Pretty early in The 24th Day, it becomes apparent it was taken from a play, a dodgy proposition at best. Adhering to a key location, as plays often do, can be a successful approach, or it can crash and burn. Very slowly. It depends on the nature of the piece. The 24th Day has, essentially, two characters and it can be difficult to transfer a prolonged confrontation to the big screen.
In a theater, we can see how they stand in relation to each other, our eyes instinctively find the face or physical dynamic that warrants our attention. In a film, the director chooses for us, deciding whether it's more important to see the expression of the man speaking or reacting. Tony Piccirillo, who wrote the play in question, and directed the film, has here carried it off. Scott Speedman (Tom) and James Marsden (Dan) hold our focus, without Piccirillo's shot manipulation feeling intrusive or neutral. Which, of course, is exactly the idea.
Like Rashomon or 13 Conversations About One Thing, The 24th Day pivots on the terrible, unknowable nature of "The Truth" when crucial details are compromised by personal agenda - as Tom explains, the difference between the truth and the "true truth." Tom has discovered he's HIV-positive and wants to hold Dan accountable, since Dan is the only man he's ever slept with.
Straight-identified and committed (in one way or another) to a female partner, Tom discovers he's infected under horrific circumstances, when his girlfriend's autopsy shows she had the virus. Twenty-four days after finding out he's positive, he lures Dan into his apartment, then holds him against his will until his blood test comes back. If Dan also has HIV, Tom informs him, he will kill him.
Needless to say, this doesn't exactly make Dan the most reliable source. He has every reason to lie and Tom feints and parries with him, trying to get him to level instead of saying what Tom needs to hear. As they wait three days for the test results, and inevitably reveal their disappointments, resentments, and frustrations, the less we realize we know.
Both Tom and Dan are blissfully attractive, and at first Dan is cajoling, using whatever line it takes to seduce Tom. He doesn't necessarily seem calculating at the onset. Even after he's tied up and begins to guy Tom with casual conversation, it takes a while before we grasp how far his charisma and credibility can take him. As adults most of us have resigned ourselves to the negotiability of truth, especially when dealing in the predatory realm of sex.
But when STDs have become incurable, chronic, fatal, when any guy you meet could be ejaculating poison, then equivocation doesn't seem quite as harmless. The proverbial "game of love" turns into Russian Roulette. Despite times when The 24th Day hovers dangerously close to being a tract on the hazards of careless, indiscriminate fucking, it raises valid questions by forcing Dan to consider the impact of his actions on his partners.
Though Dan and Tom both seem to lack integrity (Tom's profound denial verges on hubris, Dan is a conniving, manipulative dog) Piccirillo makes it hard to dismiss or condemn either of them. Tom clings to hetero-status because lack of education makes him feel inadequate. If Dan's conquests were women, his behavior would be acceptable to most men, even venerated. Straight men revel in acting out their virility, while the religious right seizes on AIDS as yet another example of how God is determined to punish us. Apparently hetero-sluts get special dispensation.
The 24th Day isn't about assigning blame or coming up with easy answers. I wanted information about Tom and Dan I never got, but in this case I don't think it matters. The film raises questions about Patient Zero, bare-backing, the gender caste system, bisexuals who exploit gay men, character, responsibility and numerous other topics. It is a debate in which the participants have a vested interest in disclosure but an imperative need to know what's really going on.
Piccirillo distracts us with the issue of Dan's test results, which has more to do with his attachment to Tom. Tom hates himself for giving in to his queer desires, blames himself for the death of his girlfriend. When Dan points out that women have more freedom to experiment with other women, we know he's tap-dancing, but he still has a point. It's the desperation of Dan and Tom that drives them to these epiphanies, to uncover truths that didn't matter before their mortality became part of the equation. It's their tragic, personal ordeal, and it's the way Piccirillo involves us in it that makes The 24th Day so unforgettable.