A light teen-sex comedy, “Eight Days a Week” marks the feature directorial debut of Michael Davis, fresh voice right out of film school.
Essentially a genre film, albeit with raunchier dialogue and hornier youths than heard and seen in mainstream Hollywood picture, this low-budget offbeat film has a marketable title that should help in getting limited theatrical distribution, though brighter prospects lie ahead in videoland.
A quirky, ultra-modest indie, which was a highlight of the 1998 Slamdance Film Festival (also in Park City), “Eight Days a Week ” boasts a charming appeal largely due to its winning cast, headed by Keri Russell, who has the looks and person of a potential star.
I saw the romantic comedy with a live audience at Westwood, and can testify by the reaction that “Eight Days a Week” is a potential date movie.
Who can resist the effort of a youth (nicely played by Joshua Schaefer), who’s madly in love with his pretty neighbor (Russell) and won’t give up until agrees to go out with him. To that extent, he literally sets a camp on the lawn of her house and begins serenading her.
Though the movie is short (only 90 minutes), once the premise and initial conflict/attraction are set, the narrative has nowhere to go. Since the ending is rather predictable, we go through the motions of a journey that’s familiar from numerous movies and plays about the subject.
Even so, “Eight Days a Week” should serve as a calling card for its writer-director Michael Davis, a USC film grad.
