Rogue Cinema - A Day's Work (2007)

A Day's Work (2007) - By Brian Morton
Posted on Thursday, May 01 @ Mountain Daylight Time by Duane

Any time I hear that I'm going to be seeing a 'socially conscious' movie; I immediately begin forming an opinion about it...usually not a good one. Most of the time, when a filmmaker makes a 'political' movie it's full of preaching and moralizing and it all tends to get in the way of a good story and a great film. Well, Rajeev Dassani managed to deliver both a good message and a great film with A Day's Work.

The story here is about Enrique, an illegal immigrant who's just trying to make enough money to bring his family to the U.S. Well, when Enrique gets selected from a group of immigrants to help a seemingly rich family pack for a big move things get a bit strange. To tell you what happens would ruin the movie, but Enrique is placed in a moral dilemma that's quite interesting.

In A Day's Work, Mr. Dassani shows us both the good and the bad side of illegal immigration, some people, like Enrique, are just trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, while others may have a more mercenary attitude. The movie also holds a mirror up to ourselves and how we treat people who have little to no recourse to defend themselves legally. From start to finish, A Day's Work is a movie with a message, but the message isn't just aimed at people who are pro or anti immigration, the message that the movie delivers is a double edged sword, showing us that there's good and bad people on both sides of the issue, and it does all that without once feeling 'preachy'! I'm giving A Day's Work four out of four cigars, because my preconceived notions of this movie were totally shattered from the first minute of the film! You can find out more about A Day's Work by heading over to the A Day's Work website, I promise this will change your perspective on the issue. So, until next time, when I'll be building a giant wall around my house to keep out illegal neighbors, remember that the best movies are bad movies.