A medical drama that delves into the important issue of organ donation with compelling storytelling and fine performances, The God Committee approaches its story with the moral weight it deserves.

Although its realm is television, once in a while the medical-drama escapes to the big screen, with the likes of John Q and Dallas Buyers Club popular examples. The God Committee is a new, solid addition to the sub-genre.

Inspired by the Mark St. Germain play of the same name, The God Committee is given cinematic life by writer and director Austin Stark (The Runner) who adds more layers to the story, especially regarding new organ transplantation technologies that has rattled the medical world. It is fascinating stuff indeed and Stark applies the right amount of moral stakes, not to mention a descent smattering of melodrama.

Told in parallel storylines seven years apart, The God Committee stars Kelsey Grammar as Dr. Andre Boxer (Kelsey Grammar) a cardiovascular surgeon at New York City hospital. There he is part of the “Heart Committee”, a board that debates which patient will be the beneficiary of a new human heart. When a controversial decision is met that exposes corruption within their ranks, the ramifications of this decision effects Boxer years later, as well as new board member Dr. Jordan Taylor (Julia Stiles.)

The best moments in The God Committee are found in the board room, as the assorted members – among them disgraced lawyer turned priest Father Dunbar (Colman Domingo) and chief board member Dr. Valerie Gilroy (Janeane Garofalo) – debate who will live and who will die. Several qualifications are brought to the fore: age, weight, medical history, and the possibility of relapse. It is a process that can be brutal, yet as Dr. Boxer reminds us all: “Sentimental is not scientific.”

Performances are strong all around. Grammar reminds of his ability to do drama, playing two sides of one man whose God complex attitude towards life and death is stripped away when confronted with his own mortality. Stiles is also good as the moral conscious within a bureaucracy hardened by procedure over humanity.

At times The God Committee veers into soap opera in the portrayal of the personal lives of these characters, a storytelling decision that is distracting, yet doesn’t take away from the ethical dilemma that these characters, and indeed the real world, constantly must face.