It's Been a Minute
Need a laugh in these trying times? 'One of Them Days' is the comedy for you
Wed, 19 Feb 2025
Keke Palmer and SZA play two down on their luck friends who run into a series of hilarious unfortunate events in One of Them Days. Host Brittany Luse and IBAM producer Corey Antonio Rose joined NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour to discuss how this raunchy affair pulls off a story about friendship, unreasonable landlords, and gentrification.Support public media and receive ad-free listening & bonus. Join NPR+ today.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What is 'One of Them Days' about?
So, One of Them Days stars Kiki Palmer as a highly driven waitress named Drew. She's getting ready to interview for a promotion that would let her manage her own diner franchise. But it's the first of the month, and the rent is due, and it wasn't the wisest decision to delegate the rent drop-off to Drew's roommate and best friend Alyssa. She's a free-spirited visual artist played by SZA.
Chapter 2: Who are the main characters in the movie?
Alyssa has made the even less wise decision to delegate the rent drop-off to her no-good boyfriend, and you start to see where this is going. The rent money's gone, eviction is looming, and matters only spiral from there.
Soon enough, they're dealing with shady payday lenders, a neighborhood bully, and a visit to the blood bank where the first sign of trouble is the presence of Abbott Elementary's wonderful Janelle James. One of Them Days is in theaters now. Brittany, what did you think of One of Them Days?
Chapter 3: What did Brittany think of SZA's performance?
I had fun. I had fun. I feel like the film advertised itself as like a fun, silly movie, and it was a fun, silly movie. I was charmed by SZA. She had a very warm on-screen presence that I was really surprised by, pleasantly surprised by. I had never really known her to act, so I didn't know what to expect. This is her first film role.
Yes.
She did pretty good. And of course, Kiki Palmer, you said that she's one of Hollywood's most charismatic leads, and that is just nothing but true. I thought that she was better than the film, but she's also very frequently better than the film. So I don't know if that's really saying a lot. Very true. And that's not necessarily an insult to the films that she's in. That's just Kiki being Kiki.
I will say... It had been, I think the first time I had seen her like in an adult role in a straight up comedy like this. And I was like, I wanted more. I left the film feeling like, okay, I could watch Kiki do this like six times a year. But yeah, I thought that it was a little slapsticky at times. That's not really my jam 100%. But I still felt like it was a lot of fun.
Chapter 4: How does the film tackle issues of gentrification?
They had good chemistry between SZA and Keke Palmer. And also a lot of really great, very solid comedic little roles that were filled by really, really, really great, really funny actors. Like I would see someone like Cat Williams pop up. Or Lil Rel Howery. Oh my gosh, Lil Rel pop up. Now, I will say, sometimes I felt like the movie was getting a little like, it was spinning out a little too much.
I felt like at a certain point that Alyssa and Drew should not have been friends anymore. We're going to get to that because I have some questions about that. That was one where I was like, you actually, I think y'all should have ended this movie separated. But this was a lot of fun. All right.
How about you, Corey Antonio?
Oh, my gosh. I really enjoyed the film. I did not know if I would like it. It's been a minute since a comedy has made me laugh in the theaters.
There aren't that many comedies in theaters.
Right.
Yeah, this is true.
I mean, it has all the parts of a good night out at the theater. Oh, look, we're going to get into Mr. Patrick Cage. It's been a minute since I've had a leading man really enthrall me like that on screen. The chemistry between SZA and Kiki was tangible, believable, which was a refreshing surprise to me.
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Chapter 5: What are the comedic elements of the film?
I didn't know if SZA was going to make me lose her, SZA the personality, SZA the musician, in her performance. And... Yeah, it was a really refreshing take, and I loved that it was tackling something that felt real or that is, like, people are still struggling to pay rent.
It was a story that was giving us that at an age that felt accurate to what's really going on, as opposed to this idea that you just leave the house at 21 and everything's great.
Very millennial movie, it felt like. Yeah.
What did you think, Aisha?
I echo a lot of what both Brittany and Corey have said. The thing I came away with from this movie is that making intentional comedy is really, really hard. One of my favorite scenes involves a moment where they... These two characters, they try to go to this payday loan type of place.
And this is a very astute observation about the way these places are predatory and really, really try to just entrap people. And there's a great back and forth between the two leads and then... A comedic actress who I think you've seen pop up in a lot of your favorite shows. She's in Curb Your Enthusiasm. She's also in Abbott Elementary a little bit.
She was on an episode of It's Been a Minute on NPR. Oh, yes.
We're talking about Kayla Montaroso Mejia.
Yes, yes. She plays Kathy. So she's an agent at this payday loan center. And she has no sympathy for their plight. Are you having a heart attack? I've never seen a credit score this low.
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Chapter 6: How does 'One of Them Days' compare to other comedies?
Who chooses the wrong men. Yeah.
Yeah, who chooses the wrong men and who I wouldn't necessarily entrust with a logistical task, but somebody who is lovable nonetheless. There are some pretty serious script issues. I didn't necessarily think to kind of get to what Aisha was saying. I think there's a shagginess going on here where I felt like the script just kind of needed another pass. Oh, my God, yes. Yeah.
Yes, that is true. I literally wrote in my notes, Drew needs to dump Alyssa. Why are you friends with her? In all caps. That's what I wrote.
Alyssa is like 85% to blame. But at the same time, I was just sitting in the theater and I was like, I miss... seeing rowdy, raunchy, low-to-mid-budget comedies in theaters. You mentioned Girls Trip, Aisha. You know, Girls Trip was a phenomenon. But that was 2017, and obviously there was a whole pandemic between then and now that has affected the way movies are distributed.
I made the mistake of seeing this movie at like 2 o'clock in the afternoon on the Thursday when it opened, so there were like two other people in the theater. And I really found myself like, oh, I needed to see this in a crowd. It feels like it's engineered to be enjoyed in a crowd. You know, we alluded to this blood bank scene with Janelle James.
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Chapter 7: What were the strengths and weaknesses of the movie?
First of all, you put Janelle James in anything and I'm immediately laughing. And that scene goes wildly over the top. Not the substance level over the top, but it goes pretty far over the top. But I wanted to be cringing in a room full of yelling people laughing. I think my enjoyment of this film may have been dulled slightly by the absence of a really active crowd.
I mean, I saw it in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday, and I'll say the jokes that I didn't laugh at, a lot of people did.
Yes, yeah. I also saw it at like two o'clock on a Thursday, but maybe just because I'm in Oakland, but like my theater was pretty packed. They were enjoying it. My crowd was enjoying it. And it was probably, I'd say the majority of the people were Black and or over the age of 30. So like do with that what you will. But I think there was a lot of nostalgia.
I could sense like people were like, they were into it, right? Like, and it's also, it's California. So it's like, there's just a lot of little Things about California and L.A. specifically that I think a lot of people in my crowd could relate to perhaps in a way that Steven, you're – well, there are only three people in there. But, you know. Yeah.
It was hard to even get a demographic breakdown. But I 150% agree. I think that Drew and Alyssa needed to break up. I thought the end of the film, to me, Drew should have kicked Alyssa to the curb. And I think that she really should have focused on her career and also on her love life with this good-looking... That's what I will say. The film's not lacking in good-looking people.
Listen, there might have only been a few people in the theater, but there were twice as many hotties on screen. We're going to take a quick break, but when we get back, we're getting into Issa Rae's knack for casting and so much more. We'll be right back.
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I mean, Issa Rae produced this. So like, of course, there's going to be two to three different very good looking men.
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