No Good Deed (2002) User Reviews

A little boring but acceptable adaptation of modern noir cinema

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 24 May 2005]

The film talks how a detective called Jack (Samuel L. Jackson) is assigned by his neighbor to find her disappeared daughter . The tracks lead a house where he's abducted by a group of delinquents (Stellan Skarsgard, Milla Jovovich, Doug Hutchinson) about to pull off a bank robbery . As Jack finds himself being held hostage while the nasty bandits decide what to do with him .

The picture is developed on its first part on the sitting room when our protagonist stumbles upon a bizarre gang of criminals , for that reason is a little tiring ; a bit later on , there starts the action and when the movie is amusing and entertaining . In the intervening period to forward is nice and there is thriller , taut , intrigue and suspense leading to finish at a frenetic action and tension . The final confrontation between the starring and the villain enemies is breathtaking and in complete emotion . Samuel L. Jackson and Milla Jovovich's interpretation is top-notch , both of them make the typical couple from noir cinema . He is impetuous and tough , she's liar , impulsive and beautiful . The supporting actors are magnificent (Skarsgard , Hutchinson and two veterans : Joss Ackland and Grace Zabriskie) . Cinematography by Spanish photographer Juan Ruiz Anchia is pretty good and Jeff Beal's musical score is atmospheric . The picture is a little bit violent but happens cruel murders . The motion picture attained limited success ; besides , it made a few box office because of lack luster and budget . The yarn will appeal to action cinema enthusiasts and Samuel L. Jackson fans . Rating : Decent and passable.

No good, indeed

[=G= · 6/10 · 25 December 2003]

"No good Deed", as the DVD is entitled, tells of an off duty cop who stumbles on a house full of bad guys while looking for a lost girl and becomes their prisoner while the messy plot unfolds. Jackson plays a diabetic cop and the cello while Jovovich plays a femme fatale and the piano and their tenuous relationship becomes the only worthy thing developed by the film. Skarsgård (probably the most talented of the cast) and the rest of the core cast play silly caricatures not unlike those found in supermarket paperback novels. This poor attempt at film noir which is adrift between black comedy and shoddy drama is a heavy handed mess lacking finesse, fraught with gaping plot holes, and generally full of filler which contributes nothing to the meager story. Save this turkey (aka: The House on Turk Street) for broadcast when the surfin' is slim. (C+)

Of all the houses on Turk street...

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 6/10 · 17 December 2010]

While a cop(Jackson in good form, and yes, he does get to do one cool speech in this) is out searching for a teenager that will never be anything other than a MacGuffin, he stumbles upon a band of quirky criminals looking to steal money from a bank. The femme fatale Erin(a *stunning* Jovovich), Tyrone, the brains of the operation(Skarsgård, threatening without even needing to be armed), Hoop, the slow-witted thief, and the Quarre's, a racist WW2 veteran pilot and his home-maker wife. $10 million is what they expect to get out of it... and that kind of dough can lead to backstabbing. Add to that that Murphy's Law is in effect when they go for the score. This is modern film noir, and it's fairly solid. The characters are all "grey", no black and white, not necessarily likable(not that any of them are annoying), well-cast, credible and well-written. Yes, they have some fun with how odd they are, but not excessively so. This isn't "funny" as such; at most it has sardonic moments and the occasional joke. It isn't about action, either. There's tension and suspense, and the plot is kept moving nicely by many twists and turns. Not everything is followed up on, and the ending doesn't really pack much of a punch... in fact, on the whole, this is a bit of a slow-burner. There is a bit of disturbing content, a little violence and nudity/sexuality. I recommend this for at least a rental for those into crime-dramas. 6/10

This might set the record straight?

[DaznLoz · 3/10 · 18 September 2004]

Having watched this film, I became bored after about 30 minutes and as it was only just over 90 minutes long I persevered in the hope it would improve!! No chance!!!

The Gang of Six were the WORST band of thieves ever put together in the history of Film Thieves!! Santa Claus, Granny, Psycho, a Member of the Adams family and 9 Toes! All in sync with the dodgy bloke in the bank, who made it so obvious what was going on, he'd have been sussed in an instance!!!

A slow, boring plot....a slow, boring cast....totally lacked invention and motivation.....PLUS, whatever happened to the missing girl???? If her mother was that bothered, why did she never get suspicious when Jack Friar (S L J) never returned???

Dire, Drab and waste of time...If anyone else gets the chance to watch this....DON'T!

More than acceptable modern film noir

[zamani · 7/10 · 18 June 2006]

No good deed based on a short story by Dashiell Hammett is kind of movies that have many elements and themes of a classic film no-ire but it is not exactly one of them. The themes include a robbery plan that goes awry though here it is more of a con rather than robbery and it is executed without resorting to violence. Second theme is domed love

which in this movie is rather short, more of this later. The elements include mastermind and ruthless gangster, a femme fatal , and rude maniac hit-man. And add to these people a

couple that had a dream of living happily ever after. The strength of the movie is in building up of its characters. They all do what they are expected to do whether they act strongly or

weakly. Their strength and weakness comes from their personalities and not from the requirement of the plot. Erin character is the main difference of this movie from classic femme fatal. As a kept girl with ten percent rebate on pedicure expense, though she is cunning in some scenes , but she is also deadly frightened. Her motives are dark at worst and suspicious at best, but in her main thrust of manipulations (getting rid of Tyrone) she deserves our sympathy. Other characters do not show something unexpected ,but the story has enough power and twist that make the movie worthwhile and interesting. Movie scenes are limited, and most of it is in closed places which intensifies a sense of claustrophobia. This kind of story which has little physical action and is mainly based on suspenses needs good acting, that fortunately this movie does not lack it. This movie shows that good noir still can be made and their time has not passed yet

What A Dumb Story

[sddavis63 · 2/10 · 15 September 2012]

The first thing to say is that a movie has to draw you in to the story within the first few minutes. This one failed to do that. But that's really only the first of many problems. I'm going to highlight just a couple of them - one was, to me, a huge problem with the story; the second was just something that bugged me personally because it was just so absolutely stupid on the part of whoever came up with it.

The major issue for me was that this particular gang of thieves didn't strike me as having the intellectual wattage to successfully steal $100 from a convenience store; never mind $10 million from a major bank. There's the old couple (Joss Ackland and Grace Zabriskie) whose relationship with the leader of the group is never really explained, except that he flew some combat in Vietnam and can therefore fly the getaway plane. We also discover that they're horny enough to get it on in the airplane while they're waiting for everybody to show up to make their escape. There's the apparently brainless Hoop (Doug Hutchison) - who's so out of control that he can't possibly be of much use to the group. Then there's the leader himself, Tyrone (Stellan Skarsgaard) who's the bright light of the group I guess but who still is quite willing to leave his lady friend Erin (Milla Jovovich) (whom he met when she was an aspiring musician in Russia) alone with Jack the cop (Samuel L. Jackson) so that he can teach her how to play the cello while she's holding him hostage. This is just plain dumb, which made it completely unbelievable that the gang could get as far as they did. That's the major complaint about the story. Now for the personal irritant.

As the movie comes to an end, Tyrone, Erin and Jack approach the Canadian border. The scenes at the border are absolutely ludicrous and show how little homework was done by those who made the movie. First, the border crossing was identified as Sudbury. Sudbury? Did anybody bother looking at a list of border crossings, or, better yet, a map? Sudbury is in northern Ontario. The nearest border crossing would be more than 4 hours away! Did anybody bother doing just a little bit of research about Canada Border Services? CBS agents wear dark blue uniforms, not the grey uniforms used here, which makes them look a bit like sheriff's deputies in the southern US. The shootout at the end is also highly unlikely, given that in 2002 CBS agents didn't carry guns! Maybe somebody should have checked into these things?

This is a terrible crime drama. It might have worked as a sort of whimsical heist movie, but that wasn't the intent. It was a crime drama - and a sad one! (2/10)

To do the right thing or not

[jpschapira · 6/10 · 19 May 2005]

The deal with action/crime movies it's quite complex, more when the objective is to put some drama on it. It's about finding a balance that doesn't include too much violence without taking it all out. It's about creating a story that makes sense and deals with human emotions, so we can care about characters. It's a very challenging goal, difficult t achieve. There must be, anyway, one movie that represents that perfect balance. I've heard "Goodfellas" is the perfect example (or haven't I)…I'll talk about that movie soon. The thing is, that while "No good deed" contains some of the elements required to become a good movie, it has another ones that make it stay behind.

The film tries to hard with the plot twists and it's just a way to waste the time recycling until they can finally get to the ending. There's too much violence and with no credible purposes to help the plot. The movie involves some of the typical things as the intelligent guy and brain, and another stupid man who depends on the brain, because if not he can't do things right. And let's not forget about the spicy ingredient that can't be absent and always works: the girl. What doesn't work is the sexual tension between the girl and (I forgot to mention it) the main guy; a cop, trying to make room for a love story, relating them both as the most important characters.

Bob Rafelson manages to keep us interested with his quick movements in a slow paced film. Writer Christopher Canaan manages to create situations that are motivating enough for the viewer, coming up with very original ideas and attractive supporting characters. Some obvious revelations that are not even revelations are samples of the weakness the film has (you know what the password is when they're trying to figure it out); that together with the lame edition bring this movie down.

This time they chose a very attractive young woman for the part of the girl. This was Milla Jovovich; very attractive and with the acting skills required for this specific job. She had no big problems to play Erin, always seemed comfortable and it looked like the role suited her. Stellan Skarsgard is at his best in Tyrone's skin. Relaxed and natural, he created a memorable character you won't feel bad hating; and that's possibly the best compliment for a villain. In the list of the stereotyped characters, the stupid guy Hoop is played coldly by Doug Hutchison; that guy who I didn't even like in "The Green Mile" and seems to be related to Kevin Spacey because of the way he looks. In a hero character away from clichés, Sam Jackson's Jack Friar brings the actor in top action form since his days in "The long kiss goodnight", "One eight seven" and most recently, "Shaft". A pleasure for me was to see the man in his groove again. Two lovable Grace Zabriskie (Mrs. Quarre) and Joss Ackland (Mr. Quarre), and an underused Jonathan Higgins (David) complete the supporting cast.

The movie succeeds, however, in the aspects we expect the least. It succeeds in character development; making its characters understandable in the situations they're involved and in the way they make their decisions. It explores personality aspects not many other films of this type explore, like the intense peace the main characters find in music; forgetting about everything else…When the movie begins, Jack is playing the cello; and we comprehend that's the only thing that eases him down

Made no sense . . .

[cronchak · 2/10 · 29 June 2004]

The best part of this movie, is Milla's backside.

The movie starts with a premise that Samuel's character is out looking for a runaway girl. That disappears. Then, the antagonist gang takes him hostage, well, sort of. No real reason to do this, other than that they think they've been discovered. But, from there, it's all lost. Samuel L. Jackson is the protagonist, but he's tied to a chair for 2/3's of the movie!

Then there's the absurd robbery by an apparently blind man (in clear glasses, so you can see his eyes move and react), and his cohort, and evil little blonde-haired troll, who's NEVER accosted, not once, while walking directly into the power room of the bank. He's able to amazingly hack into the bank's computers, and shut the power off to the whole building. Somehow, I think that ALL transactions would be off, regardless of the circumstances at that point - but maybe that's just me. Then, there's the wimpy banker that just HAS to get his rocks off BEFORE they flee the country, and the little wa***r troll that's too stupid to realize that he shouldn't kill the only man who knows the all-important "password", and the account information is stored on a 3.5 inch disk, right (dated technology there, why not on a reel tape?). They whiz through banks at a breakneck pace, withdrawing large sums of money, without so much as a batting of the eye. I'm not even going to get into Samuel and Milla's musical interlude while she has him untied. Mr. officer, I think, might have had a trick up his sleeve to elude her and get out of the house at that point.

Bad movie, bad plot, bad characters, the kind of movie that's 97 minutes long and you'd swear you've been watching it for 4 hours. Terrible.

Predictable, entertaining neo-noir

[krachtm · 7/10 · 14 March 2013]

The plot: A cop doing a favor for a friend ends up unwillingly getting involved in a heist.

No Good Deed is an interesting neo-noir/heist movie. Sam Jackson, a lonely and frustrated cop, starts off investigating a runaway daughter for his neighbor, only to stumble into a heist that is already underway. Taken hostage, he anxiously awaits his fate while trying to get some kind of angle on his captors.

The captors include a femme fatale, a violent thug, a cultured and domineering mastermind, and a racist elderly couple. They've also got an inside man that they're conning. This quirky group provides some black humor and tension. We're introduced to each character early, and the development is done rather well. The characters play off of each other in interesting ways, though I suppose it's pretty obvious that Jackson is the match to this powder keg. Still, it's fun to watch the requisite backstabbing, double-crosses, and con games as they play out.

If you're looking for a slick, fast-paced thriller, you might end up being a bit bored or disappointed. The biggest problem is that the whole thing is a bit predictable, though you'll probably forgive that if you're a fan of the actors or neo-noir. It seems worth a 6 or 7, rather than the somewhat mediocre score that it has now.

Good acting, crappy plot, sexy Milla Jovovich

[zumbojo · 4/10 · 20 December 2003]

Samuel L. Jackson, Milla Jovovich and the rest display fairly good acting throughout the entirety of the movie, but it seems almost as if the story was written on the fly. The bank rip-off seems pretty well thought through but everything after that just seems like crap, plotwise. On a positive note (at least for us guys) Milla Jovovich is particularly sexy in this movie in her wardrobe and brief Stockholm-syndrome-fling with Jackson. It still burns the hell out of me that Best Buy carries this DVD while Equilibrium was no where to be found.

a romantic film noir with dark comedy

[imdb-364 · 10/10 · 12 October 2003]

As Roger Ebert said in his review, brilliant, literate film noir with excellent performances...particularly Milla Jovovitch as the femme fatale. A steamy seductress tried to seduce a cop with her beauty and stunning abilities as a pianist. Samuel Jacksin is the cello play cop who wanders into a nest of thieves...some brutal the other weirdly comical. Dashiell Hammett to the core. Well worth your seeing.

Photo of a lost girl

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 14 January 2014]

Bob Rafelson's heyday may had been the 1970s but he can still direct actors who want to perform in a film rather than make movie.

In this modern take on a Dashiell Hammett story shot like low budget pulpish crime noir. It stars Samuel L Jackson as an off duty cop looking for a lost girl as a favour and he stumbles into a house full of strange people planning a robbery and is held captive.

Stellan Skarsgard is the suave leader of this motley group, whilst Milla Jovovich is the femme fatale who is playing people off one another but also acting against her will as she longs to escape from Skarsgard.

Jackson who is diabetic and likes playing the cello bonds with Jovovich who gives him insulin and she is also a talented piano player.

However the aftermath of the robbery does not go according to plan and there are double crosses aplenty whilst Jackson needs to escape his captors.

This is a film with a disparate group of characters who are caricatures, such as a dumb hothead, an elderly couple. It has good plotting, there is also a lot of character development helped by strong acting.

This is not a fast paced thriller but can be a rewarding film.

Jovovich andJackson a Great Duo

[antar5 · 2 January 2007]

Samuel Jackson and Milla Jovovich were superb. However, the story barely uses much of Jackson's talent. The other actors are good to okay. Stellan Skarsgård was terrible. He reads his lines like a high school student. The story was slow to get started and was quite predictable. The movie picks up as it goes along.

Milla Jovovich is beautiful and has never looked as good. She is absolutely mesmerizing to look at in this role.

On a late Saturday night when you are tired, in the mood for a movie, and just don't care what film you see it will do the trick.

Doug Hutchinson is a great Hoop! He was very convining.

Out of 10 stars (where 10 is the highest) I would give it a 5. I must say though Jovovich and Jackson were worth" the price of admission." To bad Hollywood is not ready for a love scene between the two. That would have made this an exceptional cinematic event.

The Need to Feed

[tributarystu · 3/10 · 27 December 2003]

Welcome to a new episode of a never ending story: how stupidity stole everything. It's painful to watch someone trying to achieve something way out of reach.

I am obliged to label this film "disastrous" and "pathetic", mainly because of a terrible, lame script and terrible, lame dialog. But what really pains me is the fact that it tries to pull a stunt right at the end, which should leave the viewer (in his possible absentmindedness) totally shocked. And when a film relies on such "tricks" and these don't work...well, it's just sad.

I won't insist on the rather technical flaws, like the pouring rain, which only pours on half of the screen. But what I will say is this: I've seen today that some actors can not advance: Doug Hutchison is a disappointment, considering that I've first seen him in "The Green Mile"; Milla Jovovich is the second. Maybe it's just her terribly silly character, but I tend to think it's her.

Having said what I think mattered (and just so I leave out any chance of misinterpretation: the film is BAD), I would recommend it to those who really want to see lame stories and maybe learn something out of them. I wonder if anyone tried to do some character study of these guys...

Bad script, bad acting, stupid plot, lovely breasts!

[mtzinakis · 11 October 2003]

rented this cause of the cast. hadn't heard anything about this movie, no wonder why. In a few words, it is awful, the acting is very average, below average i would say, especially if you consider the actors in it,and that is offcource due to the bad script and stupid plot. The story starts with samuel playing cello!! as he is a wannabe musician, and he is also a grand theft cop. the neighbor comes in and convinces him to look for her dissapeared daughter. he has a photo of her and her boyfriend and goes on to look for them on turk street. He ends up in a house where some criminals live and are planing to rob a bank and think that he is after them, while he is not. The robers are an old couple, a psycho guy with bad temper, mila jojovic and tairon, the brain of the operation apparently. The plan they have for robing the bank is verry unconvincing, and thats a very weak part of the movie. The other weak part is the relationships between the characters, which is also silly and unconvincing. There is no chemistry between the characters and the whole story just sucks, the acting and the script doesnt help either. The ending is crap too.

To sum up, avoid, nothing here to see (except of the breasts of mila jojovic lol!)

VERY VERY BAD

[yehuda72 · 1/10 · 15 October 2003]

One of the worst plot I have seen, absolutely non sense!!!!! The most stupid scene is the romantic one, the girl go for some insulin and brings also the cello, the score for piano and cello and also the music stand!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not imagine this girl getting down from the second floor by the stairs with all this stuff.......whahhhhhhhhhhh

Astor, Stanwyck, Turner, Turner, & Jovavich?

[urnotdb · 7/10 · 10 April 2005]

Talented cast, director, screenwriter update good 1920s Hammett short story into full-length film. The expanded story (100X more stolen $$ !) retains the theme that criminals are doomed by the double-cross, and the resourceful detective is a better chess player once the plan goes awry. Jovavich seems as beautifully dangerous as other relatively recent worthy contenders for the "film" fatale pantheon like Fiorentino, J-Lo, Boyle, Russell. Thoughtful plot twists as players strive to gain the upper hand (although intricacies of the embezzlement eluded me). Odd "gang" could have stepped right out of the Maltese Falcon. The filmmakers left their heart, if not their Turk St., in San Francisco.

Just not good

[grouchoM · 2/10 · 10 August 2005]

I just thought this movie was not that good. I had never heard of it and thought I would check it out because I love Milla Jovovich and Sam Jackson. I picked it up previously viewed and popped it in and... blah. That is the best way I can describe this movie. It was just blah. Nothing special at all and just bland. Milla is beautiful and looks great and she does her best as does Sam Jackson but I don't think anything can save this snooze fest. If you have nothing else to do and there is nothing else on TV and you don't have to clean or clip your toe nails and if there is no paint pealing off the walls you can watch, and or you are a Jovovich fan, give it a shot but its really just not that good. BLAH.

No bad deed

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 11 March 2005]

Evidently this film was released overseas before it was seen locally. Bob Rafelson is an excellent screen writer who knows a lot about what is going on in the American cinema. As a director, he doesn't bring anything new to this Dashiell Hammett's short story adaptation. Perhaps he wasn't helped by the screen play of Christopher Canaan.

The Hammett story was one of his best ones. The idea of the kind policeman, Jack Friar, trying to investigate something for a neighbor, brings him into a situation that will ensnare him, as he discovers the people in the house are planning a caper and take him prisoner.

The acting is interesting in general. Samuel L. Jackson has to act tied to a chair throughout the movie. His scene with Erin, played with gusto by Milla Jovovich, brings a sensuality to the screen that adds another dimension to the story. Stellan Skargard makes a mean Tyrone. Doug Hutchison is intense as Hoop, Tyrone's partner in crime. Grace Zabriskie and Joss Ackland are seen as the Quarres, a couple that are involved in the robbery. Ms. Zabriskie, an excellent actress, has great moments as the older woman who presents a kind front, but is no good. Joss Ackland, a veteran English stage and screen actor, doesn't have much to do.

The film, while predictable, offers some good moments. Bob Rafelson knows how to motivate his actors to give above the average performances.

Indeed, No Good Deed.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 4/10 · 6 March 2017]

This film is based on a Dashiell Hammett short story "The House On Turk Street". I've not had the pleasure of reading the Hammett story so I cannot make any comment on the adaptation into film. Though the story, particularly the "Bank Heist" is so convoluted I cannot believe the film is more than loosely based on the story.

What the screenplay writers, Christoper Canaan and Steve Barancik, give us is a tangled and twisted plot that verges on laughable. There's too much going on and too much characterisation. I usually moan of not enough characterisation in a film but here, most of the cast has a distinctive character to portray.

You have Samuel L Jackson portraying policeman Jack Friar who plays the cello to relax. Though he has a vacation planned at a cello camp, he stays to help his neighbour whose daughter has gone missing. During his investigation, he is knocked unconscious only to awaken in a house tied to a chair. Jackson gives a decent performance of a man in trouble, he's scared as well as curious, trying to figure out what is happening.

Milla Jovovich is the proverbial gangster's moll, Erin, who is used to being used and abused by the gangs boss, Tyrone. She does a great job of putting over her nervousness when she's around Tyrone, as he's a calculating and manipulative psychopath, and a more sisterly act when she has to calm down Hoop the hothead loose cannon.

Stellan Skarsgard is the head of the gang, Tyrone, and he gives a cool and calm performance, though you know there's a dangerous man under the suit.

Hoop is maniacally played by Doug Hutchinson. Hoop wants to act NOW and hates to be still and is easy to anger.

Joss Ackland and Grace Zabriskie play the married couple, Mr and Mrs Quarre, who have been brought in as the getaway pilots. They do a brilliant job of making the marriage believable. Ackland does a great Grumpy Old Man and Zabriskie portrays a mother-like quality in concern to the gang.

With these six characters in close proximity for most of the film, their actions and counteractions are just too much for the runtime, 1 hour 43 minutes, of the movie, to the point where it appears messy and rushed; even more so, when more twists to the tale start to be revealed.

On the whole, director Bob Rafelson does a decent job, there are quite a few nice shots, I particularly like the scene where Jack and Erin play the piano and the cello. I think if the film was about a half hour longer it might have given the film a better pacing to cope with everything.

This is one of those movies I would recommend to people who like the genre. So if you want to see a Dashiell Hammett story in film; if you like bank heist movies; or anybody in the cast; then this film is worth at least one viewing... if you have nothing else to watch.

A pretty decent drama/thriller

[smatysia · 7/10 · 19 May 2006]

A pretty decent drama/thriller. I watched it because of Samuel L. Jackson. In this one, as usual, he plays his role with a quiet, understated charisma. Milla Jovovich was beautiful, more so than I have seen her before. She had a brief nude scene in this film. She shows some measure of courage going topless with her quite small breasts. I say more power to her. To all the aspiring actresses out there getting advice, let this show that if you have some talent, you don't have to mutilate yourselves with implants. Just say no! But I digress. The supporting cast did well, also. Stellan Skarsgard was suitably menacing, Joss Ackland was suitably eccentric, Doug Hutchison was suitably psychotic. The plot, with a small number of characters, could as well have come from a play as a Hammett story. Bob Rafelson's direction was unobjectionable. Overall, I'd say check it out.

A no good movie

[Cinemaniac1984 · 1/10 · 12 February 2015]

I hadn't heard of No Good Deed before until I spotted it in a video store. The cast looked good, particularly Samuel L Jackson, Milla Jovovich, Stellan Skarsgard, Doug Hutchison and Joss Ackland. The story itself looked interesting and it looked like it was going to be a decent thriller. This is one of several instances where you can't judge a video by its cover as this was one of the slowest thrillers I have seen that left me eagerly awaiting the end of the movie.

Samuel L Jackson plays a cello loving police detective named Jack Friar who is also a diabetic. Friar is roped in by his neighbour asking for his help in locating his missing daughter. When the investigation leads to a house which the missing daughter may be residing, Friar is kidnapped and taken hostage by a group of bandits led by Tyrone (Stellan Skarsgard), his lover Erin (Milla Jovovich), the psychotic but dim-witted Hoop (Doug Hutchison) and an elderly man named Thomas (Joss Ackland) who is the owner of the house along with his wife.

Bob Rafelson, who was once a promising director with Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), is responsible for this abysmal effort. His direction is purely lethargic here. The cast doesn't gel and there is a lack of chemistry. Also, the ending is very underwhelming. I will not provide any spoilers here apart from the fact that the ending is just terrible. Watch it and see what you think.

No Good Deed is a poor example of a thriller which crawls along at a snail's place with uninspiring plot twists thrown in here and there. The end result is a total disappointment given that this movie looked good on paper, yet the end result was an insipid and boring movie.

Fans of the cast will be very disappointed here. No Good Deed is a movie that is no good.

1/10.

"NO GOOD DEED" (Like Bogart and Bacall) GREAT FILM!

[billyace-2 · 10/10 · 18 September 2003]

This is a film that deserves to be seen. Though it is getting no publicity, WORD OF MOUTH, should serve this very special film. A solid performance by Sam

Jackson and all of the supporting cast. Bob Rafelson, a very famous director of such classics as FIVE EASY PIECES and THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS

TWICE, has brought his talents to this movie. It looks fantastic too. As in most film noir movies, like the "Big Sleep", there are story holes occasionally, but the acting, tension, dark humor and fast pace, keep you interested always. There is nothing boring. If you like dark movies with tough minded actors, this will not disapoint you.

This movie reminds you of so many good films that Bogart and Bacall made. I give thumbs up and a 10 !

Worth a look for mystery fans.

[dave13-1 · 6/10 · 12 April 2012]

Fans of the hard-boiled crime thriller are sorely under-served these days, but here we have a Hammett story adapted for the screen and directed by the always trustworthy Bob Rafelson. Milla Jovovich is the centerpiece as a woman who uses her sexuality to attract men who are then robbed by the other members of her gang. But when detective Sam Jackson intrudes on this little arrangement, it begins to unravel. Jealousy, deceit and betrayal follow and soon sparks and bullets start to fly. The cast are very good and completely convincing in their lowlife milieu, and the script gives them plenty of hard-edged banter to bandy back and forth amidst the various sneakings around. The action, when it comes, is not the usual stylized action movie nonsense, but is explosive and violent and most importantly organic to the plot rather than gratuitous. And the plot twists have a similar organic logic, rather than having that contrived feel of being a plot twist because we haven't had one for a while. There is a nice gritty yet realistic look here that really helps to pull together the various crime genre elements into a credible and watchable drama, and the actors make it all work. Recommended, but keep expectations reasonable.

One of the worst I have ever seen

[jitbose · 1/10 · 19 September 2003]

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The spanish title for this movie was "sin motivo aparante" which means with no aparent motive. It should have been called with no aparent plot.