FILM/ REVIEW
ONE OF THEM DAYS
Rated R
97 Minutes
Released January 17th
Keke Palmer is a consummate performer. She was born and raised in Illinois, her parents were actors, and she was already singing solos in her church choir as a child. Her first acting job was a small role in Barbershop 2. The producers sensed her talent and suggested that her parents take her to Los Angeles, so they moved the whole family there. Palmer started booking film and TV roles right away and in 2006, at age 13, she won acclaim as the lead in Akeelah and the Bee, and from then on, she has worked regularly as an actress and singer. She starred in the title role in True Jackson VP for 68 episodes, and in 2014 Palmer became the first black actress and youngest person to play Cinderella on Broadway. In 2022, she played the memorable “Emerald Haywood” in Jordan Peele’s Nope.
SZA is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-actress who was born in St. Louis and grew up in New Jersey. As a child, she went to a Muslim prep school daily after her regular school, and she studied Marine Biology at Delaware State. Since her debut LP, released in 2012, SZA has become one of today’s most significant musicians. She is a Neo-Soul Singer with complex emotional lyrics. Her style is decidedly her own, influenced by multiple genres, including Pop, Rock, Jazz, Folk, and Rap. This film is her feature debut. SZA is set to perform at Superbowl 2025.
Put these two performers together in a hilarious, off-the-wall comedy set in genuine South LA neighborhoods, add to this “soup of comedy” an ensemble of characters including bad boy turned firefighter, “Maniac,” played by Patrick Cage, with comic relief by Katt Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Amin Joseph, Janelle James and Maude Apatow (daughter of director Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann), and you have a recipe for hysterics.
This is an old-fashioned slapstick comedy with hints of The Three Stooges, Laurel & Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, and even Something About Mary, but it’s set in “The Hood,” with two Black women as the leads. It’s the first feature film for director Lawrence Lamont. Palmer and SZA had appeared on a 2022 Saturday Night Live episode, and the first few minutes of the film play like a series of SNL sketches. As our leads become more and more inundated with outrageous situations, you begin to root for them not only to succeed but to just survive. Palmer’s “Dreux” serves as the classic comedic “straight man,” and SZA’s “Alyssa” is the comedian.
Dreux is the low-key poor soul struggling to make it, who can’t seem to catch a break. She’s the embodiment of one of those dreams where you’re frantically running toward something or someplace and you can’t seem to gain any ground. Our characters experience the same dilemmas most of us experience but heightened 10 times. More and more misfortune is dumped on Dreux, but she keeps her focus on beating the odds. The story pokes fun at many familiar types, from those living paycheck to paycheck, to those who prey on their predicament, such as the landlord who would like to evict the girls so he can gentrify their apartment and charge higher rent. Thankfully, the tenants have each other’s backs.
Finally, a movie that’s just fun to watch and lets you laugh at the overblown antics of characters trying to wedge their way into acceptance in their community! This is not high-budget glossy cinema full of A-List cameos and special effects, but equally as enjoyable. One of Them Days was shot in Crenshaw, Baldwin Hills, and Leimert Park. No matter how or where you grew up, the slings and arrows that life keeps throwing at Dreux and Alyssa are universal and the world of this film is classic Shakespearean, the people in it struggling to get by and succeed through all their flaws. Expressions and body language may differ from one neighborhood to another, but in the end, the message is universal.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
