“Rap Sh!t” and “Insecure” writer Syreeta Singleton pairs up with music video director Lawrence Lamont in his feature debut to compose a Black women’s buddy comedy that makes you grateful for your worst day. In “One of Them Days,” Keke Palmer and SZA are Dreux and Alyssa, too extremely down-on-their-luck chaos magnets trying to scrape together enough money to avoid eviction. Meanwhile, they must dodge a vengeful neighborhood tyrant set on kicking their asses and evade their hood’s infamous killer while making sure Dreux can make it on time to her job interview…all in succession; all in 24 hours. With high APR loan sharks, below-board blood banks, and a dichotomous duet of precarious love interests exacerbating the stakes, “One of Them Days” brings new credence to the phrase “get active.”
Best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa are a familiar duo: two girls with the same zest for life whose approaches and pragmatism towards the dilemmas of daily living diverge hilariously. Dreux is a hard-working, charming but bashful waitress looking to step up to franchise manager at her job in a local restaurant joint. She’s the girl who maneuvers the floor like she’s on skates, throwing smirks and clever punchlines while making employee of the month. She’s confident but anxious. Alyssa, a free-spirited and talented artist, is the kind of girl who splits her time at a party explaining birth charts between tequila shots, wingwomaning for her girls, and sneaking away with her man. But if her and Dreux’s song comes on, you know they’re pausing everything to go cut it up on the dance floor.
When Alyssa entrusts her mooching situationship Keshawn (Joshua David Neal) to turn in her and Dreux’s rent money, they don’t find out that he blew it on his ad hoc T-Shirt business “Cucci” until their landlord is banging down their door. They have 24 hours before they get kicked out, and with their neighbor already bartering his possessions on the curb, they know it’s no joke. And so sets forth a kinetic comedy of errors as the besties put their misguided, well-intentioned heads together to keep a roof over their heads.
“One of Them Days” revs with the danger and excitement of a lead foot. Dreux and Alyssa’s adventures are anxiety-inducing but thrilling – for us and them – as even in the riskiest moments, the spark between the two girlfriends shines with just enough “f*ck it” energy to counteract the flight response. Palmer and SZA’s chemistry is motivated by a palpable rapport that complements Lamont’s punchy neon ambience. Palmer brings exactly what we desire and expect, indisputable charisma and goofy line deliveries; SZA, in her acting debut, shows no evidence that this is her first foray in this arena, shining with personality and au natural comic timing.
Singleton’s writing paints a side-splitting portrait of “The Jungle”: the girls’ very LA apartment complex. Occupied by Jameel (Dewayne Perkins), a familiarly unreliable braider who can jailbreak a phone no problem, Mama Ruth (Vanessa Bell Calloway), a warm adoptive auntie figure, and the new tenant, Bethany (Maude Apatow), a clueless but well-meaning symptom of the neighborhood’s gentrified future, the Jungle boasts a cast of characters familiar to city dwellers. The fringe characters include Bully Berniece (Aziza Scott), Keshawn’s fist-clenching side piece, and Maniac (Patrick Cage), Dreux’s fabled love interest, a guy she sweetly can’t get a read on, but whose chemistry with her bursts through the screen.
As the ladies traverse the city on their any-means-necessary excursions, incompatible cameos and too-obvious performance choices occur with a smidge of regularity. Katt Williams and Lil Rel Howery, despite their iconicity and charisma, fit into the film like a flickering fluorescent bulb at an otherwise well-lit house party: catching your attention with glaring demand rather than supportive aura. Palmer’s signature animated deliveries work most of the time, but sometimes they hit too hard, coupled with a few too-obvious punchlines that beg for a laugh. However, “One of Them Days” satisfies like a high-five landed after three whiffs: a rewarding win on account of the stumbles it took to get there.
