No Good Deedby Wilson Morales
When a studio cancels a press screening in less than 24 hours and days within its theatrical release, questions arise? In the case of Sam Miller’s No Good Deed, starring Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson, Screen Gems came up with a doozy of an excuse, saying “there’s a plot twist we don’t want revealed as it will affect viewers’ experience.”
That’s very rich and bold of them to say. Unless it’s one hell of a shocker, in the same territory as ‘The Crying Game’ or ‘The Usual Suspects,’ this is merely a ploy by the studio to get an advantage over its competitors opening a film in the same weekend. It’s also a way to not have plenty of social media outlets put out negative feedback if they had seen the film beforehand.
That being said and having seen the film, although the cast is appealing, this slow burn violent thriller is too short (84 min) and predictable enough that the “twist” isn’t anything worth talking about or mentioning it by the water cooler. Having been shot over two years ago, it’s amazing that it didn’t make it on cable TV where audiences would have been more receptive.
Elba plays narcissistic prisoner and serial killer Colin Evans, who has just been denied parole. On his way back to prison, he managed to subdue and kill his guards before escaping and heading back home to Atlanta. Meanwhile, Terri is a former District Attorney frustrated that her husband (Henry Simmons) can’t not only spend time with her but help out in raising two young children.
Making it back home, Colin visits his ex-girlfriend (Kate Del Castillo) and tests how loyal she’s been while he’s been away. When he doesn’t get the answer he’s looking to get, it doesn’t bode well for her. Afterwards, while driving during a terrible rainstorm, he crashes his car and walks to the nearest house with the lights on, Terri’s.
With her husband away on a golfing trip with his father, Terri is home alone with the kids, but is receptive when Colin knocks on the door looking to use her phone. Seeing him wet with a small gash to his head, Terri feels comfortable in letting him in while she gets her first-aid kit.
When Meg (Leslie Bibb), Terry’s oldest and best friend stops by for a ‘girls night,’ the atmosphere heats up among the three as Meg starts to become more inquisitive of Colin and how this handsome stranger happens to be inside Terri’s house when hubby’s away. When curiosity heightens up between Meg and Terri, Colin can no longer contain his emotions and that’s when the terror begins.
Although the leads are obviously the sell of the film, the look and storyline is very pedestrian as the running back and forth become repetitive. This could have easily been a stage play with most of the scenes taking place inside Terri’s house. With the exception of Bibb, in the role of the giddy best friend who’s there to provide a laugh or two, del Castillo and Simmons are simply wasted in their performances. They merely served as plot points to get to the next scene.
Screenwriter Aimee Lagos doesn’t seem to know how to define each of Elba and Henson’s characters. From the start of the film, Colin is a menace to society with no remorse. Up until he gets to Terri’s place, there’s no sign of redemption or any trait to make this character likeable to the audience. Of course, it’s Elba, in which some in the audience may not care how evil he is. Then there’s Terri, a former prosecuted who has seen her share of women who were abused by men and yet, Lagos’s chooses to make her one, at least in the beginning. By the time, we get to the so-called twist, anyone has seen any episode of ‘Murder, She Wrote’ or ‘Columbo’ could tell where this film was headed and not be surprised by its outcome.
No Good Deed isn’t deserving of a theatrical release. It would have been better to see it on VOD or on Cable TV.
