Starring: Ivie Okujaye, Toni Tones, Jose Tolbert

Synopsis:
A woman who took over her father’s company as CEO is demoted to intern and forced to associate with those she looked down upon.

Review:
Ruby (Toni Tones) took over her father’s company with an air of entitlement and arrogance. She was rude and inconsiderate of others but little did she know her rank would be short lived.

Her father was accused of embezzlement and as a result she was quickly demoted from CEO to intern. As she worked among those she disdained, the tables turned and the lower level employees mistreated her. But Ruby’s demotion wasn’t unproductive; her attitude changed and she helped the staff and they in turn helped her.

Let’s Talk. So we know that movies are art imitating life. We know that some movies are fiction and that actors are hired to be real in imaginary circumstances. We know that movies, for the most part, are basically fantasy with an objective to entertain. But with “5th Floor” it was a bit too fantastical.

To see a CEO be demoted to intern is unreal. Not only was the CEO unseated, the employees took advantage and treated her like a maid. I could see if they made her do the grunt work – copying, filing, etc. but she was relegated to getting shoes repaired for subordinates. Come on now! Too farfetched. She was still a woman of wealth even if things went astray at the office.

It was hard to fathom that Ruby would be booted because of the crimes of her father. I guess the point was to express the adage – “Be kind to people on the way up because you’ll meet them on the way down.“ Point taken but again, too theatrical.

There’s a scene where Patsy (Oma Nnadi) entered the office and the camera rolled down her body to reveal her wearing a pair of flats. The CEO disapproved of the shoes and demanded that she wear high heels. This scene was straight out of the Hollywood movie “The Devil Wears Prada” where Meryl Streep scolded Anne Hathaway for the same thing!

Overall, the story had too many ingredients and not enough soup. It splattered all over the place as it dealt with office politics, homelessness, domestic violence, secret crushes, and a potential romance. It was pleasantly offset with moments of humor such as the scene where Ruby poured coffee on Stephen, played by Jose Tolbert. That was pretty funny and kudos to Jose for being such a good sport.

The screenplay was written by actress, Ivie Okujaye and from what I’ve seen of her work, she’s a promising lead actress. Here she played a supporting role that allowed her to exhibit her quirky, clumsy side, and she didn’t disappoint.

While most actors that write screenplays cast themselves as the lead and wear various hats in the production, Ivie shared the spotlight and the project was a collaborative effort. Two thumbs up on that. The screenplay, however, wasn’t top notch but I give the filmmakers props for getting the job done.

Video and audio were decent until near the end where there were obvious editing and sound issues.

All things considered, the story needed to be reworked but it wasn’t one of those movies where you throw your popcorn at the screen. Let’s support Ivie Okujaye’s writing endeavors. We also know that practice makes perfect. RECOMMEND