12 Days: Spencer Neville in The Obituary of Tunde Johnson

A wealthy, Nigerian-American teen is pulled over by police, shot to death and immediately awakens, reliving the same day over and over, trapped in a terrifying time loop - forced to confront difficult truths about his life and himself;

There is really no competition when it comes to films which celebrate February 2nd, and Punxsutawney Phil.  1993's Groundhog Day remains the pre-eminent film about the holiday.  Danny Rubin's writing is excellent, equaled by the direction from Harold Ramis.  Each character is perfectly cast, from the leads, down to each and everyone of the supporting characters.

But, if you've seen the film multiple times, and are looking for another film to watch, a more recent time loop themed movie was 2019's The Obituary of Tunde Johnson.  It too is beautifully written, (by Ali LeRoi, and beautifully directed by Stanley Kalu.  The films opens with a long, sensual shot of Soren, (Spencer Neville) which sets a beautiful tone which is soon to be shattered.

The two main characters are perfectly cast.  Along with Neville, the main character Babatunde Adesola Johnson, is skillfully portrayed Steven Silver. Babatunde (Tunde) and Soren are secretly dating, while at the same time, Soren is publicly dating Tunde's childhood friend Marley. Both decide to come out to their parents at the same time, on the day of Soren's birthday.

The early scene of Tunde coming out to his parents is beautifully written and shot and also very emotionally and realistically portrayed.  Tunde's parents both appear to have already have known, yet great the new in their own unique, yet loving way.  This scene was actually so well done, in some ways it betrays the rest of the film.  Soon after, Tunde is stopped, and fatally shot by a police officer, causing Tunde to have to relive the day, for me, making those initial scenes, a little less impactful.  

I also had some issues with the ending, but overall all, the parts I enjoyed about the movie far outweighed the parts I didn't.  As I said, it's beautifully shot and the actors create such real characters in relationships many of us can relate to.  They also looked really good together and played well off one another in their scenes together.

Steven Silver is certainly the lead, and the emotional core of the film, but it was actor Spencer Neville that had me checking it out.  I've followed and posted about Neville, (HERE:) since his modeling days, posing for Rick Day and many other well known photogs of the male form.  Neville successfully transitioned into the acting world, and was a stand out during his time on Days of Our Lives.  They certainly wasted one of the hottest actors on their show, even though his character brought a lot of spark into the Will and Sonny dynamic.  Neville was also great on The Deleted, and I've really loved the choices of roles that he's taken.