(Video) The 24th Day - Ngày Thứ 24 (USA, 2004, Eng. Sub.)

Rating: R (for language and sexual dialogue, and for brief violence)

Genre: Drama, Horror

Directed By: Tony Piccirillo

Written By: Tony Piccirillo

In Theaters: May 14, 2004 Wide

On DVD: Aug 31, 2004

Runtime: 1 hr. 37 min.

The 24th Day is a 2004 film starring Scott Speedman and James Marsden. The film is based on a play of the same name, written by Tony Piccirillo, who also directed the film.

The 24th Day là một bộ phim về trách nhiệm, báo thù và chuộc lỗi.  Mọi việc trở nên tồi tệ, khi hai gã đàn ông, vốn có lần gian trá với nhau cách đây năm năm, nay lại tình cờ gặp nhau.  Bộ phim chuyển thể từ vở kịch năm 1966 này của đạo điễn Tony Piccirillo vừa mang tính cảnh báo, vừa làm hồi hộp.  

Tom ( do Scott Speedman đóng) là một gã đàn ông dị tính, vừa khám phá ra rằng mình bị nhiễm vi khuẩn HIV.  Anh ta từng có quan hệ với một người đàn ông một lần và cho rằng mình chỉ có thể bị nhiễm khi họ trải qua một đêm say sưa cùng nhau.  Tom lui tới các quán rượu dành cho người đồng tính để tìm kiếm gã đó.  Một đêm, anh ta gặp gã.  Dan (do James Marsden đóng) là một tay chơi chuyên tiệc tùng; dễ thương, hài hước, có duyên, và hứng tình.  Gã ta không nhớ Tom và gã sắp dẫn lầm người về nhà ... 

Cast

James Marsden as Dan
Scott Speedman as Tom
Sofía Vergara as Isabella
Barry Papick as Mr. Lerner
Charlie Corrado as Officer #1
Jarvis W. George as Officer #2
Scott Roman as Bartender
Jeffrey Frost as Dan's Assistant
Jona Harvey as Marla
Thea Chaloner as Wife
Brian Campbell as Blondie

MOVIE INFO

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.

The 24th Day
DVD release cover
Directed by	Tony Piccirillo
Produced by	Nick Stagliano Liliana Lovell
Written by	Tony Piccirillo (play)
Based on	the play by the same name by Tony Piccirillo
Starring	James Marsden Scott Speedman Sofía Vergara
Music by	Kevin Manthei
Cinematography	J. Alan Hostetter
Edited by	Aaron Mackof
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	6 May 2004
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

SCOTT SPEEDMAN

JAMES MARSDEN

Tie Me Up Tie Me Downby Michael D. Klemm

Posted online, February 2010

The 24th Day (2004) is a film about responsibility, revenge and redemption. Things get ugly when two men, who tricked five years earlier, hook up again. Director Tony Piccirillo's adaptation of his 1996 play is part cautionary tale and part thriller.

The 24th Day là một bộ phim về trách nhiệm, báo thù và chuộc lỗi.  Mọi việc trở nên tồi tệ, khi hai gã đàn ông, vốn có lần gian trá với nhau cách đây năm năm, nay lại tình cờ gặp nhau.  Bộ phim chuyển thể từ vở kịch năm 1966 này của đạo điễn Tony Piccirillo vừa mang tính cảnh báo, vừa làm hồi hộp.  

Tom (Scott Speedman) is a straight man who has discovered that he is HIV positive. He had sex with a man once and assumes that he could only have contracted the virus when they shared a drunken one night stand. Tom haunts the gay bars, looking for him. One night, Tom sees him. Dan (James Marsden) is a party boy; cute, funny, personable and horny. He doesn't remember Tom and he is about to go home with the wrong guy. 

Tom ( do Scott Speedman đóng) là một gã đàn ông dị tính, vừa khám phá ra rằng mình bị nhiễm vi khuẩn HIV.  Anh ta từng có quan hệ với một người đàn ông một lần và cho rằng mình chỉ có thể bị nhiễm khi họ trải qua một đêm say sưa cùng nhau.  Tom lui tới các quán rượu dành cho người đồng tính để tìm kiếm gã đó.  Một đêm, anh ta gặp gã.  Dan (do James Marsden đóng) là một tay chơi chuyên tiệc tùng; dễ thương, hài hước, có duyên, và hứng tình.  Gã ta không nhớ Tom và gã sắp dẫn về nhà một người mà đáng ra gã không nên....

Back at Tom's place, things soon begin to get a little tense. Our boys, at first, seem like pals. Tom asks if they can just talk for awhile and, before long, his questions begin to get hostile. Tom asks Dan how many men he has had sex with and the low number that he answers with is obviously a lie. Dan recognizes a knickknack and says, "I've been here before." Then he feigns embarrassment when he realizes that the two of them have not only met before, but they've also tricked. Tom gets angry now and asks Dan if he always practices safe sex. Things come to a head and Dan tries to leave, only to find the door locked. Tom slams Dan's head against the wall, handcuffs him and ties him to a chair.

Tom tells Dan that, 24 days ago, he tested positive and that he is the only one who could possibly have infected him. Tom doesn't believe Dan when he says that he used a condom that night five years ago. Dan was so drunk that he doesn't remember Tom; how could he possibly remember if he wore a condom? Tom takes a vial of Dan's blood. He will bring the blood to a friend at a clinic so that it can tested for AIDS. If the test comes back positive, Tom tells his bound and gagged captive, he will kill him.

The 24th Day is a nifty and suspenseful game of cat and mouse. It is mostly a two hander and the two leads are up to the challenge. The bulk of the film is set in the apartment to preserve the intimacy of its stage production. Before anyone calls that a negative, or the film "stagy," Piccirillo was savvy enough to utilize a few cinematic tricks when he transferred his play to celluloid. Jump cuts are employed during selected moments of dialogue. 

Overexposed, silent flashbacks help flesh out Tom's backstory. The camera does leave the apartment from time to time, and the film opens in a bar. The claustrophobic photography inside the apartment is reminiscent of Polanski. Dan's two escape attempts provide more than enough sufficient "action." 

The central conflict might stretch believability for some but there is no way to predict human nature. Anger can turn even a milquetoast into a monster and Tom has cause to be angry. We will learn that Tom was married and that his wife was ill. Upon learning that her condition arose from AIDS complications, she crashed her car and was killed. Suicide is implied. When Tom then had himself tested, and the results came back positive, he was convinced that his wife caught it from him. But nothing is black and white. Dan is quick to point out that shewas the one who was sick and that she could have given it to him. 

Tom is unmoved and tells Dan that he has to be held accountable. "We fooled around five years ago," Dan shouts, "What do I have to be accountable for?" Dan insists that he is always safe, but he has already been caught lying. Much of their dialogue revolves around what constitutes the truth. Dan's lies aren't necessarily malicious but they are falsehoods nonetheless. Because he lies so easily, it is easy to disbelieve him when he insists that he has been tested for AIDS. "Everyone has their own truth," Tom insists. "But the only truth that matters is the true truth. Not what you say, or what I say, but what really is."

The grimmer aspects to their situation aren't forgotten. For example, Dan soils himself while Tom soundly sleeps a few feet away. "Do you think my bodily functions just stop?" Dan asks as the two bicker like a married couple. Dan attempts to exploit this bathroom episode and tries to escape, nearly strangling his captor with a TV cord before being overpowered again as he tries to break out of the apartment. The tension between them is often broken up with humor. "Are you still mad at me?" Dan asks, the next day. "I'm a hostage! You're supposed to expect this kind of behavior from us." When Tom doesn't respond, Dan continues, "I could have left you for dead but I didn't. You should be thanking me."

There is no clear villain and it's difficult to side with one man over the other. Which one of them has beenmore victimized? Over the course of the film, their characters are gradually revealed. Dan is a likable guy; he has probably relied on his charm in the past to get himself out of trouble and he is now facing the biggest challenge of his life. Tom is not a bad person but he is upset and angry, and has been pushed over the edge. Tom has no business taking Dan hostage but eventually you understand why is doing it. That doesn't excuse his behavior but, if he is right about Dan, then Dan should be held accountable, in some way at least, for his lapse in judgment. There really are no black or white hats in this story.

I can find no fault with the film's two stars and both get to show off their acting chops. They say that the eyes are everything in an acting performance and just look how Marsden's eyes express fear in all the scenes in which his mouth is duct taped shut. According to an online press release, the movie was shot in sequence and that can be a boon when building the intensity of a performance. (There are also no lapses in the continuity of Marsden's increasing beard stubble.) Don't look for a huge Agatha Christie twist at the end but its conclusion nevertheless surprised me and did not disappoint.

The AIDS/revenge scenario probably would have been more of a shocking horror story in the 1980s or the early 1990s, but it still works today. In closing, here is a bit of trivia for anyone who is interested:ER's Noah Wylie played Dan in the original stage production.

by Michael D. Klemm