The Committee, Season 1 [2015] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Park Grove Community Church is in trouble. The executive committee is meeting to determine the future of the church, and the most powerful businessman in the congregation wants to dissolve the church. However, a long-time member wants to save her home church, so she asks a random Christian entertainment star to join the committee and revitalize the church. What ensues is a lot of conflict and healthy dialogue about the purpose of the local church.

Production Quality (2 points)

For the most part, the production of The Committee is acceptable. Video quality and audio quality are fine. However, camera work is plagued with modern sitcom tropes, like mid-shot zooms and shaky perspective camera angles. Sets, locations, and props are a bit limited due to the genre as well, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with them. Further, editing is also fine, which further contributes to the above-average score.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

The writers of this narrative raise good points about the local church being out of touch. The dry comedy therein is sometimes funny and other times cheesy. Dialogue and conversations are sometimes interesting, but much of it is overly engineered to cover certain topics and force the characters to talk about the issues in seemingly unnatural ways. As a result, the characters oscillate between being stereotypes and being realistic. There was plenty of potential in this plot, but it would have been better to either construct a more solid premise or avoid forcing so many topics into the course of the conversations. This would have allowed for better character development. In the end, a small rating is warranted here due to the potential within.

Acting Quality (2 points)

As a whole, the acting in this season is at least above the mark. Many of the cast members stay within their ranges and avoiding trying too hard. There are some moments where the acting leaves something to be desired, including emotions and line delivery. However, the performances generally improve with time, thus leading to an above-average score.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

It’s hard to understand why the first season of this series needed so many short episodes. Without the short episodes, this wouldn’t be much of a series. Elsewhere in this section, there are some good character arcs although they are a bit forced at times. Each episode is well-organized despite short length, but there just isn’t enough dynamic in this area to justify a higher score.

Conclusion

It’s evident that the creators behind this series meant well. They explore many relevant topics in their creation that can get audiences to think. However, the method of delivery was not the best. Overall, the series would have benefited from longer, more substantial episodes that included deeper character development via meaningful dialogue and conversations. As it is, this season is like an outline for an idea that needs fleshing out. Perhaps, in the future, this creative team will keep this in mind.

Final Rating: 6 out of 14 points

Advertisement

August 19, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: Ayla Williams, Comedy, Drama, Elisa Aldridge, Harry Leake, Henry Haggard, Inspirational, Jackie Welch, Jeremy Childs, Jordan Sherley, Joshua Childs, Julian Vaca, Laurel Johnston, Quinn Cooke, Scott C. Jackson, Steve Horswill-Johnston, Tim Wells Leave a comment

The Griddle House (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Jack Benson never knew his birth mother, and this fact has always caused his pain. That’s why he takes the opportunity to run when he gets a vehicle for his sixteenth birthday. However, he doesn’t make it very far and ends up stopping at a local diner called The Griddle House. There, he meets an eccentric cast of characters that surprisingly helps him sort through his problems to find hope.

Production Quality (1.5 points)

For the most part, The Griddle House has a respectable production even though it’s mostly limited to a handful of sets. Even still, the props therein are realistic, and video quality is as it should be. At times, however, there is some shaky camera work as well as some odd camera angles. As a whole, the audio quality is on part with standards, even if the soundtrack is slightly generic. Further, the editing is fairly basic without any major concerns or significant positives. Therefore, this production is basically average since it’s neither horrible nor dynamic.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 points)

From the get-go, it’s fairly hard to understand the point of the story behind The Griddle House. While there’s some character potential, the dialogue isn’t enough to keep them from being generic and cardboard, even though it’s almost entirely made up of conversations. The forced comedy doesn’t help matters, especially since it’s very flat and awkward. Many scenes appear to drag on just for the purpose of filling time, and the interactions between the characters seem stiff and forced rather than natural and dynamic. The Griddle House draws a lot of comparisons with The Encounter, except with fewer Messianic characters. In the end, there’s not really that much to this movie’s plot as it’s hard to deduce the actual purpose behind the random conversations that fill the run time and don’t do enough to help us truly know the characters. This is one of those nice-try-but-not-good-enough efforts.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

As a whole, the acting in The Griddle House is fine but not very dynamic. The cast is somewhat vanilla in their performances and safe in their acting. This doesn’t allow many major errors to surface, but it also doesn’t create an environment for standouts. Also, emotions are somewhat awkward throughout, and this section overall comes out as average.

Conclusion

Bearfruit Films typically likes to try different things (i.e. Rumors of Wars), but The Griddle House doesn’t quite meet these standards. It’s almost like there’s some kind of hidden idea in this film that was never fully disclosed or that there were pertinent scenes edited out that would help us understand better. The overall underlying tone is hard to grasp, which makes it difficult to discern the actual purpose. Perhaps future projects from this creative team will yield more lasting results.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 10 points

September 20, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2018, 3.5 points, Alex Shaffer, Allison Allen, Amber Benson, Bearfruit Films, Ben Davies, Charisma Carpenter, Clare Kramer, Connor Del Rio, Drama, Gerry Lively, Inspirational, James Simmons, Jared Safier, Jennifer Cooper, Jennifer Pfalzgraff, Jeremy Childs, Joshua Childs, Luke Perry, Marcus Terrell Smith, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Paul Rodriguez, Paul Tomborello, Phillip Glasser, Ron Coleman, Shannen Fields, William Sanderson Leave a comment

94 Feet (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

The coal town of St. Michaels is falling apart.  The mill has already closed and now the coal mine is downsizing.  The town is shrinking and people are leaving to find better times elsewhere.  But one tragic day, the mine collapses and traps all of the miners beneath the surface of the earth.  The entire town comes together to pray and rescue the miners from certain death before time runs out.  Will they all lose the men they love and their faith at same time?

 

Production Quality (2 points)

In the past, Chip Rossetti has had many rough moments when it comes to movie making, especially production elements (see Right to Believe and Fathers).  However, 94 Feet demonstrates a definite improvement in this department, including professional video quality, camera work, and audio quality.  The soundtrack is also intriguing.  Sets, locations, and props are very appropriate and realistic.  There are some minor issues in the special effects department, but this and some confusing editing are the only errors to highlight.  Overall, this film demonstrates that no matter how small you start, you can always improve in your movie career if you put your mind to it.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

Though the plot of 94 Feet is a definite improvement over past efforts, it still leaves something to be desired.  It’s great to use a real life story to base your movie on, but the premise if this film is still somewhat shallow as the characters and their dialogue need better development.  There are too many very dry attempts at comedy and too much wasted time.  The beginning of the plot is too slow and not engaging enough and does not use time wisely to develop characters.  While we can appreciate their struggles, they still need more realism to deepen the experience.  As it is, this story is fine and will many audiences will enjoy it, we just can’t help but feel it could have gone a step further.

Acting Quality (2.5 points)

This section is also a major improvement over swing-and-miss casts of previous Rossetti films.  These cast members appear to actually know what they are doing and demonstrate honesty and realism.  Each cast member is cast appropriately.  Emotions and live delivery are on point; this cast only demonstrates minor errors, thus making it this film’s strongest portion.

Conclusion

Though improvement is sometimes slow and meager, any improvement is always good regardless.  Sometimes it takes time to hone film making skills, and it appears that Chip Rossetti and his team are on the right road.  Production and casting have greatly improved, so the final frontier for them will be plots.  With better characters and a more engaging storyline, the Rossetti team will be looking at a Hall of Fame film in no time, if they stay the course and don’t give up.

 

Final Rating: 5.5 out of 10 points

 

June 12, 2017January 8, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2016, 5.5 points, Alan Schmitt, Ann Burnworth, Blake E. Schaefer, Charles Skeeta Jenkins, Chip Rossetti, Christopher Ball, Connie Skelton Johnson, Courtney Lee Simpson, David Ross, Diana Schmitt, Donna Botts, Doris Collier, FortySixTen Studios, Inspirational, Jeremy Childs, Jimmy DeTalente, Konner Rudisill, Larry Wilcox, Lightworx Entertainment, Lilly Echeverri, Markus Porter, Matthew Ulm, Michael LaCour, Mike R. Tinker, Rick Bucy, Rossetti Productions, Saratoga Entertainment, Sean O'Bryan Smith, Shanda Lee Munson, Shawna Linzy, Sherry Wright, Steve 'Papaw' Pyatte, Whitney Kraus Jones, Wilson Conkwright 1 Comment