The God Committee
Directed by Austin Stark
Written by Austin Stark
Produced by Molly Conners, Amanda Bowers, Jonathan Rubenstein, Ari Pinchot, Jane Oster, Bingo Gubelmann, Benji Kohn
Starring
• Kelsey Grammer
• Julia Stiles
• Janeane Garofalo
• Dan Hedaya
• Colman Domingo
Cinematography Matt Sakatani Roe
Edited by Alan Canant
Music by The Newton Brothers
Production companies: Crystal City Entertainment, Paper Street Films, Phiphen Pictures,
Plain Jane Pictures, KGB Films
The main story line is this: a young man is killed in an auto accident, and he is an organ donor. A major hospital in New York City finds that his heart is a match for three patients on their list. None of the three are ideal: one is a 55 year old man who weighs 335 pounds; another is an elderly woman who is entirely unsure if she wants a transplant, and the third a younger man with a history of drug use and a predilection toward irresponsible and even violent behavior. The committee has 45 minutes to decide who will get the heart. The third prospect’s father is a very rich and powerful man who puts a person on the committee to inform them that no matter what they decide, he will consider a $25 million grant.
There are several subplots that flesh out and explain the motives and behavior of the various characters.
The film gets a bit too dramatic in places, but the issues and dilemmas are all quite real, and the ways in which the various characters respond are both compelling and entirely credible.
Kelsey Grammer, who I tend to associate with comedy and light entertainment, is formidable in this as a remote and austere senior physician. Julia Stiles, his ex wife, is equally compelling. The acting is solid, the dialog is solid, and the medical issues are informed and plausible.
People put off by gore will find the operation sequences upsetting, but the movie is well worth the 93 minutes invested in it.
Now on Netflix.