One of Them Days (2025) TriStar/Comedy RT: 97 minutes Rated R (language throughout, sexual material, brief drug use) Director: Lawrence Lamont Screenplay: Syreeta Singleton Music: Chanda Dancy Cinematography: Ava Berkofsky Release date: January 17, 2025 (US) Cast: Keke Palmer, SZA, Maude Apatow, Lil Rel Howery, Janelle James, Katt Williams, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Patrick Cage, Gabrielle Dennis, Amin Joseph, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Joshua David Neal, Dewayne Perkins, Aziza Scott, Rizi Timane, DomiNique Perry, Dustin Ybarra, Ray Santiago, Morgan Peter Brown.
Rating: ***
It just isn’t January without a black-themed comedy opening on or around Martin Luther King Day weekend. Over the years, we’ve gotten Critical Condition, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Downtown, House Party 3, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Metro, Next Friday, Code Name: The Cleaner, First Sunday and the House Party reboot. Some of them are good; some aren’t so good.
This year, it’s One of Them Days. I didn’t have high expectations for it. It’s a January movie and my cinema of choice has been showing the trailer ad nauseam since it dropped in October. Plus, the state of comedy of late is a sorry one. Imagine my surprise when I ended up liking the female-driven buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer (Hustlers) and hip-hop singer SZA in her acting debut. It’s like a gender-switch Friday without the weed.
The plot itself is simple. Best friends and roommates Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) need to raise $1500 by the end of the day to avoid eviction by their unforgiving landlord (Timane). They spend the day running around trying to get their hands on some money. Obviously, that’s easier said than done. There will be complications like Dreux needing to make it to important job interview on time. Other obstacles include their car getting towed, being laughed out of one of those rip-off quick loan places and disastrous (and messy) visit to a below-board blood bank. Oh yeah, they also incur the wrath of the most dangerous criminal in the hood (Joseph, Snowball).
On top of all else, they’re being pursued by neighborhood bully Berniece (Scott, Home Before Dark) who wants to kick their asses for having the audacity to come looking for Alyssa’s boyfriend (Neal) at her place after they find out he used their rent money to start a knock-off T-shirt business. Where else would they look? She’s his side piece. Dreux has her own romantic drama going on. She likes this guy called Maniac (Cage, Rap Sh!t). She gets flustered every time she runs into him. The problem is she can’t figure out if he’s a dangerous criminal or not.
One of Them Days is the work of two newcomers, director Lawrence Lamont and screenwriter Syreeta Singleton, both of whom also worked on the HBO series Rap Sh!t. Their first feature film mostly succeeds. A few jokes don’t land, but that’s how it is with most comedies. The storyline is predictable. For example, we know the job interview will go well until it doesn’t. We also know Dreux will ultimately find a way to redeem herself to the interviewer. Most of the developments in One of Them Days are Comedy Movie 101 stuff. It works here because of the energy put into it by the two leads with their f*** it attitudes.
Palmer is a fine young actress. I knew she was going places when I first saw her in the TV movie The Wool Cap more than 20 years ago. She proved herself an able lead with her astonishing performance in Akeelah and the Bee. In One of Them Days, she gets to show off her comedy chops. She’s great as Dreux (pronounced Drew), the more grounded of the pair. She’s a waitress at a diner-style restaurant with aspirations of being a franchise manager. She’s hard-working, confident and more than capable. Alyssa, on the other hand, is a free-spirited artist with plenty of talent and no inhibitions. She’s gutsy and not afraid to take risks. She’s also a trouble magnet. In the role, SZA crushes it. She’s more than a comic sidekick. She brings a measure of humanity to her character by being with a loser who constantly lies, cheats and uses her. She and Palmer work very well together.
Lamont populates One of Them Days with a lot of great supporting characters like Bethany (Apatow, Euphoria), a sweet but clueless white lady who moves into the girls’ apartment complex, “The Jungle”. Katt Williams (Friday After Next) shows up as Lucky, a homeless guy who tries to warn Dreux and Alyssa away from the loan place. Mama Ruth (Calloway, Coming to America) is the girls’ motherly neighbor. Keyla Monterroso Mejia (Curb Your Enthusiasm) has a funny bit as the loan officer amused by the girls’ credit scores. Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) cameos as the guy who buys a pair of vintage sneakers from the girls. How they get the sneakers is quite a story. They all help make One of Them Days a pleasing experience.
I thought of Car Wash a lot as I watched One of Them Days. To me, the 1976 ensemble comedy is a classic single-day movie. Director Michael Schultz combined laughs with plenty of heart and soul. Lamont does pretty much the same here. There’s a real bond of friendship between Dreux and Alyssa, one that will be tested before the day is through. The love story between Dreux and Maniac is surprisingly sweet. Although there’s no shortage of f-words, Lamont never resorts to cheap, crude jokes involving bodily fluids or bathroom functions. I’d even say One of Them Days is innocent in its own way. It exists solely to amuse and entertain. It succeeds at both. It may not be a genre game changer, but it’s a nice way to kill a couple of hours.
