Commitments Film Review

On May 4, 2001, there was a romantic drama film released by BET called Commitments. It stars Allen Payne and Victoria Dillard as Van Compton and Fox Giovanni respectively. The beginning of the film is narrated by Victoria's character Fox bragging about the successful life she has a competitive stockbroker in New York City. Fox felt like she had it all. The money, the material possessions and the so-called satisfaction of making it in the corporate world. Not to mention a casual hook up with her co worker. Before her health scare, Fox thought she felt complete despite the fact that she grew up in foster care. Originally, she was from North Carolina but decided to go up north for more job opportunities once she became an adult. One bad habit she had in particular was her love of cigarettes. Every time something good happened at work like a successful trade off, she celebrated with cigarette breaks. When she was stressed, she also smoked to calm her nerves.

One day, something unexpected happens. Fox was a supervisor at her job. She had the ability to help hire and fire co-workers beneath her. On the day she fired another co-worker and was promoted to a CEO position, she suffered a heart attack at the company party. Initially, she was embarrassed but wanted to go back to work as soon as possible. How could she not want to get back to her job? Working was all she knew. It can be implied that Fox was trying to fill a void that was empty in her life. She didn't have much family with the exception of her foster mother back in North Carolina. She had no idea who her biological parents or relatives were. On top of all that, her doctor was advising her to take it easy before she has another heart attack that could be fatal. So, she reluctantly decides to take a two week vacation to North Carolina. While she was there, she gets reacquainted with her old foster mom and her nephew Van Compton. I assume Van's aunt never had any kids of her own. But she raised a few foster children including Fox. Of course, his aunt praised Fox for her accomplishments as a stock trader in New York. However, over the course of two weeks, Fox begins to wonder what's more important in life.

Initially, getting readjusted to life in the south was a little difficult for Fox. She was so used to the hustle and bustle of New York City. It felt odd for her not having much to do. Eventually, she does get used to some things and even offers some career advice to Troy's girlfriend. He was a minor character in the film played by Fredro Starr. During her time in North Carolina, she helps out a little bit with Van's construction business. She even sorts out some of the company's problems without getting overworked. While there, she also finds love and wonders if this is the type of life she wants. Both Fox and Van are confused about their feelings initially. While Fox didn't have a serious boyfriend in New York at the time, she never really fell in love with anyone before. She's stuck in a moral dilemma between her job back in New York City and a simpler life helping out her love interest with his company in North Carolina. Fox feared change. The main message of this movie is that it's okay to take things slow. Sometimes a simpler life or one that's not very stressful is what a person needs. Commitments also teaches the lesson of finding yourself especially after experiencing something traumatic as a health scare.