highlights the real (and quite powerful) issues properly and the brooding way the story evolves really stalls the screenplay. By far the biggest problem is the way the story flits back and forth between the past and present events with only Kelsey Grammers hairline as a clear indication of what period of the timeline the story is addressing. This is a difficult manner of portraying a story, and you had better have good reason for doing it. Sadly this is really at odds with how the story unfolds here and it does a serious disservice to the experience. Ultimately I didn't enjoy the movie or find it particularly interesting even though I actually find the issues and ethics surrounding Transplantation quite an intriguing one. I was bored half way though and only through sheer will power and long held crush on Julia Styles did I make it to the end.

Organ transplants, pretty gripping stuff! I really enjoyed the scenes around the table in the conference room, watching the committee argue through this ethical dilemma. I work in the medical field so was especially interested in checking this movie out, and I was pleasantly surprised since the film is pretty accurate in capturing hospital life, at least more than all the mediocre hospital TV shows out there. Totally recommend this one.

I really liked the movie. It had a strong story line, and helps us realise just how difficult it is to arrive at these sort of ethical decisions. Kelsey Grammer and Julia Styles made a great team. But then I've always been a fan of both.

The movie's story/plot is interesting actually, but in the end it leaves SEVERAL things unexplained and unresolved. What's the point of watching a movie where you're shown and introduced to various different characters and plot devices, only for them to be left unresolved by the time the movie comes to an end. This is only the director, Austin Stark's, 2nd film and his first film was the mediocre 'The Runner (2015)' which currently holds a 5/10 on imdb... so it seems that Austin Stark is currently 0 for 2, in the 'director' department and has yet to make a movie worth watching. Perhaps he'll get better in the future, but on the other hand, perhaps he's just not got the talent to be a director... since a director can make or break a movie, it's really important to have a good one on your film, else it'll turn out like 'The God Committee'... 5/10, wouldn't recommend watching it even once.

Great performances by Julia Stiles and Kelsey Grammar dealing with a very current subject - organ donation. The movie is beautifully shot with a very interesting plot. Highly recommended! Very thought provoking!

A masterpiece of an art; this movie is so realistic and focuses on lots of decisions behind the scene in a medical setting. It got some powerful dialogues that resonates in your head even after the movie ends, so emotional and majority of the time doing things professionally than basing your decisions on emotions in these type of work setting. Wonderfully acted and I must congratulate Austin Stark for these wonderful writing and directing skills in bringing this to the big screen. I highly recommend this to all to have some basic understanding in some of the tough decisions when it comes to saving humans, it might reduce the blame we sometimes give to hospitals or individual doctors and nurses.

I am really confused about the 1 & 2 * ratings here. I bought a ticket to this film during Tribeca film festival yesterday and it's definitely one of the more meaningful movies this year. Not sure I'd call it a thriller but it definitely has suspense and excitement - and it kept me in my seat through 85F and direct sun... I wasn't sure about the cast when going into this, but it's clear that the young director managed to bring out the best in all of them and somehow the awkward relationship between the two doctors makes sense. It's a complex and dramatic plot that asks for constant attention. Look away once and you'll lose an important piece. Give it a shot!