No Good Deed

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Finn R Apr 21, 2019 What a surprise that so many liberal media critics cannot deal with a movie whose villain is a Black male predator. Forget the fact that it is completely verified and confirmed by tens of thousands of crimes annually. Hollywood is apparently supposed to deny this possibility in a pathetic attempt to avoid racial stereotyping., meaning only white men can be portrayed as malevolent and evil. Ahhh the world of liberal logic. See more

Theodore R Dec 29, 2018 A tense, quick moving thriller that's entertaining whilst bringing little new to the genre. Cliche ridden for sure and it has it's silly moments but a fun ride while it lasts. See more

Han W Jul 8, 2018 Wow this is terrible. Power move by Dan to put it on and then immediately go to bed.

Draco M Jan 28, 2018 Good movie; sad for the children though.

Rey G Aug 18, 2017 SCOTT: (Dr. Scott Allison, Professor of Psychology, University of Richmond) Greg, we just saw a movie about a no-good dude. GREG: (Greg Smith, Founder of Agile Writers of Richmond, VA) And if no good deed goes unpunished, then indeed, we were punished for watching. SCOTT: Let s recap. Inmate Colin Evans (Idris Elba) is being transported back to prison from his parole hearing, where he was denied parole. He is serving time for brutally killing several people. During his return trip to prison, Evans manages to shoot the driver and a guard. He then escapes successfully to Atlanta. There he meets up with his former fiance and confronts her about her new lover. After killing her, we see him driving his car in a rainstorm. His car crashes into a tree, and he seeks refuge at the door of a nearby home owned by Terri Henson (Taraji P. Henson) and her baby. GREG: Colin is charismatic and smiles his way into the home and out of the rain by feigning the need to call for a tow truck. When Terri s best friend Meg (Leslie Bibb) arrives, Colin has some fast thinking to do. But Meg is not convinced of Colin s good intentions and confronts him. Meanwhile, Terri realizes that Colin is not so harmless and he begins to chase her through the house. Now it s a battle of wits as Terri must find a way to call for help before Colin can accomplish his dastardly plan. SCOTT: Greg, No Good Deed is a by-the-numbers story of survival at the hands of a vicious killer. This story has been told countless times before, but what distinguishes No Good Deed is that it features a strong African-American female hero who must use both her wits and her strength of character to extricate herself from danger. Taraji Henson does a nice job portraying the role of Terri, and a number of her Great Eight characteristics of heroes truly shine through. She is strong, smart, caring, selfless, resilient, and inspiring. The first 15 minutes of the movie led me to believe that the villain, Colin Evans, was going to be the hero (or anti-hero) of the story. We, the audience, are provided with more of his backstory than that of Terri. But soon the movie wisely shifts to Terri as the movie s main focus, and we become impressed with her selfless devotion to placing the safety of her two children before her own. As I said, this isn t a great movie by any means, but it does manage to pull us into the drama and leave us wondering how Terri is going to survive. GREG: I have to agree with you, Scott - this is a good movie with a strong female lead. The other thing that distinguishes this movie from others is that Terri fears for her life and the lives of her children, only to discover that Colin s goal has nothing to do with Terri. There s a point in the film (that is shared in the trailer) where Colin chastises Terri by saying, I would have thought with all those brains you got, you woulda figured out what game were playing. It isn t the standard game of cat and mouse. Terri is a good hero - she is smarter than the average damsel in distress. And she stands up to her captor. She doesn t just run screaming through the house (although there is a bit of that). She *is* smart and she makes plans to escape. Colin makes for a good villain, too. He s every bit as smart and determined as our hero. And that is critical for a good villain story. We are given a good deal of his backstory so we know where his anger comes from. Although, he is set up as a malignant narcissist by the parole board - we don t get any insight into what created such a person. So I can give points for setting up our villain - and I have to take one away for embedding the fact that Colin is crazy. SCOTT: I enjoyed Colin as a villain more than I thought I would. During his parole hearing at the beginning of the movie, I felt for him and believed him to be genuinely repentant. He has those kind eyes and shows a kind of enigmatic intelligence. But when the bodies started piling up, I was sadly forced to abandon the idea that he is simply misunderstood. I like the fact that his character has a curious appeal even when we know he s a psychopathic murderer. Another virtue of this movie is witnessing the palpable chemistry between Terri and Colin. Her courage in standing up to him is borderline foolhardy but serves her and her children quite well. One unfortunate negative is the number of times that Terri skewers him, crushes his head, shoots him, and maims him, while he does his best Ever-Ready battery impression by still ticking. We also get the standard Fatal Attraction miracle revival of the seemingly dead villain. One day I hope the movies finally put this hackneyed gimmick to bed for good. GREG: Yeah, I noticed that too. I liked this movie, but the twist at the end didn t warrant a higher rating. It s a classic thriller with some upgrades. I give No Good Deed 3 out of 5 Reels. Terri is a good hero but still not above average. What I appreciated about her was that she wasn t a typical damsel in distress. She was smart and strong. But I can only give her 3 out of 5 Heroes. Colin is painted better than the average villain. He has all the great qualities of the hero plus a diabolical tendency toward malignant narcissism . But he can only garner 3 out of 5 Villains. Movie: Villain: Hero: SCOTT: No Good Deed is a fairly well constructed thriller that gives us a strong woman character who delights us with her brains, her inner strength, and her selflessness. This movie features good tension, good pacing, and good acting. No Good Deed is far from great but it provided 90 minutes of solid entertainment. Like you, Greg, I give this film 3 Reels out of 5. The hero Terri is inspiring to watch. She embodies many of the signature characteristics of a hero, but her Joseph-Campbell-like hero journey is stunted. There is no mentor figure, for example; she s left entirely to her own devices. I m not convinced that she transforms in any significant way, either. So we re left with a pretty good hero but not a great one, at least not in the classic sense. I m with you, Greg, that she merits 3 Heroes out of 5. The villain Colin is a major focus of this movie. He s a complex man with a motive for his mayhem. No Good Deed does a good job of portraying the villain s story with greater depth than we see in most movies. His fatal flaw lies in his underestimation of our hero Terri. Colin s intelligence, deceptiveness, magnetism, and complexity make him formidable villain with considerable texture, in my opinion. I m awarding him 4 Villains out of 5. Movie: Villain: Hero: SCOTT: (Dr. Scott Allison, Professor of Psychology, University of Richmond) Greg, we just saw a movie about a no-good dude. GREG: (Greg Smith, Founder of Agile Writers of Richmond, VA) And if no good deed goes unpunished, then indeed, we were punished for watching. SCOTT: Let s recap. Inmate Colin Evans (Idris Elba) is being transported back to prison from his parole hearing, where he was denied parole. He is serving time for brutally killing several people. During his return trip to prison, Evans manages to shoot the driver and a guard. He then escapes successfully to Atlanta. There he meets up with his former fiance and confronts her about her new lover. After killing her, we see him driving his car in a rainstorm. His car crashes into a tree, and he seeks refuge at the door of a nearby home owned by Terri Henson (Taraji P. Henson) and her baby. GREG: Colin is charismatic and smiles his way into the home and out of the rain by feigning the need to call for a tow truck. When Terri s best friend Meg (Leslie Bibb) arrives, Colin has some fast thinking to do. But Meg is not convinced of Colin s good intentions and confronts him. Meanwhile, Terri realizes that Colin is not so harmless and he begins to chase her through the house. Now it s a battle of wits as Terri must find a way to call for help before Colin can accomplish his dastardly plan. SCOTT: Greg, No Good Deed is a by-the-numbers story of survival at the hands of a vicious killer. This story has been told countless times before, but what distinguishes No Good Deed is that it features a strong African-American female hero who must use both her wits and her strength of character to extricate herself from danger. Taraji Henson does a nice job portraying the role of Terri, and a number of her Great Eight characteristics of heroes truly shine through. She is strong, smart, caring, selfless, resilient, and inspiring. The first 15 minutes of the movie led me to believe that the villain, Colin Evans, was going to be the hero (or anti-hero) of the story. We, the audience, are provided with more of his backstory than that of Terri. But soon the movie wisely shifts to Terri as the movie s main focus, and we become impressed with her selfless devotion to placing the safety of her two children before her own. As I said, this isn t a great movie by any means, but it does manage to pull us into the drama and leave us wondering how Terri is going to survive. GREG: I have to agree with you, Scott - this is a good movie with a strong female lead. The other thing that distinguishes this movie from others is that Terri fears for her life and the lives of her children, only to discover that Colin s goal has nothing to do with Terri. There s a point in the film (that is shared in the trailer) where Colin chastises Terri by saying, I would have thought with all those brains you got, you woulda figured out what game were playing. It isn t the standard game of cat and mouse. Terri is a good hero - she is smarter than the average damsel in distress. And she stands up to her captor. She doesn t just run screaming through the house (although there is a bit of that). She *is* smart and she makes plans to escape. Colin makes for a good villain, too. He s every bit as smart and determined as our hero. And that is critical for a good villain story. We are given a good deal of his backstory so we know where his anger comes from. Although, he is set up as a malignant narcissist by the parole board - we don t get any insight into what created such a person. So I can give points for setting up our villain - and I have to take one away for embedding the fact that Colin is crazy. SCOTT: I enjoyed Colin as a villain more than I thought I would. During his parole hearing at the beginning of the movie, I felt for him and believed him to be genuinely repentant. He has those kind eyes and shows a kind of enigmatic intelligence. But when the bodies started piling up, I was sadly forced to abandon the idea that he is simply misunderstood. I like the fact that his character has a curious appeal even when we know he s a psychopathic murderer. Another virtue of this movie is witnessing the palpable chemistry between Terri and Colin. Her courage in standing up to him is borderline foolhardy but serves her and her children quite well. One unfortunate negative is the number of times that Terri skewers him, crushes his head, shoots him, and maims him, while he does his best Ever-Ready battery impression by still ticking. We also get the standard Fatal Attraction miracle revival of the seemingly dead villain. One day I hope the movies finally put this hackneyed gimmick to bed for good. GREG: Yeah, I noticed that too. I liked this movie, but the twist at the end didn t warrant a higher rating. It s a classic thriller with some upgrades. I give No Good Deed 3 out of 5 Reels. Terri is a good hero but still not above average. What I appreciated about her was that she wasn t a typical damsel in distress. She was smart and strong. But I can only give her 3 out of 5 Heroes. Colin is painted better than the average villain. He has all the great qualities of the hero plus a diabolical tendency toward malignant narcissism . But he can only garner 3 out of 5 Villains. Movie: Villain: Hero: SCOTT: No Good Deed is a fairly well constructed thriller that gives us a strong woman character who delights us with her brains, her inner strength, and her selflessness. This movie features good tension, good pacing, and good acting. No Good Deed is far from great but it provided 90 minutes of solid entertainment. Like you, Greg, I give this film 3 Reels out of 5. The hero Terri is inspiring to watch. She embodies many of the signature characteristics of a hero, but her Joseph-Campbell-like hero journey is stunted. There is no mentor figure, for example; she s left entirely to her own devices. I m not convinced that she transforms in any significant way, either. So we re left with a pretty good hero but not a great one, at least not in the classic sense. I m with you, Greg, that she merits 3 Heroes out of 5. The villain Colin is a major focus of this movie. He s a complex man with a motive for his mayhem. No Good Deed does a good job of portraying the villain s story with greater depth than we see in most movies. His fatal flaw lies in his underestimation of our hero Terri. Colin s intelligence, deceptiveness, magnetism, and complexity make him formidable villain with considerable texture, in my opinion. I m awarding him 4 Villains out of 5. Movie: Villain: Hero: See more

Abraham M Aug 16, 2017 No Good Deed is about an escaped convict, who terrorizes a mother, and her kids while her husband is away on a trip. It's also as flat, and dull as they come in the world of film. The whole time I was watching this atrocity, I just couldn't believe this had even made it to theaters at a point in time. It just seemed too awful for that, too perfectly destined for a throwaway slot on late night television. The fact that this made it to theaters for even a week shows just how sadly desperate Hollywood is. If it wasn't for talented leads like Taraji P Henson, and Idris Elba being involved, this would have been straight to the Lifetime channel, but these two actors were clearly looking for a pay check. They're both very talented performers, but barely even seem to put in any effort, or give their performances any weight. I suppose they can't be blamed when they're working with a script that's as goofy, and generic as they come. Elba's angry, and jealousy filled psychopath just comes off as goofy, due to scripts cliche dialogue, and elba's refusal to even try to make the character anything more than your typical killer. However Taraji P Henson does a significantly better job here. Playing a mother that wants nothing more than to keep her kids safe, and get out the situation alive. She shows a good range of emotion, and actually comes off as a very protective, concerned person, that's not afraid to fight to protect her children. The script ultimately lets her down though, and her performance ends up being sadly forgettable as well. Director Sam Miller hasn't really directed much before, and my god does it show. Literally every shot reminded me of a lifetime film. It's all static, and lifeless. I honestly couldn't find slightly memorable shot in the entire film, and that's a major problem. Combine that with some odd shakey camera work, that even persists sometimes when characters are just setting down, and you've good evidence Miller should never be allowed near a camera again. No Good Deed is cliché, non sensical, ugly, and boring. The executives over at Lifetime probably wouldn't even want to add it to the plethora of home invasion films they already have there, Even with all the talent involved, I guarantee they'd refuse, and that's just sad. The nicest thing I can say is that the film is quality trash. Skip it. See more

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