SLAMDANCE 2021 – There’s just not much meat on these fairly forgettable bones, sorry to say. Committed succeeds at being amiable & inoffensive, sure, but is that really enough? Having an even mildly funny, interesting, or somehow memorable script probably would have helped.

As for Committed’s general story, Calvin (Colin Buckingham) tells friends Rebecca (Rachel Alana Handler) & Dennis (Damond McFarland) of his plans to propose to Leesa (Jaleesa Graham) and move away together at which point Rebecca playfully makes it her mission to sabotage things so nobody relocates out of the city.

Since the script is a wet blanket all attention turns to the performances and direction of Committed, only neither of those aspects prove to be a saving grace. Colin Buckingham probably fares best as Calvin, but the others all wind up feeling wooden and awkward to varying degrees. 

The direction also brings a disjointed & underbaked quality to things. In one scene, for instance, instead of showing two people–one of whom has a leg prosthesis–walking along and leaving it to the audience to take in there’s a couple hamfisted insert shots of just their legs (as if the viewer is too inept to observe).

It was pure happenstance, but Rachel Alana Handler–who co-directs/writes/stars in Committed–also directed a wonderful documentary short I just watched for Slamdance called How Much Am I Worth? Let me just say I hope she focuses more on the documentary format going forward instead of this bland and sitcom-esque rice cake. If you’re at all interested in reading about How Much Am I Worth? then please do so right HERE.

Committed is currently playing at Slamdance 2021.

5 out of 10 Awkward Insert Shots