Lawrence Lamont did something very experimental for this movie for his feature film debut. He recruited one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in Keke Palmer and made her team up with arguably music’s biggest female star in SZA, in what would be her first movie. The concept was far-fetch, especially when the director and a co-lead will be making their feature-film debuts. But like everything that happens throughout the movie One Of Them Days, it was
You ever had one of them days? Nothing will go right, and what can go wrong does go wrong. Well Keke Palmer and SZA had that to the 100th degree, and it was hilariously perfect. Keke is Dreux, the hardworking friend who deserves it all, but nothing ever works out for her. SZA plays Alyssa, the fine, boy crazy friend who isn’t always the sharpest. Well Alyssa gives her and Dreux’s rent money to her bum of a boyfriend, and once he is caught, he disappears. This leaves Dreux and Alyssa in a terrible situation; less than nine hours to come up with rent or face eviction.
In the process of trying to get the money they need, nothing works out. They find Alyssa’s man but he lost the money and is cheating with some ratchet girl. They try to donate blood and it almost costs Dreux her life as she nearly loses all her blood. They try to go to a cash today business, which pretty much would’ve put them in a 360 deal, but a perfectly timed and hilarious Katt Williams saved them from destroying themselves. They finally come up with a “solve” when they find some Jordans hanging on a powerline that are worth a couple thousand dollars. Unfortunately for them, the actual owner of the shoes finds out they sold them, and he wants that money now. Oh yeah, the money they get from selling the shoes, they end up losing that too. The level of madness in only nine hours was insane, and I haven’t come close to telling you everything.
The chaos keeps the movie rolling, but what brings the film home is the relatability. Everybody has a character in the film that they know in real life. Every girl has that Alyssa friend, who goes crazy over men and makes terrible decisions based on them. Every guy knows a Maniac, that hood-rat friend who turned his life around and getting off the streets. And everyone has that white friend, for whatever reason they love being in the hood or around hood things, when they grew up the farthest from it. You see yourself or someone you love in One Of Them Days, and the biggest stars in the world were able to portray that with ease.
Keke Palmer carried. She dominated every scene she was in proving why she is held in such high esteem in Hollywood. For SZA’s acting debut, it was very solid. She played the role of Alyssa almost too well, you would almost think that’s how she acts over men in real life. Vanessa Bell Calloway’s comedic timing is perfect as the snack lady, and she brings the lovable aunty energy that we love to see. We have to show some love to Joshua David Neal for his role of Keshawn. He played the role of an “Ain’t sh*t boyfriend” perfectly! From the way he treated Dreux, to the scene of him sharing an ice cream cone with Berniece, easily one of the best performances of the whole film.
Everybody hates having one of those days, but in this case, you will actually enjoy it. We all hate bad days, but watching Keke Palmer and SZA having one will make your day. One Of Them Days has it all; a star-studded cast, chaotic moments, and relatability. Lamont brought Syreeta Singleton’s script to life without making it corny, like so many of these movies are. One Of Them Days will remind you about some of the worst days ever with your friends but by the end of it you are laughing and smiling, like Dreux and Alyssa, because some way, somehow you made it out of it.
