Streaming: Netflix
Warnings:
Abuse
Sex
Explicit Language
Alcohol
Rating: TV-MA
A Fall from Grace is a dramatic thriller about a woman who finds a new romance that quickly erodes into something unexpected. The film follows a novice attorney who defends a woman in an astonishing court case. This is the final film Cicely Tyson acted in before her death in January 2021. Written and Directed by Tyler Perry, the film takes the audience through a journey of secrets, betrayal and mystery. The film isn’t going to win an Oscar but it’s compelling for what it is. A Fall from Grace stars Crystal Fox, Phylicia Rashad, Bresha Webb, Mehcad Brooks, Cicely Tyson and Tyler Perry. A Fall from Grace was shot in only 5 days and it was the first full-length feature filmed at the Tyler Perry Studios since the opening. A Fall from Grace received generally unfavorable reviews which could be in result of the limited production schedule. Even though the film received more negative than positive reviews, it’s an interesting story, the concept is engaging, the actors are talented, and the cinematography is solid.
The first part of the film that most likely caused problems for the audience is the screenplay. The dialogue came off as forced when the couple was falling in love and it didn’t always seem like a natural way of speaking. In addition to that there were parts where Grace narrated the film and that also didn’t seem like it was natural, at times it came off as a “cheesy mystery thriller.” However, with that being said, the concept of the film is attention-grabbing, and the story didn’t go in a route that was expected. This film would have most likely been stronger if there was more time spent on the production.
The second element of the film that made it fall flat is that the actors didn’t get enough time to develop into their characters to know their lines. Even with fantastic actors, shooting in five days certainly limits what they can do with their talents. After the release the film went through further edits to fix issues that were in the first cut. Many people criticized the film for the errors in the initial release saying they could see extras staring directly into the camera, continuity errors, boom microphones in shots, and even people miming actions in the background. There were little to no announcements to address these changes to the public which means the damage was already done with the initial release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critical consensus reads, “Drama for drama’s sake does not a great movie make, but boy is it fun to watch A Fall from Grace unravel.” With all of these issues in mind, even the best actors couldn’t make the film great.
The final element of the film that was mostly successful is the cinematography. Terrence Laron Burke executed the cinematography, he is known mostly for short films and TV like, Ruthless, The Oval and Sistas. The cinematography adds to the thrilling aspect of the film, it also assists with keeping the film interesting. If the cinematography wasn’t as solid as it is, the film would have been unwatchable. Although this element of the film is stronger, the fact that there were boom microphones visible in the final cut is disappointing for a film like this. One of the jobs of the Director and the Director of Photography is to catch mistakes like that when they are filming. If they don’t catch that mistake, usually the editor would and I’m sure there were a few other people viewing the film prior to its release. The fact that so many people missed details like this shows that the film was rushed, and it failed in result of that.
A Fall from Grace is an interesting film overall and it has a lot of great names attached to it. The story is unexpected and thrilling and takes the audience to places that were unpredictable and different in approach. It’s truly unfortunate that the production was rushed because this film could have been much better in result of more time and effort. The entire film from the screenplay, acting and cinematography became an unfortunate urgent mess in result of limited production time. On paper the film has a lot of promise, but A Fall from Grace is a disappointing failure. If you wish to watch a film that is of high-quality production, I highly recommend avoiding this film.