The 24th Day
A casual gay pickup turns into a nightmare in Tony Piccirillo's adaptation of his play, The 24th Day. Tom (Scott Speedman of TV's Felicity) approaches Dan (James Marsden of X-Men) in a bar, and the two hit it off. Tom brings Dan home to his apartment, where, after some idle chatter, Dan tries to kiss Tom. Tom shies away, and begins asking Dan about his sexual history. Dan eventually realizes that he's been in Tom's apartment before. They had an encounter several years ago, and Tom has a much clearer memory of that night than Dan does. Eventually, things turn ugly, and Dan finds himself tied to a chair. Tom extracts a blood sample, explaining to Dan that he just recently learned that he's HIV-positive. Tom insists that he's not gay, and believes that the only way he could have gotten the virus is from Dan. Tom goes out to have the blood sample tested, and when he gets back, he tells Dan that when he gets the results back, if Dan is HIV-positive, Tom is going to kill him. As they wait for the results, the hours go by, and Dan tries to engage Tom in conversation, to engage his sympathy, and to find a way to escape. As the two men talk and battle for control, Piccirillo flashes back to the recent past, and Tom's motives become more clear. The 24th Day was shown at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. more..
Director: Tony Piccirillo
Starring: James Marsden, Scott Speedman, Sofia Vergara, Barry Papick, Charlie Corrado
What might have proved reasonably compelling onstage comes across as forced on film, with credibility taking a back seat to contrivance.
Not since Larry Clark's "Kids" (1995) has the threat of HIV infection been used so gratuitously, driving a narrative that ultimately has nothing to do with the AIDS crisis.
Mr. Piccirillo's direction reflects a basic knowledge of stagecraft but no discernable sense of filmmaking. The dull television-style close-ups march relentlessly across the screen, leaving only the ghostly trails of badly transferred video images behind.
No amount of fidgety editing and anxious soundtrack atonality can distract from the creakingly implausible scenario (Marsden's Dan is an almost comic exemplar of uncharacteristic hostage behavior).
Boasts one of the most ludicrous plots ever committed to digital video.
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