FilmSnobReviews

Title: A Perfect Day
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Fernando Leon de Aranoa
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Tim Robbins, Olga Kurylenko
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

What It Is: Aid workers in the Balkans during wartime must deal with a variety of hazards both personal and professional. Aids worker Mambru (Del Toro) is on his last week stuck in the Balkans, but there’s a problem. Someone has placed a rather large man in a well, contaminating the water badly. As they attempt to find a rope to remove him and clean the water for this war-stricken area. All the while an old “friend” returns to make Mambru’s last days a little more adventurous.

What We Think: This is an interesting film. One that gives aid workers there times in the sun. Del Toro is as he always is, great. He gets support from some great actors like Tim Robbins and Melanie Theirry. It has a pacing issue in that it often times does not know what it wants to do. Some of the music cues seem a bit off. An example of this is when “Pinhead” by The Ramones starts playing while there just driving it feels like not only a waste but a shoehorn. Don’t get me wrong though this soundtrack is straight dope.

Our Grade: B-, It’s good but not great. Perfectly imperfect and altogether wonderful. Good performances and solid direction all lead to an interesting film full of just enough wit to keep you interested. When it comes to the characters they are really easy to get attached to and you care where this story takes them. That is more than you can say for a lot of films these days. I’m going to recommend this to everyone. It really will lift you out of the month long pile of shit we just had to deal with…more on that later.