Bad Day (2008) User Reviews

Awful film lifted slightly by supporting cast.

[judeepolds · 4/10 · 29 May 2010]

I had high hopes for this film when I saw Claire Goose on the cast list and she acted well. However, even she could not make up for the truly awful performance from Donna Air. Wooden doesn't even begin to describe it.

The supporting cast, in places, lifts the film slightly but to be honest the acting isn't the main problem with this film. The plot has more holes in it than Sarah Harding's fishnet's.

Little things annoyed me as well like the SOCO team having "S O C O" stencilled in huge letters on their backs as if the audience is too stupid to know what the men in white Tyvek suits do at crime scenes. Why did the lead have to drive a Pontiac? Why did Air's character have to slide across the bonnet of that car during the chase scene? Looking at the drama we are producing here in the UK at the moment it amazes me that tripe like this got past the drawing board. Surely Miss Goose can find some better vehicle for her obvious talent.

Watch it if you want to know how not to make a Britfilm.

Illogical and inconsistent

[refdan · 4/10 · 27 May 2010]

This film is one of many so called "gritty British crime films" extant these days. Mixed in is a theme of revenge with pretty females added to the mix for obvious reasons. It appears that the writer had a germ of an idea that somehow got distorted in the process of realization.

Generally, revenge films are interesting if the wronged person is victimized by hateful acts and the perpetrators are known to be killers or worse. In this case, the victim sees the result, but doesn't know who did it or why. The plot develops as the victim proceeds to wreak havoc on anyone and everyone she knows before she can ascertain who really did it and why.

Several inconsistent scenes play out: gun fights where more people get killed than there are shots fired. A seasoned police officer approaches a known killer and fails to disarm her before getting plugged.

Police are portrayed as either corrupt or stupid. Criminals are shown as arrogant and stupid. These clichés in an otherwise good film make one's eyes roll.

If you expect to see an intelligent, though-provoking film, this one is not for you. It appears to me that the actions of the protagonists are created just for shock value, not to show how a rational person might deal these circumstances.

Daft thriller

[neil-douglas2010 · 5/10 · 23 September 2022]

One of the silliest crime movies I've seen in awhile. Claire Goose stars as an undercover detective working as a taxi courier. She's fallen in love with the guy she's supposed to be tracking. Donna Air unbelievably is a hardened police detective who's pregnant to a totally repulsive fellow detective. Claire Goose's character finds her daughter dead and goes on a rampage killing everyone she believes has anything to do with the murder. She's heading for her boyfriends sister, who is a total nutcase. There's some decent action sequences but that's the least you should expect in a thriller.

One to be watched and forgotten.

utter rubbish

[northfieldhunchback · 1 June 2010]

I don't know who gives David Ian Diaz the money to make these things but this is another one of his 'lots of people get shot but there's no plot' movies. Thankfully its better than Fallen Angels but its still awful.

Donna Air is unconvincing as a tough cookie, some of the supporting cast are wooden and it doesn't make much sense. this is definitely not worth buying, only worth renting if you're desperate. Thankfully I didn't pay to see it.

There are lots of glowing reviews on here presumably by people connected to the movie and the negative reviews have been systematically deleted..don't be tricked into thinking this is good. You'll have a bad day if you spend time or money on this.

an honest review

[amyduskwalker · 2/10 · 31 July 2012]

I can't believe all the good reviews for this film. Most of them are by people who joined the IMDb, gave this film a glowing review within 24 hours and then never contributed to the site or message boards again. What a coincidence!

Anyway I had the choice of giving this a glowing review or an honest review. I chose to give an honest review to counter all the fake positive ones.

I didn't like this movie at all. I didn't feel it was worth the cost of buying it.

To deal with the positives first. Claire Goose is excellent in the lead role. There is one good fight scene between Claire Goose and Donna Air.

That is the end of the positives I'm afraid.

The negatives are everything else. Donna Air isn't as bad as her detractors suggest but she doesn't hold her own against Goose. The other performances are all weak. The script doesn't make sense. The low budget is all too apparent, Bad Day looks like a you tube video.

Oh dear...new maxim...if it has bad in the title, it probably is

[deanrowley · 1/10 · 1 March 2011]

Wasted enough of my time watching the film to waste much more reviewing it, so suffice to say it was bad.

Acting = bad. Characters = bad. Script = bad. Story = bad. Fight sequences = bad. Driving in a wobbly car = bad. The over-illuminated dashboard = bad. The editing and score almost reached the dizzy heights of mediocre...but not quite and still = bad.

It started off bad then progressed to a new level of bad especially when being introduced to moody cop saying 'same sh1t, different day' to himself...and he was also one of the writers.

In fact, let's just comment about the writing. You know when one film pays homage to another by using some of the script...seems the writers thought this would be good but then changed every other word to avoid being the same resulting in what can only be described as...you've guessed it = bad.

What it looked like, was a school project with no budget and 25 script writers disagreeing so much that every piece of dialogue was an unsuccessful compromise.

Best bit was watching Donna Air being beaten up in a girl fight.

It was bad, okay? Not even one of 'Girl's Aloud' in the cast saves it.

My wife summed it up as the final credits rolled and she said, to the screen, "You should all be ashamed of yourselves". And if you do get this far, just ask yourself why all the detectives were blessed/cursed with OCD? Monk wannabes?

why do i bother with British movies

[choppedliverwurst · 1/10 · 5 August 2010]

why do i keep wasting my time and energy watching uk movies with low production values? I've seen a lot recently and none of them deserves to be called a professional movie.

This one has a famous British actress who has done television but never had any success in movies. If she had done success in movies then she would not have appeared in bad day.

The other main girl is very good looking ( with false looking teeth)but she has an accent I could not place. Is she English or trying to sound English? She is one of two actresses with odd accents in this.

The story makes no sense SPOILERS the Policewoman files a sexual harassment against a male cop then later tells him she is pregnant and tries to be his friend.

There are some fight sequences but the movie does not make sense. A girl from Girls Allowed is in this...she is an embarrassing actress.

The men actors are no better. I downloaded this and it was waste of effort

Worst UK film I've ever seen

[loraineclarke · 1/10 · 18 September 2022]

Bad day for acting yeah

I'm having to watch this as if it's a comedy.

Because it's worse than a secondary school production..

Bad wigs and character outfits ( over sized gold chains)

Low budget

Over exaggerated characters

Unbelievable story lines.

Scenes that make no sense

Poor camera work

Just such a strange thing to find on Netflix in 2022. I'm pretty disappointed that my subscription allows for it.

It was so bad it was interesting to see how bad it would get and if the actors could rest keep a straight face whilst reading the script and filming the scenes.

I just can't believe it.

A truly awful, low budget film

[pmhgmzgc · 2/10 · 4 October 2022]

Not sure where to start: Poor script and premise. Unrealistic plot. Corny, cliched lines. I thought the days of shooting scenes in cars where someone gently rocks a car in a studio whilst a short piece of film scenery runs continuously in the background with the same buildings and people passing by multiple times, ended in the seventies. Apparently not. All the in-car scenes were filmed this way. That's how bad the film is. 4 people all shooting each other at the same precise moment? Really? The whole timeframe for some of the plot was totally unrealistic. The only decent acting was from Claire Goose, but she must have cringed whilst sitting through it afterwards. Another reviewer likened the film to a YouTube film. I would say it's more like a school production.

Fair action thriller

[lectureral · 6/10 · 27 May 2010]

This film has a reasonable story and is a decent enough action-filled romp.

However, the dialogue is truly awful in places.

The casting of Donna Air as a policewoman was a truly awful decision.

She did not look at all believable in this role.

Some of the acting is third rate.

Victoria Broom and the police chief's performances were particularly poor, I thought.

Claire Goose's performance, on the other hand, was very good and really quite believable.

A 6 is pretty generous here.

Lectureral

Oh dear

[gwynethr-35815 · 1/10 · 18 November 2023]

Cast list looked good, always liked Claire Goose stuff and Donna Aire is not too bad, so maybe a good and relatively 'easy and no thinking' film to watch. Also thought it was going to be an action packed thriller. How wrong we were. Utter drivel, third rate acting, no real plot, so bad we had to watch on the off chance something interesting happened. Now running out of things to say to use the required characters (600 minimum seems far too many) without resorting to a very long long long string of four letter words or many derogatory phrases and sentences. Very large gin and tonics got us through it.

Well worth my time!

[jonsugar-810-133757 · 10/10 · 6 August 2010]

First thing to say is, this is a cool movie from beginning to end. The fight between Claire Goose & Donna Air was well done and the whole film is interesting and great to watch.

The movie has a similar plot to other action cop thrillers, but you'll never know the outcome, it is the journey that's really great in this movie. It is the way Claire Goose's character does what she does, the way that she fights, kills and overcomes problems that pulls you into the movie and this is what makes this movie so great to watch.

Claire Goose is great as the main character, she delivers an outstanding performance. I love to see an actor that can portray themselves in anyway, a good guy or a bad guy and in this film she fights to find her daughter's killer and she will not stop for anything.

I loved this movie so much and had great fun watching it. If you love cop movies you must see this movie. All i can say is watch it, love it, go and buy it!

Just get through the first 35 minutes...

[pantelei-66908 · 6/10 · 14 November 2022]

It wasn't easy, but I was curious, so carried on watching it. My advise, if you manage to watch the first 35 minutes, the dynamics change and the pace becomes faster. Seems as if something changed in the whole movie. Theoretically it's the same director... Otherwise the end of the movie is a bit surprising. The plot could have been developed to an exciting thriller with more artistic approache to the faith that governed the story, so that opportunity was missed. I guess being a low budget movie you cannot expect better cinematography neither. The six stars are for the movie after 35min. Before that I'd give maybe 3 stars.

Good day to be bad (day)

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 20 December 2022]

No pun intended - and I reckon some might feel that I am "upgrading" the movie or elevating it with my summary line ... maybe you do not even care about that though. What you should care about though: low budget movies ... if you can't stand them ... I would be surprised why you are here in the first place, but even so ... this really takes things to a new (low) level ... I assume for many.

Do not expect this to have actors in the traditional sense ... or none that really entice you ... take control of your screen ... anyone who is able to reel you in ... glue you to their lips ... wait is that last one a pun or innuendo? Hopefully not ... jokes aside, the movie is quite ... out there to describe it mildly ... I have a heart for low budget efforts so I reckon I rated it a bit higher than I had to. Effects are ok, if you consider the budget ... nothing more ... or nothing much more. Story is quite ... weird.

What a ghastly waste of time

[cidadaodomundo · 21 July 2010]

I'm still in shock, the following morning, at how atrocious this film was, and how I managed to sit through it with only short breaks to the loo and the fridge. This film has nothing to recommend it whatsoever - the plot is dire, the dialogue impossibly stilted and contrived, and the acting rates among the worst displays I have ever has the misfortune to witness. The gratuitous female violence will draw a few fans, granted, but even those fetishists will have a hard time sitting through such appalling pap. I could single out Donna Air for worst actress of the decade (a woman blessed with the looks of an east European model and a hard-to-identify Welsh-sounding accent attempting to carry off the role of a tough cop) but that would be to let the rest of the cast off too lightly; neither the main roles nor the bit-parts were played with an conviction or credibility. I guarantee this film will have you screaming in horror or laughing hysterically, depending on how you feel about devoting an evening to a truly dreadful piece of cinema.

not the best b-movie thriller

[LetsReviewThat26 · 5/10 · 18 September 2022]

To start with claire goose was the best part about this movie. The other cast memebers were not to bad, but she was the stand out here. The film started off normal enough but I could tell it was a b-movie, though it was not really a problem for me. There was a lot of mismatch in the plot though as it was about drugs at one point and turned into this revenge thriller. I was all for that though as it made the movie more interesting as rebecca gets her revenge and its pretty entertaining after that point. But ultimatly it was still a let down in certain ways and the cast and diolog could have been a lot better.

Excellent viewing

[davidarnold1935 · 10/10 · 1 August 2010]

This film was not, I repeat was not utter rubbish, a ghastly waste of time, or was it Illogical and inconsistent, I don't know what those people were watching but let me tell you it wasn't Bad Day.

I rented Bad Day out from Love film. I didn't like The Killing Zone Diaz's last film but I liked what I'd read about "Bad Day". I still wasn't ready to be quite as blown away by it as I was; Bad Day is a gritty, moody, intense and very bloody.

This film is a thriller but has some great funny one liners in it, it was also a high paced action film and showcase the directing talents of Diaz and the acting talents of Claire Goose and Anthony Ofoegbu. Claire Goose can really kick ass. (Well she kicked Donna air's ass). The first half builds up so you get to know what all the characters are about but once you do the film puts the pedal to the metal and the second half is relentless.

Please note there's a great fight between the sexy Claire Goose and the sexy Donna Air and that alone was worth the rental fee.

This is a good-cop, bad-cop film played out into a complex mystery, the movie is directed with style and the use of the hand-held camera and snappy editing create an appropriately gritty effect.

Really great UK low budget film and just when you think that you finally have the story figured out, Diaz puts in one final twist that catches you like a bolt from the blue.

This film as whole makes for excellent viewing during a late evening, 10/10 is my vote, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's into police thrillers.

P.S. I don't know the film makers nor did I work on the film – so there!

Surprisingly Good!

[adrian0072010 · 10/10 · 29 May 2010]

I wasn't going to buy this movie but after seeing some of the behind the scenes stuff on you tube I decided to buy.

After watching this film I have to say I enjoyed it a lot. The film is quite slow at the beginning however it quickly gathers pace. The way the script introduces you to the characters is excellent and it's only when you see the scary Riana Husselmann who plays Marla pummelling the boyfriend of the Sarah Harding's character you think this film is going to be cool!

Claire Goose is an excellent choice in the lead role; in fact she carries the physical action off very well, I read about the big fight between Claire and Donna Air and let me tell you it was well worth waiting for.

I wasn't too sure on Sarah Harding, but she's minimal in the movie and when she does appear she's was very funny! (Didn't know she did funny)

The action sequences are very well shot and direction is first rate. To this end, the overall movie has an excellent pace which kept me very well entertained. I'm not afraid to say I cried at the end scene, very moving, great direction and cinematography making this film a bit classier then you're average low budget UK thriller.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend you seeing this. 10 stars!

A cool Brit-Flick!

[rjrossjane · 10/10 · 6 August 2010]

Okay I hate British low budget films and almost didn't watch this but I'm glad that I did. What a cool movie! Bad Day is the best independent film of this year so far no matter what the other reviews on this page say. A brilliant study of the old US 70s and 60s cop movies.

The film's interweaving stories are all set in one day and Diaz's style of storytelling has imitated the US cop movies of yesteryear very well, I liked that it was set in the UK and that the story was simple with twists and turns.

Spoiler.

Everyone in this flick delivers a superb performance, and even as despicable as some of them are, you can't help but be fascinated by them. Claire Goose is amazing and Anthony Ofoegbu and Donna Air (yes Donna Air) shine as the cop duo; Goose's Rebecca Ryan is a grieving mother whose code of ethics is thrown out of the window when her daughter is killed, while Ofoegbu's Darius Cruise is a man with morals who feels that his job is draining him of his life. Donna Air is Abby Barrett, whose ex-partner has got her pregnant.

Tom Bacon delivers an explosive performance playing a gun runner who was responsible for selling a gun to Rebecca Ryan's next door neighbour and this very weapon is used to kill Ryan's daughter.

Harry McCann (George Calil), falls in love with Ryan only to discovers that she's an under cover cop. Marla McCann (Riana Husselman) sister of Harry McCann is in love with her brother, so when she learns of Harry's love for Ryan she sets out to destroy it.

Once Ryan finds her dead daughter she sets out to kill everyone to find out who killed her. Cruise & Barrett are sent by their boss (Robbie Gee) to find Ryan and bring her back. The movie moves towards it's climax ending in a shoot out in a church.

With great funny dialogue, a foreboding soundtrack by Dominic Glynn, and loads of memorable moments, (Pizza scene with Girl's Aloud's Sarah Harding) this is a definite winner. A must see, 10 out of 10. See it!

A masterpiece!

[jasonallan0072003 · 10/10 · 29 May 2010]

Bad Day may be the single best UK low budget movie ever made, and quite fittingly it is by one of the most creative directors of the independent film world, Ian David Diaz. Don't know who he is? Just buy or rent out The Killing Zone a movie that was wrongfully denied of any attention from the British film industry but praised by Harry Knowles from Ain't it cool.

This movie is really entertaining from beginning to end, the dialog is surprisingly hilarious for this type of film, and I think that's what has made it so unique. The film does not even reach a tenth the degree of violent represented by the average Tarantino film, and it relies, instead, on amazing performances, flawless direction, a great soundtrack and edgy, tense camera-work.

I'm from the states and I order this movie on line because my DVD player can handle the European system DVDs.

The film starts with a brutal murder by two black dudes, one being Dominic Debias and the other being Marlon Sage Kerr, who kick-start the film with unbridled meanness'. This scene is then followed by the heroine of the movie Rebecca Ryan played by the brilliant Claire Goose. From here on in you have entered a world of the cop movie (but it's set in England) with all the trappings, the no nonsense black boss (Robbie Gee), the good looking rookie cop played by the sexy Donna Air and the worn-out experience cop Darius Cruise played with excellence by Anthony Ofoegbu.

The editing by Diaz is slick and even though it was all shot hand held the quick-cuts, close-up camera shots and the variety Bad Day has is not just held within inside its narrative, but within its technical side too. Then you have the brooding use of music composed by Dominic Glynn painting the film with a dark level of ill feeling. The set-pieces are also well crafted, the chase, the fight in the junk yard between Claire Goose and Donna Air, the shoot out in the restaurant and the climax in the church which was performed with such power by Claire Goose and Donna Air.

For me Donna Air was the brake through performance of this movie her entire body: running, screaming, fighting, running some more: the being and thinking blond thing was part of her character, and my God she did an outstanding job!

This is not to say that the rest of the cast didn't do as well because they did. Bad Day is, quite simply, a hard-boiled, cop movie masterpiece and definitely deserves a watch if you haven't seen it.

I underestimated Bad Day

[jillredman-751-542999 · 10/10 · 29 May 2010]

I wasn't entirely sure this movie was going to be any good, well it is a UK low budget film and they are usually crap, and after reading the two reviews on this IMDb page I almost didn't buy it.

To be honest there was nothing else on the HMV shelf I wanted to see and I was bored so I brought it. Bad Day turned out to be a wonderful thrill ride with lots of action/suspense and black comedy.

Claire Goose plays Rebecca Ryan, an undercover police woman who falls in love with an ex gangster. After a shoot out in a Nigerian restaurant, Rebecca's identity is discovered and her daughter is killed. Rebecca loses it and goes off on a Death Wish killing spree to find out who was responsible; this is where the thrill ride begins.

Now folks I have to tell you Claire Goose was amazing in this role as was new comers Anthony Ofoegbu, Tom Bacon and Riana Husselmann. It also stars, believe it or not, Donna Air! She was, and I can't believe I'm saying this, outstanding! The Air head has been off the radar for so long then she turns up on TV's Marco Pierre White's Kitchen Burnout and now Bad Day.

Yes she would be the last person you'd cast as a cop but it works if you forget it's Donna Air, and you will forget it's Donna Air. Hats off to the director who made her act in a believable way.

I recommend this movie highly, my boyfriend loved it especially the fight between Claire Goose and Donna Air.

I have to say this is hands down the best UK dirty cop film I've seen in a long time.

Enjoyable thriller!

[leightonjake · 10/10 · 24 July 2010]

Darius Cruise and his newly assigned partner, Abby Barrett, work a law enforcement sub-section dealing with the current London's underworld, called the Organized Crime Division (OCD). Their day is about to get very bad indeed. Rebecca Ryan, an OCD operative, has been working covertly inside the underworld's South-Side Mob. She turns renegade after her 15 year-old daughter is been found brutally murdered, believing this to be a revenge attack after her cover is blown.

Rebecca begins taking down the South-Side mob one by one working her way up the chain of evidence, exacting terrible vengeance on everyone who crosses her path. She needs to avenge her daughter's death and Rebecca will stop at nothing to achieve this. Now the pressure is on for Darius and Abby to find Rebecca, track her down and bring her home before all hell breaks loose.

A tiny film with big budget problems but works really well, it is a shame that this movie didn't end up in the cinema it's a great film that cost next to nothing to make. The plot is a good cop thriller in the mould of the old 70's thrillers where the lines between good/bad, right/wrong are unclear. The focus of the film is Rebecca Ryan play by the magnificent Claire Goose killing people left right and center but the film is much more than that, it has themes of bullying (Abby Barrett played by Donna Air), love, Rebecca Ryan falls for Harry McCann (a mob guy) and scenes of violence and tension that shifts everything forward. It is easily one of the best independent UK straight to DVD movies released this year. It takes a genre that is seen so often in US flicks and makes it feel fresh and enjoyable.

As director, writer and editor Diaz is brilliant. His script is well written and has plenty of funny dialogue but it is the feel and look of the film that is great. If you like this film it is worth looking at the DVD extras, Diaz talks about the reasons behind what he did and it is impressive to hear and understand his thought method, and to make this kind of movie with no money is really impressive.

The cast are outstanding, although really the film hinges on the three leads. Goose is great as the avenging angel her performance has sympathy, emotion and layers to it. Anthony Ofoegbu (new comer) is also good as the seen it all cop, and Donna Air does a good job as the good looking rookie very much secondary to Ofoegbu. Support from Tom Bacon is minor but he plays his part very well as the man that can get you a gun, there are other solid support roles too, but it really is Goose's film.

A cop thriller that is darker and most of the time very effective, with a cool plot and a good twists near the end the film this has an extraordinary style to it and, while Goose is commend, the success and feel of this film is down to Diaz as both writer and director. With his talented and underpaid cast and crew he has turned a cool script into a very entertaining movie.

A Bloody CLASSIC!

[julie-lu02 · 10/10 · 30 May 2010]

Although the film is perhaps a little slow at the start, the consequent results are brilliant. Claire Goose's performance is captivating and will only be fully appreciated once you've finished watching the movie. The supporting cast, including Anthony Ofoegbu, Donna Air, and George Calil provide the basis for this convincing crime thriller drama. One is required to discover the identity of the killer who had murdered Rebecca's (Claire Goose) daughter throughout the film, if it were not for the well thought-out script and professional dramatic acting, the climax in the church this would not have worked. You shall be left speechless and wondering how this film with very little money spent achieved its goal.

I liked it!

[maryhall2010 · 10/10 · 23 July 2010]

Saw this movie in the UK at the BAFTA screening rooms. Cool action flick some what unoriginal but some good laughter in the right places and applause when suitable. It has a good broad based appeal. Didn't get bored which these days is a good sign. Anthony Ofoegbu (one on the stars) does weary cop very well and is funny, Claire Goose is outstanding and engaging and rookie side kick Donna Air is completely believable as the cop dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. A lot of fun but be warned violent from time to time. Wasn't going to review this film but after reading other unfair reviews on this page I thought I'd tell it as it is. The bad reviews came across like an attack for some reason and no I'm not part of the crew or know any of the film makers on this picture. Anyway watch it and make your own mind up. I liked it.

Good movie, don't mind the movie snobs

[joannayep · 7 November 2011]

RIGHT, so I saw some of the reviews on IMDb and thought OK let's see for myself. My husband wanted to see the movie so I brought it on line. Do not be fooled by the reviews on this site. I don't know if these people are haters of UK films or just movie snobs, but it was a good movie. It has a good pace, bits of action and the story has a few twists, all in all it is a good low budget movie. The director did a very good job, Claire Goose was brilliant but Donna Air was so wrong for the part she was cast as, but she did a fair job. The movie is basically about an undercover cop, (Claire Goose), who goes on a killing spree when she finds her daughter dead. Two cops one being Donna Air is assigned to bring her back. I won't spoil the rest of the movie but I have to say I thought it was really good. See for yourself and don't go on the bad reviews said here.