It’s the first of the month, and that means rent is due for best friends Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA). Dreux is the more responsible one of these roommates of 7 years, working the night shift at Norm’s diner, where she’s employee of the month. Dreux has an important interview at 4pm today where she hopes to become a corporate franchise manager. So she gave the rent money to Alyssa to give to landlord Uche (Rizi Timane). However, artist Alyssa is a lot more lax and carefree, and soon discovers that her freeloading boyfriend Keshawn (Joshua David Neal) took the rent money. Their apartment is rundown and literally falling apart, but Dreux & Alyssa enjoy their tight knit community in Baldwin Village, which includes wise Mama Ruth (Vanessa Bell Calloway) who runs a convenience store out of her apartment, hairdresser/hacker Jameel (Dewayne Perkins), and the recently evicted Fabian (Ray Santiago). The girls also discover that landlord Uche has been bending over backwards to woo new white tenant Bethany (Maude Apatow), and would welcome the chance to kick them to the curb if they don’t pay their rent by 6pm.
Dreux already had the most important interview of her life to worry about, but now the countdown is on as the ladies only have 9 hours to get their $1500 rent money back before they are evicted. As they try to track down Keshawn and their money, they quickly realize that this will be easier said than done, and that the situation will put their friendship to the test. As the girls dash all over Los Angeles, they find themselves pursued by Keshawn’s vindictive side piece Berniece (Aziza Scott), and deadly local crime boss King Lolo (Amin Joseph). Along the way, they also encounter many oddball characters, such as prophetic homeless man Lucky (Katt Williams), belittling loan officer Kathy (Keyla Monterroso Mejia), incompetent blood bank employee Ruby (Janelle James), an odd shoe fanatic (Lil Rel Howery), the Biscuit Bandit, and possible axe murderer, Maniac (Patrick Cage), who makes a romantic connection with Dreux. Will the ladies survive the day, and manage to save their apartment and friendship?!
One of Them Days is a wild ride, filled with so many fun and quirky characters, hilarious situations, and lots of madcap physical humor. The movie is fast-paced, quickly moving from one crazy situation to the next as the ladies try various ways to quickly obtain their rent money, often making the situation worse. The writing is witty, and combined with all of the sight gags (such as tumbleweed rolling across the screen) and physical comedy, leads to many laugh-out-loud moments. The characters often feel over-the-top, but still believable and oddly grounded. Together, they form this very unique community that it would be fun to be a part of. Keke Palmer is so charming and hilarious, with her natural personality often shining through (I recognized a lot of the same mannerisms she displays while hosting Password in the character of Dreux). Dreux’s more responsible nature makes a great counterpart to the more wild and carefree Alyssa, played by SZA. This mismatched duo often leads to funny situations, but also makes it easy to see why these two characters are friends. At the core of the film is a lot of heart. Despite the fact that Alyssa’s life is a mess, and that she is the one who put the roommates in this situation, Dreux remains supportive of her friend and tries to boost her confidence when it comes to her artwork. At the same time, Alyssa helps Dreux prepare for her big interview, and also pushes her to pursue the obvious connection she has with Maniac. These two make a great comedic pair, as their characters just roll with whatever madness comes their way.
Palmer and SZA are joined by am amazing ensemble cast. The writers have done an excellent job of quickly establishing this community, and as each wild new character pops up, they instantly fit into this crazy world. There are so many hilarious guest stars and cameos throughout the film. The writers also make use of an on-screen countdown that pops up regularly to help move the action along and set this sense of urgency for the ladies. It also adds a bit of humor as the reason for the countdown changes over the course of he movie. I had a great time with this film, laughing and enjoying it all over again the second time around watching at home.
Sony has released One of Them Days on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review, which looks and sounds great. The picture is clean and has an excellent level of detail throughout. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and makes nice use of the stereo and surround channels to provide the immersive sounds of the city as the ladies rush from place to place trying to obtain their rent money. The disc contains just over 10 minutes of bonus material, including a gag reel and some behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast and crew. The release includes just a single Blu-ray disc packed in a standard HD keepcase, placed in a carboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film.
What’s Included:
Film: (97 minutes)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Descriptive Audio Service, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
- HD Movies Anywhere digital copy of the film.
- One of Them Gag Reels (3:28)
Fun with the cast as they flub lines, improv, crack each other up, have fun on set, and talk to the camera about the shoot. - Dream Team (3:03)
Producer Issa Rae, director Lawrence Lamont, and actor Katt Williams (“Lucky”) discuss the film’s premise, working together, the cast, and more. - Block Party: The Cast (4:21)
The cast and crew talk about the film’s ensemble, the authenticity of the characters and culture, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director Lawrence Lamont, writer Syreeta Singleton, producer Issa Rae, and actors Rizi Timane (“Uche”), Patrick Cage (“Maniac”), Joshua Neal (“Keshawn”), Amin Joseph (“King Lolo”), Keke Palmer (“Dreux”), SZA (“Alyssa”), Katt Williams, Aziza Scott (“Berniece”), Maude Apatow (“Bethany”) & Dewayne Perkins (“Jameel”). - What’s In My Bag with Lucky (1:12)
Lucky, “the flyest homeless man you ever did see”, shows off the items in his bag. - Previews (7:31)
Trailers for No Hard Feelings, Anyone But You, and Bad Boys: Ride or Die play back-to-back.
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Blu-ray:
Digital (Limited time offer):
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
One of Them Days is a hilarious, fast-paced comedy that will have you laughing out loud from start to finish. Keke Palmer and SZA make a great comedic duo and take viewers on a wild ride as Dreux and Alyssa encounter many wacky characters and situations, but with a lot of heart at the core. This film just keeps getting funnier each time I watch it. Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, but is a little light on bonus material. That said, the release still comes highly recommended for any fan of the cast or those looking for a hilarious new comedy.
