Plot Summary
Paul Campbell centers his life around making money. As a realtor, he’s always trying to make the best sales, but his life changes forever when he and his wife suddenly inherit a strange plant from her beloved uncle. This plant actually grows dollar bills on it, but after discovering this fact, Paul hides it from his wife and uses the new money for himself. However, it all comes to a head as his crazy spending finally catches up with him and forces him to come face-to-face with what he’s been running from the entire time.
Production Quality (2 points)
Root of the Problem sports a professional production, including good video quality and camera work. This involves some creatively comedic camera angles, and the sets, locations, and props are also good. However, the audio department isn’t quite enough up to par due to poor background audio, some obvious echoes, and a generic soundtrack. Also, while the editing begins as acceptable, it becomes more and more choppy as the film progresses. Nonetheless, despite these pitfalls, this section does enough to get past the average mark.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
Surprisingly, Root of the Problem has instances of slightly funny dialogue and plot elements. There are a handful of truly comedic moments, and the characters are mostly believable. However, the story sometimes relies too much on the comedy and tends to waste time on silly montages. While the main characters are fairly well-developed, a few of the minor characters seem to do random things that lack logical basis. Also, besides the obvious issues with the money tree concept that this narrative is based on, the screenplay seems to lack solid basis in reality. There are just one too many coincidences that make it feel like a far-fetched dream sequence. Nonetheless, it’s realistic that some of the characters receive real consequences for their actions, but there are some gaping plot holes that are never explained, addressed, or rectified by the conclusion. Therefore, there’s enough good here to warrant a substantial score, but it holds itself back in nonsensical ways.
Acting Quality (2 points)
For the most part, the acting in this movie is pretty good and mostly professional. Sometimes, the acting is a bit disingenuous and unnatural, especially during comedy scenes, but it’s not all bad. Emotional delivery can be a bit forced at times, and some line delivery is breathy, but the acting overall gets better as it goes. Thus, it warrants a slightly above-average score.
Conclusion
Root of the Problem goes right down the middle of the scale as a run-of-the-mill effort. It has plenty to offer, but there are some befuddling aspects that keep it from being all that it could be. These types of films are frustrating because it’s easy to see what small changes needed to be made in order for it to attain a better level. Nonetheless, they can serve as learning experiences for the creators as well as for future makers.
Final Rating: 5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 