At the end of last year, the feature film Real Boys Against Zombies was released, based on the popular TV series on TNT. It seemed that the film should have turned out funny, bright and interesting, because, judging by the trailer, they took the cool idea that there was an epidemic with zombies, but the zombies themselves somehow took root among the population and are still mere mortals with these zombies in every possible way funny interact, not at all afraid. The idea was good, but the implementation disappointed – the film about the boys came out boring, protracted, and all the jokes, except one, were shown in the trailer.
With the comedy City Day, the situation is reversed. After watching the trailer, I really didn’t want to go to this movie. It seemed to me that it would be a variation on the theme “Bitter”, only not about marriage, but about the Russian outback and regional politics on the ground. But I’m somehow not a fan of humor of this level. But by chance, and not at all thanks to the distributor, we managed to get an invitation to press the film at the Oktyabr cinema three days before its premiere. I was very skeptical, I was already looking forward to writing a negative review …
But alas and ah. I just have to admit it. The film turned out to be funny and interesting. Unlike the trailer, for which I would have ripped off the hands of the editors. Yes, of course, almost not a single funny joke was shown in the trailer, everything was left inside the film, and there will be a lot of jokes, while not at all vulgar, but such, everyday life. But it was worth showing a more interesting film to a potential viewer.
About events
So, the film tells the story of the adventures of a loser Moscow journalist, such a gray mouse, who was given a chance to prove herself in the deep Russian province. And also about the adventures of the local administrations of the regions, through which the president must travel with his motorcade. Only in some – the bridge is unfinished, in others – the pits are not filled up at the entrance to the city. And then there is a sudden invasion of zombies.
By the way, all the invented script jokes are actually based on the regional news feed of recent years. And about the bridges that were not completed in time, and about the pits at the entrance to the city, which have not been cleaned for years, next to which the cafes are renamed “At the Pit”, and where a birthday is celebrated at the pit with a cake and candles. If you have noticed such news feeds in your news feed, watching a movie will be even funnier and more fun for you.
About humor
In humor, the film wants to both praise and scold at the same time. On the one hand, there is an absolute minimum of jokes of the “below the belt” and “outhouse” level, humor is just more of a domestic one. But, on the other hand, the characters in the film, deliberately emphasizing the regional flavor, swear like shoemakers every three words.
And it would be fine if it remained in the voice acting as it is, but no, the whole mate is not sounded, but muffled, as a result, the monologues of the characters sometimes turn into a silent scene, as if they forgot to turn on the sound. And not to say that the proposed and unvoiced mate gives any special meaning to the scene. No, the actors perfectly act out everything with their emotions and remove the math-rewind, or replace it with veiled counterparts, akin to “oh, you are a hedgehog” – it would only get better. But in the end we have what we have.
About the cast
The cast is brilliantly selected for the comedy, all the characters are perfect in their images. Katerina Shpitsa, Anton Filipenko, Pavel Vorozhtsov, Olga Dibtseva, Igor Khripunov, Maxim Lagashkin, Svetlana Kamynina, Nikolai Shreiber, Svetlana Levicheva, Evgeny Mikheev – each plays better than the other, it is impossible to single out someone.
At the same time, the faces of all the actors are well known to you from the multitude of TNT, STS and other studios series, or from such films as “Kholop”, for example.
Eventually
Than I want to summarize. Going to the film City Day, I expected the worst. However, after the show, I left the audience surprised and in a good mood. The filmmakers have turned out a dynamic, bright, interesting and funny comedy, the plot of which is really very interesting to follow, as well as the fate of the characters, which are brilliantly played by wonderful actors. Plus, there are many places where you can laugh heartily.
Definitely “City Day” is recommended for viewing, go to the cinema, you will not regret it. At the box office from January 21, 2021, and later exclusively in the online cinema IVI. And yes, that was the kind of movie Real Boys vs. Zombies was supposed to be. But it didn’t work out.
