No Good Deed

While this wasn't anything special, it definitely wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. The leads do an excellent job in their respective roles, which is coupled nicely with solid writing. The first act is nothing to write home about, and the movie felt like it was dragging towards the end, it was still relatively entertaining. All in all, a pretty standard cat/and-mouse tale, decent to throw on for movie night.

"No Good Deed" isn't a bad home invasion thriller, but it's completely unremarkable, and merely satisfied with fitting a standard studio woman-in-peril mould. It's not difficult to tell where the events are all leading right from the beginning.

To its credit, the performances from Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson and Leslie Bibb are decent, and the film manages one strong suspense sequence early on (Elba's first encounter with his ex-girlfriend after he leaves prison). There's also one mildly surprising twist in the final third, but its not enough to save a tepid, predictable middle section.

"Deed" is a film is enjoyed best as mindless entertainment on a rainy, stormy night (like the one in the film), with the proviso that you expect a film that trots along an utterly formulaic, seen-it-before path.

Idris Elba. Arguably one of the coolest actors around right now. He can pretty much carry any part given to him. Yes, I'm a fan. And, as I expected of him, he's damn good here too. Unfortunately, one great actor does not make up for a film which is short on originality.

Elba plays 'Colin.' A psychopath. Okay, so that's a generalisation. The early part of the film touches on his exact condition. However, he kills people, so 'psychopath' will work for me. And, he plays it pretty well, flitting between his natural charm and dangerous ability to bludgeon someone to death if he so feels inclined.

But, luckily for Joe Public, he's been caught and imprisoned. Of course the film would be a lot less dull if he didn't escape pretty quickly and resume his terrorising. So, he does this and seeks refuge in a woman's home, pretending that his car has broken down. Of course she succumbs to his charm and lets him in, but, again, things never stay that way for long. What follows is a typical 'cat and mouse' kind of game with her doing her best to survive in her own home. I should just point out that she can't just escape at the earliest opportunity, as she has children.

I have no problem with the plot. Yes, it could probably be a little more original, but I could still live with that. Or I could if it wasn't for the fact that it uses the same cliché over and over again (normally found in 'slasher' films). Three times (yes, I counted) in the space of about ten minutes does she totally get the drop on Elba and whack him with a fire extinguisher/lamp-thing/knife, only to run off instead of finishing him off. I know this kind of movie-gripe has been going on for years and, yes, I know if she killed him at the earliest opportunity it would be a pretty short film, but still... that lack of realism/originality just got to me after a while. Elba isn't supposed to be a monster or superhuman, yet he gets up from every blow and just chases after her – again, without killing her either due to ending the film early.

Ultimately, you can't fault the performances, both Elba and his victim do all they can with what's been given to them. It's just a shame the 'vehicle' they're in is a little bit on the stale side. I guess if you're not into slasher films you may not notice it quite so much, but, for me, it just bugged me to the point where I found it hard to carry on watching.

For die-hard Elba fans or casual viewers of the 'stalker/thriller' genre only.

The story portrayed in this film is pretty much spelled out in the trailer. Crazy escaped convict terrorizes a woman and her kids. That's pretty much it, but there is a nasty little twist in the story that I did not see coming (although I did have a feeling). You know…. When you ask yourself "surely it isn't this" and come to find out …. Oh yes, it is. I have to give Colin (Indris Elba) a lot of credit for playing it super cool to make his way into the house. Although you knew he was the "bad" guy who is eventually going to snap, you kind of find yourself liking him for a little while (with his fine self). Terri (Taraji P. Henson) was a relatively smart women who made some serious errors at the beginning of the film, but had I not known in advance what was going to happen, I probably would not have thought that she did anything wrong. She was just trying to be nice and do the right thing. Meg (Leslie Bibb) is Terri's best friend and she drove home the point that no one knows you better than your best friend. At first I thought that she was going to be a little ditzy, but she proved me wrong. Jeffrey (Henry Simmons) is Terri's husband who does not seemed to be vested in the relationship. This is very apparent right from the beginning. I went to the 2nd showing on the day the film was released and I have to say that the theater was pretty well populated. The one thing that I have to say about seeing a film with a diverse crowd is that folks talk (out loud) to the people on the screen (myself included). Toward the end of the film I heard myself saying "how does she think that's going to work" and then immediately after that I said "why does he think that worked"…... you'll see what I mean when you go to see it. Other than that, there are three reasons why I liked this film…., the great lead characters, the consistent flow of the film and finally the whole story was told in around 90 minutes. This is director Sam Miller's first attempt at a widely distributed feature film and I think that he did a pretty good job. I would recommend it to a friend.

I read a lot of reviews before watching, and truly was surprised as this movie was MUCH better than the detractors let on. The acting is great, the storyline, though part of a formulaic genre, is well thought out and moves at a great pace, the dynamic of action/release/suspense/reveal is well timed, and unless you're unbelievably difficult to entertain, you'll not want to be interrupted during any part of this film. Are there plot holes? We debated this and decided it's truly up to your point of view, but the events are actually all completely plausible. Summarily, unless you go into movies for the sole intent of picking them apart and finding things to not like, I guarantee you will be surprised, uncomfortable, freaked out, worried, excited, and ultimately entertained by No Good Deed.