Plot Summary
According to local authorities and media figures, a mysterious man who has become known as The Reconciler has been mysteriously choosing random people to force to stay together in an enclosed area until they reconcile the differences they have with one another. No one knows how or why he does what he does, or why he chooses the people he does, but multiple people have been positively affected by The Reconciler’s work. Will his identity ever be discovered or will it always he shrouded in mystery?
Production Quality (1.5 points)
With a somewhat limited budget, it’s clear that this production team did the best they could do with what they had. Camera work is fine, as it video quality. Audio quality is mostly on par, but there are some lapses. The soundtrack also needs a boost. Sets, locations, and props are presented fairly well, even if they are slightly limited. The biggest issue to point out here is the extremely choppy editing that creates a lot of confusion for the audience. This is likely due to the large amount of content that is forced into this runtime. Overall, the production of The Reconciler is average, and it’s likely it could have been better with more substantial funding.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
The idea behind The Reconciler is very interesting and creative, but it also leaves the audience somewhat scratching their heads. As previously mentioned, there is a lot of information crammed into less than two hours, and thus, the use of information dump dialogue is employed to fill in the viewer. There are also a lot of interesting flashbacks that would be better if the characters therein were developed better. However, due to the sheer amount of content here, there simply is not enough time, especially when some sequences are just wasted. There are so many subplots that need further exploring here that The Reconciler would have been far better served as a miniseries. The series format would have allowed the characters to develop better, would have given more credence to the idea behind this story, and would have allowed for more complexity and creativity. But as it is, The Reconciler makes the mistake of biting off more than it can chew—by including everything, it spreads it all too thin. For this reason, it’s difficult to appreciate what’s going on here. In the end, though there is a huge amount of potential here, and the creativity of the writers should definitely be commended, this is unfortunately not the way to present this type of idea.
Acting Quality (1 point)
As a little-known cast, these cast members show amateurishness too much. Some lines are forced and half-yelled, while others are perfectly normal. Emotions are all over the place and are too often overplayed. This cast would have definitely benefitted from better coaching.
Conclusion
This film receives half of an x-factor point for creativity. We absolutely need different and unique films like The Reconciler, but they need to be well-developed. Creative and complex plots are awesome when they are executed properly. The Reconciler would have made an amazing series if done properly. But once again, creativity is limited by funding. We long for the day when useless movies are no longer wasting funding opportunities and damaging the reputation of Christian film so that creativity seen in movies like The Reconciler can fully thrive and flourish to be all that they need to be. Christian film makers have the potential to change the world, but will they be given the opportunity?
Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points
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