''Girlfriend's Day'' is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed by Michael Paul Stephenson and written by Bob Odenkirk, Philip Zlotorynski, and Eric Hoffman. The film stars Odenkirk and

Amber Tamblyn Amber Rose Tamblyn (born May 14, 1983) is an American actress and writer. She first came to national attention in her role on the soap opera ''General Hospital'' as Emily Quartermaine at the age of 11. She followed with a starring role on the pr ...

and was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

on February 14, 2017.

Plot

Rival greeting card companies owned by members of the same family operate in a California city and Ray Wentworth works for one. Previously celebrated for the quality of his romance cards, Ray's divorce leaves him with depression and writer's block, and he is fired. California's governor declares a new holiday, Girlfriend's Day, which includes a contest to produce the best greeting card to commemorate it. Ray's former boss believes Ray can recapture his old magic and hires him under the table to create a card good enough to win the contest. Ray then becomes involved in a tangle of deceit and murder as the rival companies fight to win the contest and the profits and prestige that will come with the victory.

Cast

* Bob Odenkirk as Ray Wentworth *

as Jill *

Rich Sommer Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men''. He is also known for his roles in the comedy-drama films '' The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006), ''Celeste and ...

as Buddy *

Toby Huss Tobias Huss (born December 9, 1966) is an American actor, known for portraying Artie in the Nickelodeon series '' The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' (1993–1996). He is also known for his voice-over work on the long-running animated series ''King of ...

as Betcher * David Sullivan as Sonnyboy * Hannah Nordberg as Liz *

June Diane Raphael June Diane Raphael ( ; born January 4, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She has starred in TV comedy programs ''Burning Love'', Adult Swim's '' NTSF:SD:SUV::'', and ''Grace and Frankie''. Notable film work includes support ...

as Karen Lamb *

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fiction ...

as Gundy *

Andy Richter Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night'' and ' ...

as Harold Lamb *

Larry Fessenden Laurence T. Fessenden (born March 23, 1963) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits inclu ...

as Taft *

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She is known for playing Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she ...

as Mrs. Taft *

Alex Karpovsky Alexander Karpovsky (born September 23, 1975)Rick PorterAlex Karpovsky - Apple TV ''Apple TV'' is an American director, actor, screenwriter, producer and film editor. He is best known for playing Ray Ploshansky on the HBO comedy-drama series ''Gi ...

as Styvesan * Stephanie Courtney as Cathy Gile *

Echo Kellum Echo Kellum (born August 29, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. Kellum is best known for his roles as Curtis Holt on The CW drama series ''Arrow'', Tommy on the FOX sitcom ''Ben and Kate'', and Hunter on NBC's ''Sean Saves the World''. E ...

as Madsen * David Lynch as Narrator

Production

On June 4, 2013, it was announced that Bob Odenkirk would write and star as Ray, a greeting cards writer, in the comedy-drama film ''Girlfriend's Day'', which would be directed by Michael Stephenson. Michael and Lindsay Stephenson would produce the film through their Magic Stone Productions along with Odenkirk and Marc Provissiero through their Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment. On September 17, 2013,

joined the film to play a fan of greeting card writers. On November 23, 2015,

acquired global distribution rights for the film, which was also co-written by Philip Zlotorynski and Eric Hoffman, and also produced by M. Elizabeth Hughes.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

on the film began on November 30, 2015 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Release

The film was released worldwide on February 14, 2017.

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics, where the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 43% with an average 5.5/10. On February 15, 2017

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

gave the film an 8.0 rating (out of 10).

References

External links

* *
Bob Odenkirk’s ''Girlfriend’s Day'' is an Eerie, Bizarre Noir Comedy
by Paste Magazine February 15, 2017

by

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

January 8, 2019 {{Bob Odenkirk 2017 films Films directed by Michael Stephenson American comedy-drama films 2017 comedy-drama films Films shot in Los Angeles Films set in California Holiday-themed films Films about writers English-language Netflix original films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films