One of Them Days

One of Them Days
Starring Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Keyla Monterroso Mejia
Directed by Lawrence Lamont

Comedy isn't my favorite genre, and it takes a lot to make me really laugh at them, because they typically follow a very stale formula: two mismatched people, problems arise, instead of doing the practical thing they do something totally outlandish that mostly doesn't work, they have a falling out, they come back together and find a way out of their predicament. Or they're just a bunch of sexual jokes that diminish in the laughter every time it's said. "One of Them Days," to me, was one of those movies that would've fallen in the first camp, and honestly I wasn't too excited to see it. To my surprise, I found myself laughing quite a bit throughout, and while it's not the best comedy I've ever seen, it's one I appreciated for its humor, performances, and connections.

Dreux (Keke Palmer) is a charismatic waitress who has an interview to discuss the prospect of becoming a franchise manager, while her best friend and roommate Alyssa (SZA) is a free-spirited artist who doesn't really hold down a job. While Dreux is the more responsible one, Alyssa flies by her own whims and when she forgets to pay their rent, the two go on a twenty-four hour adventure to find the money before they get evicted. From shady blood banks to dangerous telephone line hiking, the two friends endure a chaotic day while also being hunted by a vengeful woman and a local gang killer as their day - and their friendship - are tested to the limit.

"One of Them Days" really is like the comedy I mentioned earlier, and it does follow the same formula. Dreux and Alyssa are mismatched to the extreme - something as old as "The Odd Couple" - with Dreux being the rational one while Alyssa is a woman of the earth who sees everything as an opportunity. To that end, the movie rises or falls on their chemistry, and thankfully Keke Palmer and SZA were the stars. Their comedic chemistry is undeniable, with Palmer's natural charisma oozing through the screen and SZA - surprisingly in her feature film debut - feels like a comedic pro with her timing. Both girls are enjoyable and relatable, and neither one comes off as over-the-top.

So the problem is that they can't pay their rent, and instead of doing something normal to get it, they go to great lengths to find money. This is the chaotic part of the movie that is also the most funniest, as they embark on a perilous yet hilarious journey to find the money. The tension mounts as they're hunted by a woman who Alyssa found her boyfriend cheating with, and a local criminal whose shoes the girls inadvertently steal from a telephone line (resulting in one of the times I laughed the hardest). So instead of it being a stale, typical road, it's filled with tension and excitement as well as laugh-out-loud moments.

While the friends do have the traditional falling out, it's not to the extreme as other comedies, and what adds a certain magic to the film is the location. They live in a run-down area of town that people who don't live in the area would avoid out of fear of getting robbed, but within that community is a group of tight-knit people who work together to help one another, and the film's final third showcases that in grandiose fashion. It highlights the importance of community and brings everyone together in a touching moment that serves as the cherry on the top of this decent, surprising comedy.

The Score: B+