Movie Breakdown: One Of Them Days

Pre-Screening Stance:

I didn’t find the trailer for One Of Them Days to be all that funny, but I like Keke Palmer and SZA enough to give it a go. Maybe it’ll be a pleasant surprise.

Post-Screening Ramble:

One Of Them Days isn’t what I would consider to be a great comedy, but it’s a pretty solidly funny affair that feels very much in the vein of Friday. The story, which is as basic as they come, follows Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA), two best buds/roommates who find themselves in a race against time to avoid being evicted when the latter’s deadbeat boyfriend steals their rent money. Palmer, of course, carries the movie – she’s just so good at being relatable and charismatic while also sporting impeccable comic timing. I’ll give it to SZA though, she holds her own alongside the far more experienced Palmer with a very easy-to-like turn as Alyssa, that one wonderfully positive but woefully aloof person that everyone has at least one of in their friend group. As for the rest of the film, I think it starts a lot stronger than it finishes – there’s quite a bit of subversive, left of center humor in the first chunk of the movie, but that eventually gives way to more slapstick-tinged shenanigans. It isn’t the worst shift – there’s still plenty of laughs to be had – but the loss of clever bits causes the back half to somewhat drag. Either way, if you’re on the hunt for a comedy here in January, you could do a lot worse than One Of Them Days. It’s in theaters as of today, January 17.

One Last Thought:

There’s a pretty good amount of cameos in this film, and the best of the bunch is Katt Williams as Lucky, a man who’s incredibly determined to warn people about the dangers of payday loans.