The Netflix comedy-drama with a broken bad star is searching for all the right words

According to Robert Scucci
| Updated 1 hour ago

Imagine a world where postcard companies have disproportionate power over their employees and use their resources to manipulate the masses, one witty love letter at a time. This is the world Bob Odenkirk’s Ray Wentworth occupies in 2017 Girlfriend’s Daya romantic crime comedy that is as absurd as it is ambitious. Playing it straight as a legit crime drama full of heartless dialogue, Girlfriend’s Day he’s as sweet as a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates and as viscous as a crushed ex-lover who slashes your tires when they realize they left their Elliot Smith record with you and discover you blocked their number when they tried to retrieve it.

Although I wanted to love this movie because I’ve been a fan of Odenkirk’s work ever since Mr. The Show with Bob and DavidI can’t say it is Breaking Bad and Better call Saul the star’s finest hour. The script is crazy, but the concept itself would have been better served with a 30-minute run instead of stretching into a 70-minute feature.

The writer’s dilemma

Girlfriend’s Day begins with Ray Wentworth (Bob Odenkirk), a recently divorced alcoholic greeting card writer working for AAAAA Greetings. Ray is known for writing sweet nothings that are equal parts pithy and deep, and his contributions to the postcard industry are the stuff of legend. However, Cormac McCarthy once said that “if there’s an occupational hazard in writing, it’s drinking,” and Ray tends to get lost in the sauce more often than he’s clear, leading to a serious bout of writer’s block and a healthy amount of blackouts to get him out of AAAAA hello

Ray runs into a former, and now homeless, colleague named Taft (Larry Fessenden), who has left the store to pursue a career as a writer. Having caught an all-too-real glimpse of his own future through Taft, Ray knows he doesn’t have much time to get his life back on track.

Elaborate settings

Over the next three months Girlfriend day timeline, Ray spirals into alcoholic depression. That is, until Ray is approached by his former boss, Stuyvesant (Alex Karpovsky). Stuyvesant explains that the state of California is holding a postcard writing contest for a new corporate holiday called Girlfriend’s Day.

The only golden rule of the competition is: current The congratulatory staff can’t participate, which means Ray is the perfect guy to get the job done.

When Ray sneaks into his old AAAAA office to get some supplies, he finds a mortally wounded Taft, bleeding from a stab wound. Ray wakes up the next day on the couch after being knocked out by an unseen assailant, with a hazy memory of the events of the previous night.

After being confronted by a homicide detective named Miller (Kevin O’Grady), Ray meets a charming woman named Jill (Amber Tamblyn) and discovers that she owns a postcard business. Sparks quickly ignite between the two would-be lovers and things start to look up for Ray on the romantic front.

Newly charmed by the muse-like figure, Ray must deal with a whole new set of problems after learning that Miller works for AAAAA Greetings and Paper Hearts – two competing postcard companies both owned by the Gundy Brothers, Robert (Stacy Keach) and Dillon (never seen on screen). Warned by Miller that he will be charged with Taft’s murder if he doesn’t bend to the will of the Gundy brothers, Ray finds himself in the middle of a big plot to make sure Girlfriends Day goes off without a hitch.

It was supposed to be a comedy

Girlfriend’s Day it suffers from one serious problem that undermines its narrative: it shouldn’t have been a movie. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve extolled the virtues of tight, fast-paced running in the past, but only if the format makes sense for the story being told. in my mind Girlfriend’s Day would be a powerful extended parody living in Mr. Show universe, not unlike the infamously gritty and surreal 1994 “Love and Sausages” he produced Children in the hall.

Girlfriend’s Day however, it is not without charm. Narrated by David Lynch and starring Steven Michael Quezada (Breaking Bad) as Ray’s cranky landlord, Munoz, it’s an adequately acted comedy with excellent chemistry between the leads, but leaves me wanting less, which in this case would be more than enough to make my point.

You can stream Girlfriend’s Day on Netflix if drama, deception, and heartless delivery sound like something you’re looking for in your life.

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