Day Shift Parent Guide

Bud Jablonski (Jamie Foxx) works hard, maintaining other people’s pools in the San Fernando Valley to provide for his family, but his life is difficult. He and his wife Jocelyn (Meagan Good) are separated, and he doesn’t see as much of his daughter, Paige (Zion Broadnax) as he would like. That’s largely because Bud just can’t tell them what he really does when he’s supposed to be cleaning pools…

Bud is a professional vampire hunter – but since he’s a loose cannon, he’s been kicked out of the professional vampire hunters’ union, which means he must sell the teeth he takes on the black market for a fraction of the price. Worse yet, Jocelyn has threatened to move to Florida with Paige if Bud can’t come up with the $10,000 they need to pay for Paige’s school tuition and braces. Luckily, Bud’s old friend Big John (Snoop Dogg) can get him back in the union – but only if he agrees to be accompanied by a union rep, desk jockey Seth (Dave Franco). Now all he needs to do is get out there and kill some vampires…before they kill him.

This movie is a mixed bag. Reaching around in it will get you one of three things: a fun buddy cop movie/goofy action comedy, a supernatural horror flick, or an all-out stunt reel. The problem is, regardless of which of those three options occur in any given scene, most of the dialogue is so blandly familiar you’ll be snoring before they even finish delivering the line – until the next car chase or gunfight wakes you up. Both Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco have moments of good chemistry, but they’re really hobbled by the script.

On the other hand, the stunt work is impressive. This is J.J. Perry’s directorial debut, but he’s spent his career as a stunt actor and second unit director, and that’s very much his wheelhouse. There’s exciting and creative fight choreography with some big car stunts, and they’re all well shot and edited. The downside? Perry isn’t nearly as capable at developing the story or characters in any meaningful way, so they just drive around waiting to get into a punch-up to keep the pacing from flopping around like a dying fish.

If you’re ok with a few good buddy cop moments and the solid stunts, then you’ll have some fun with this somewhat misguided action comedy. Just try to tune out the rough spots in the conversations (including the dozens of swear words) and enjoy the good work by committed stunt actors. It’s sort of like a big family dinner in that sense: just ignore whatever nonsense your craziest relatives have chosen to talk about and watch the kids duke it out for the good toys. If you’re in the right frame of mind, you can have fun anywhere.