Thursday – Review

It’s Monday. Nick (Eckhart) looks at the change in his hand and the 69-cent price of coffee, plus free Snackie Cake for a purchase of a large coffee. He decides to go for it, as he can barely make it. He grabs his big ass cup, fills his coffee, though they are out of chocolate macadamia. Hazel nut it is. His two friends Dallas (Porizkova) and Billy Hill (Le Gros) urge on his haste.

As Nick finally hits the register, the woman at the register rings up 1.08. He says the sign said .69? Well, he grabbed a soda cup, for 44 ounces he must pay .99 cents plus tax, she retorts. The largest coffee cup is only 20 ounces. He protests the bullshit. The sign says coffee all sizes!! He then asks for the Snackie Cake. She says no, that is only available for coffee, 20 ounces. Another denial ribs the group.

Not being able to use his small change, he offers her a $50. She cannot accept any bill over $20. Nick’s girl Dallas gets fed up, and finishes the situation. Then a cop happens to roll up. It’s that kind of a day. As Casey (Jane) then gets a Thursday morning call from his buddy Nick explaining he is getting married and wants to catch up since it’s been a few years, it kicks off a crime caper.

The story that fills Thursday’s short runtime is pretty solid, despite the dark comedy start. The premise is more or less a cleaned up ex-crime guy balancing his new life with a sudden jerk back into murky waters. This may not be that new of a set-up, but Thursday has strong energy with its presentation, which may be partly due to a good cast and a few unexpected story beats.

The solid actors cannot save some of the characters however, many of which are just not likeable, nor are they supposed to be. Ultimately, they do not need to be respected to watch the story unfold, as it’s more of a crude trainwreck that you can’t look away from. Thursday remains attempting its best balance of violence, shocking behavior and dark comedy until the bitter end.

Thursday is the type of movie that is good enough, but could have been much better if given a bit sharper of a script and a larger budget. That being said, despite monetary constraints, it is a solid crime thriller, which is mostly unknown. I don’t think it got much if any theatrical run, and has always had limited marketing.