‘One of Them Days’ is a buddy comedy that’s not very much of either

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Gotta pay that rent!

Synopsis

Dreux (Keke Palmer) is a mature and driven woman with one thing holding her back: her best friend and roommate Alyssa (SZA). Alyssa ends up putting Dreux and herself into a conundrum when she gives her boyfriend Keshawn (Joshua David Neal) their rent money, who immediately runs off with it. With eviction on the horizon if they don’t pay their rent by the end of the day, the two get into a series of misadventures while trying to scrounge up the cash. I guess it’s just One of Them Days.

My thoughts

We all love a good buddy comedy, don’t we? Seeing a pair of funny people getting caught up in wacky hijinks that escalate into absurdity has been entertaining audiences for generations. It’s a tried-and-true genre, but it seems like one that’s kind of been on the way out. Unless they’re also action movies, straightforward buddy comedies don’t seem to get released as often anymore, especially in theaters.

Well, here comes One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA (in her feature film debut) releasing in theaters, but I don’t see it reinvigorating the genre. Buddy comedies rely on two things and they’re both right there in the genre’s name: buddy and comedy. For them to really work, the stars both have to be funny with unique characters who actually feel like buddies, and for the movie to actually be funny. Unfortunately, this falls pretty flat in both departments.

A drag of a comedy

One of Them Days has a decent enough premise to kick things into gear for our two leads, but once it’s in gear, it never really feels like it takes off. There’s a ticking clock element, as Dreux and Alyssa only have a few hours to get their rent money, but I never felt a sense of urgency or tension. Many moments occur where it seems like neither of them are in some huge rush, simply coasting through the events.

None of the predicaments they get themselves into are all that creative or funny, really. Aside from one laugh-out loud sequence when they’re at a blood bank, a lot of the comedy comes from the character interactions and their dialogue. These back-and-forth conversation bits are never all that clever, though, each one dragging on for just a little too long. The actors are trying, but most of the runtime feels like a disparate group of sketches that don’t know how to stick the landing.

That doesn’t mean One of Them Days is a total flatline. There were a few humorous moments during the middle chunk, but it was quite sporadic. Those laughs were mostly courtesy of Keke Palmer, who is a real comedic talent making the most out of the lackluster dialogue. Her timing and delivery are stellar, and when the story gets dramatic, she imbues Dreux with a humanity that the character doesn’t really have on paper.

First timers

This is a first-time feature for a few people involved with this project and it’s quite apparent. Screenwriter Syreeta Singleton has only worked in television until this point, and while I haven’t seen anything she’s been a part of, her transition from TV to film is sadly a miss. The skeleton of a good script is there, but the wide range of characters and comic situations throughout don’t coalesce in a satisfying comedy narrative.

The direction from Lawrence Lamont is competent enough, but for somebody with a history of directing music videos, you would expect the film to be more stylish than this. Music video directors don’t always knock it out of the park on their first movie, but they normally have a sense of energy to them, which Lamont’s direction greatly lacks. That energy could have gone a long way in making the film a bit more exciting and fun.

This is also the feature film debut for musical artist SZA, who is more than adequate when it comes to convincingly reading her lines with charisma, but she’s just not funny here. I’m not sure if this is due to Singleton’s writing or SZA’s inexperience, but every attempt of hers to get a laugh didn’t work for me. Alyssa isn’t that memorable of a character either, so you really feel the dead weight she is in Dreux’s life.

That’s where One of Them Days primarily falters: Palmer and SZA just don’t have any chemistry. I never got the sense that Dreux and Alyssa were truly “best friends” and with how much of a deadbeat Alyssa is, Dreux should have kicked her to the curb a long time ago. I’m sure the cast and crew had a good time making this, but Palmer is putting in a legitimately great performance, while it seems like SZA is just goofing around for the camera.

Final verdict

When it’s all said and done, One of Them Days is a buddy comedy that relies on one person to do all the heavy lifting. Keke Palmer carries this movie on her back, making the best of this script, but she and her co-stars weren’t able to salvage it in the end. For a day that should be filled with comedic tension for the characters, One of Them Days is a slog without much going on.