A modern Film Noir, Black Days starts with a smooth beat and never skips until the final notes. Music choice is excellent, flowing into and out of the smooth and extremely choosy camera work. Without interrupting the scene, the music simply adds to the pressure and tension. The first shots of the film set its tempo; a bruised and battered Trent sits bloody at the edge of the bed gazing at a photo we cannot see. How did he get there? What happened to him? The film immediately jumps back in time to a jail cell where the loudest and most vulgar of inmates is thrown in with Trent. His name is Pope and the actor who plays him, Otis Fine, steals the movie. But why is Trent in Jail? What got him there? Before long Trent is out and he's a miserable individual. He's working as a cook, drinking to get by, and he's incredibly lonely. Stylized artwork in the film results in beautiful scenes of high contrast, the cold brown tones of Trent mixing with the blues, blacks and whites of the background and mis en scene to create compelling visuals. The smart dialog, written by writer/director Michael Urnikis is short and often witty. The camera continues to bring the audience into the movie, slipping us into the lives of numerous characters who are all unique and interesting. Melanie is the cold desperate prostitute who seemingly has no happiness either in life. Her son is her only link to anything descent. Eddie is the cold and ruthless man in black hunting Trent down seeking revenge. His words are eloquent and very well thought-out showing him to be an extremely educated man with great patience. The country hick Pope is loud and mean talking a big game, but unlike other comic reliefs in movies such as this, he can back it up and then some. Then there's Sophie. A dark angel of death who gets off on violence and hurting others. She's mean and vicious with a dark brooding beauty.
For the entire movie we hear very little from the main character Trent. He speaks rarely, often listens and sees everything with his eyes. By the end of the movie he finally has a story to tell and it explains everything about him and why he's gotten to where he's at. It's extremely powerful only because we've heard absolutely nothing from him all movie long. It gave me chills.
Never losing momentum, the film inexorably pushes onward through its motions, the audience running after it attentively. The third act of the film comes after a climactic sledgehammer fight and then Trent's past finally catches up to him. The stage has been set and answers are going to be given. But unlike many movies it doesn't come right out and slap you in the face with it. It's smart in the way it gives very little while explaining so much. Suddenly we learn who Trent really is, this man we've been following all movie long asking why he's doing the things he's doing. Why he's helping this prostitute when he's on parole. Why he's risking so much to help a woman he hardly knows. And then the ending hits and we're left feeling vindicated. Black Days delivers in a way few films have in many years and will leave you walking away from the theater wondering at the significance of the film.
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