Movie Review: ‘A Perfect Day’

The not-quite-“M.A.S.H.” movie, “A Perfect Day,” is kind of like a macabre Dr. Seuss rhyme (improv'd Seuss-like poem): “My hat is off. My rope is old. I have a corpse I like to hold.” Snap! Plummet! Splash! “And now my story is all told.”
Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson
Film Critic
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Balkan Mountains—1995. Great opening shot: From under a drain grate, on the bottom of a well, looking up at the sky … no, wait—that’s no grate. It’s the silhouette of an obese, naked, dead man being winched upward, after having been dumped down there, ostensibly by Serbs, to contaminate a Croatian village’s water supply.

Who you gonna call? Corpse busters. Hauling out this human contamination bomb is Mambrú (Benicio Del Toro), the Puerto Rican leader of an international team of four aid workers. Hmm ... looks like that rope is frayed.

(L–R) Benicio del Toro (Mambrú), and Eldar Residovic (Nikola) in Fernando León de Aranoa's "A Perfect Day." (Fernando Marrero/© Reposado P.C./Mediaproducción/S.L.U./IFC Films)
(L–R) Benicio del Toro (Mambrú), and Eldar Residovic (Nikola) in Fernando León de Aranoa's "A Perfect Day." Fernando Marrero/© Reposado P.C./Mediaproducción/S.L.U./IFC Films
Mark Jackson
Mark Jackson
Film Critic
Mark Jackson is the chief film critic for The Epoch Times. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Williams College, followed by a classical theater conservatory training, and 20 years' experience as a New York professional actor. He narrated The Epoch Times audiobook "How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World," available on iTunes, Audible, and YouTube. Mark is listed in the book "How to be a Film Critic in Five Easy Lessons" by Christopher K. Brooks. In addition to film, he enjoys Harley-Davidsons, martial arts, rock-climbing, qigong, and human rights activism. Mark is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
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