Watch Day Shift on Netflix
Written by: Tyler Tice and Shay Hatten (screenplay by), Tyler Tice (story by)
Directed by: J.J. Perry
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, Snoop Dogg, Peter Stormare
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A hard-working, blue-collar dad who just wants to provide a good life for his quick-witted 8-year-old daughter uses his mundane San Fernando Valley pool cleaning job as a front for his real source of income: hunting and killing vampires.
Verdict
Very over the top with bodies flying across the screen and the thinnest of plots, it's not bad but it's mostly two hours of vampires getting shot. The logic of the movie is inconsistent to maximize the action and effect. It's basically a b-movie with a better budget. What little fun this does have isn't worth sitting through the whole thing. It seems like it's going to do some fun world building, but never gets there.
Skip it.
Review
The movie instantly charms with the opening montage set to the song California Love. Bud Jablonski's (Jamie Foxx) name seems like it's a joke, but if it is I don't get it and the movie doesn't mention it. Bud uses his pool cleaner cover to hunt vampires. The opening would be a lot more fun if you didn't know Bud was a vampire hunter.
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| Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco play Bud, Seth |
The movie seems like it's going to have this cool underworld of vampire hunters that buy and sell teeth. It seems inspired by John Wick, and the network of assassins just out of sight. This movie doesn't develop it enough other than to set up Bud's conflict. He's out of the association, but has to rejoin for quick cash. What ensues is Bud killing vampires the rest of the movie. I was really curious about this vampire association that seems quite organized, but it's basically a throw away.
This becomes an odd couple pseudo-cop movie with Bud and Seth (Dave Franco) as the vampire killer and desk jockey. The movie's logic makes no sense as there is no reason to pair them. Seth is completely ill-equipped, but it's done for comedic effect.
This is very much a generic action flick. People get shot and fly across the room. They take punches to the face that would crush a skull and they don't have a scratch. This manages to have some fun, mostly with Snoop Dogg playing a fellow vampire hunter.
I really thought this might look at the human-vampire divide due to certain plot elements. Instead the movie glosses over that with some vampires being good, some bad, and some having no issues overcoming the urge for blood. That's counter to nearly every other vampire movie, and even what we see in this movie.
This starts to build a hierarchy of the vampire world, but it stops short. That attention to detail could have made this a really neat vampire movie entry. I like Bud's truck, and I thought it would have secret compartments and vampire weapons as it's not the average work truck. There's so much this movie could have done, but doesn't. Instead the plot is bare, but the'90s hip hop soundtrack is a lot of fun.
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