The God Committee

It feels as if the story has been given a last-minute melodrama transplant.

"Committee" overstocks the moral predicaments sometimes, but it does raise many salient points.

In Austin Stark's serious-as-a-heart-attack melodrama, a hospital's transplant committee debates the ethics of who will get a human heart and live. Issues of class, race, mental health and money predominate.

This earnest drama is a largely understated affair whose creakier elements are offset by a nuanced look at its various entangled issues.

"The God Committee" ostensibly ponders the ethical compromises involved in choosing organ transplant recipients, but it mostly illustrates the dangers of facile twists.

Kelsey Grammer is the eminent surgeon, a chain-smoking cynic; Julia Stiles is his young protegee and secret lover; while Janeane Garofalo chairs the board. They are an intelligent ensemble who make believable doctor types.

Delves into the important issue of organ donation with compelling storytelling and fine performances.

A donor heart is an ethical hot potato in a push-pull of clashing agendas.

The God Committee is in serious need of resuscitation, and it may not be worth saving.

A provocative drama about the ethical questions involved in choosing an organ transplant recipient.