Stolen rent, a blood donation mishap, a potential serial killer love interest, a Nick Minaj-esque fist fight and a threat from a gang leader, formed the perfectly disastrous and entertaining twenty-four hours portrayed in “One of Them Days.”
The movie follows two best friends, Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA), who get thrown into chaos after Alyssa’s homeless boyfriend steals their rent money. Dreux carries a hard-working attitude and determination to improve her situation. Alyssa, on the other hand, spends her days creating paintings she despises or failing to break up with her lazy boyfriend who fiends off of her rent money.
SZA makes her feature film debut in “One of Them Days” with lots of spunk and sass, but no noteworthy acting skills. As far as “playing yourself” goes, her personality carried her performance. When dramatic moments demanded a higher emotional range, some weaknesses revealed themselves. However, the script’s looseness can be blamed for some of her theatrical shortcomings.
Out of the whole cast, Palmer best understood the assignment. She demonstrated her star quality and believability as in any role she takes, nailing every punchline and comedic bit. Palmer’s acting expertise balanced out any deficit from SZA, and together they possessed chemistry worthy of a high-quality screenplay.
The screenplay, with its simplicity and over-the-top humor, allowed a lot of room for the cast’s personality to shine. Despite this, several characters with potential for comedic gold came off as lackluster and flat.
Additionally, the dialogue needed structure and felt messy. Some lines were lost in the void of bad audio quality and poorly-articulated delivery.
From watching Palmer and SZA interact on screen, the fun they had while creating the film is undeniable. Sometimes, their chemistry felt a little too believable — recalling the uncomfortable left out feeling one gets while watching two best friends communicate exclusively with inside jokes.
The film, while entertaining and good material for a quick laugh, probably won’t change anyone’s life — other than by making audiences fall in love with Keke Palmer or SZA. The film doesn’t try to be more than it is: a funny, and at times, stressful, feel-good film about two best friends and a very bad day.
3 Hot Cheeto martinis out of 5
