# One day movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017 "2004-02-07T18:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/1 "2004-02-07T18:56:25Z")
I just finished watching _Barbershop_, and it got me thinking about movies that happen in a single day. The first two that I thought about were _Do the Right Thing_ and _DOA_. I realize that the epilogue of _DtRT_ happens on the second day, but I believe that it’s still 24 hours. Other examples would be _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Friday_. So dopers, can you name some? Which are the best? Which are the worst? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/2 "2004-02-07T19:05:25Z")
**Nick Of Time** takes place over just 1 1/2 hours in one afternoon. All the events happen in real time. **Clerks** and **Mallrats** are both one-day movies. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/3 "2004-02-07T19:30:33Z")
The earliest example of this I can think of is [High Noon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044706/). IIRC it was the earliest attempt at a film in “real time”, so not only does it take place in one day, it takes place in just a couple of hours. Also, as far as westerns go, it’s one of the best. Gary Cooper kicks ass! Originated several of what are now ‘movie cliches’. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/4 "2004-02-07T20:51:48Z")
_Dog Day Afternoon_ certainly qualifies. Alfred Hitchcock’s _Rope_ also. ---
**Author:** ![jeanster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jeanster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeanster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/5 "2004-02-07T21:39:53Z")
[Intensity](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118350/) starring John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox on Scrubs). Here’s a quote from the book jacket: > [@](#): > > _Intensity_ unfolds over the course of just twenty-four hours, but within that brief time frame, Dean Koontz gives us what is perhaps his most inventive, emotionally intricate, and terrifyingly suspenseful novel yet. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/6 "2004-02-07T21:58:49Z")
_The Set-Up_ (1949), with Robert Ryan as a doomed boxer, is done in real time. _12 Angry Men_ (1957), about a jury deliberation, seems to take place within one day. _Touch of Evil_ (1958), directed by and starring Orson Welles, is set within a 24-hour period. _Halloween_ (1978), except for the opening scene, takes place within one day and one night. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzy\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dizzy\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzy_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/7 "2004-02-07T22:01:27Z")
_Car Wash_ (1976) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/8 "2004-02-07T22:07:05Z")
_The Out-of-Towners_ (1970), with everything possibly bad happening to Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as they visit New York City. _After Hours_ (1985), another NYC as hell story, directed by Martin Scorcese. All the versions of _A Christmas Carol_, if you don’t mind the flashback scenes. All the versions of _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/9 "2004-02-07T22:20:12Z")
_Independence Day_, I think, takes place in about a 24-hour period. _Twister_ takes place in a 24-hour period. _Dazed & Confused_ goes from about 3PM Friday to about 7AM Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/10 "2004-02-07T22:25:54Z")
I can think of a few that technically apply, but they’re not really the “day-in-the-life” type things that OP has. _Clue_ takes place in a night. I heard that the play _Othello_ takes place over the course of 24 hours, so any movie versions of that might qualify. Although the concept of time is a little screwed up, I think that _Back to the Future Part II_ may take less than 24 hours from Marty’s point of view. AFAICT, _Empire Records_ and _Matrix: Revolutions_ also fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Ex\_Machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/11 "2004-02-07T22:29:38Z")
I’m completely freaked out. I was glancing at my movie collection and thought about re-watching _American Graffitti_. This got me thinking about other movies that might have happened over the course of one day. I decided to start a thread called “One Day Movies.” I can only conclude that \*\*jehovah68 \*\* has a _great mind_. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/12 "2004-02-07T22:55:17Z")
What about _The Night of the Living Dead_? I would think a lot of action/thrillers and horror flicks would fit this category. _Resident Evil_ Each of the _Die Hard_ movies takes place in a fairly short amount of time. \*Executive Decision Pitch Black Turbulance The Chase From Dusk till Dawn The Haunting of Hill House (or whatever–the recent one not the old one) ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/13 "2004-02-07T22:59:50Z")
> [@Ex Machina](#): > > I can only conclude that \*\*jehovah68 \*\* has a _great mind_. **Ex Machina** , you have officially become my new best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/14 "2004-02-07T23:07:30Z")
Rebel Without A Cause also took place from one night to the following night. And I know you said movies, but let’s not forget each season of 24 takes place over a 24-hour period. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/15 "2004-02-07T23:57:14Z")
_Run Lola Run_ is an 80-minute film that takes place over the course of about 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/16 "2004-02-08T00:07:59Z")
Isn’t _25th Hour_ a one day movie? ---
**Author:** ![Vezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b38774/32.png) [@Vezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vezer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/17 "2004-02-08T00:09:40Z")
I do believe _Human Traffic_ started on one afternoon and ends with them drinking a pub the next afternoon. “The weekend has landed!” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/18 "2004-02-08T00:34:26Z")
**Let it Ride** – a day at the track for Richard Dryfuss **A Wedding** (Robert Altman – takes place at a wedding). **The Rocky Horror Picture Show** seem to take place in less than 24 hours. **Murder by Death** **Adventures in Babysitting** (one evening) **Quick Change** **Glengarry Glenn Ross** **On the Town**"In just one day . . . " ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/19 "2004-02-08T01:50:59Z")
**Training Day** is, of course, just the one training day. And in the “real time” strain, the **24** TV shows strain the limits of my suspension of belief. ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017/20 "2004-02-08T02:23:50Z")
I haven’t seen it in a while, but I think **The Stoned Age** takes place over the course of an evening. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-movies/228017.md?page=2)