NO GOOD DEED DVD (2014)

SYNOPSIS: Terri (Taraji P. Henson) is a devoted wife and mother of two, living an ideal suburban life in Atlanta when Colin (Idris Elba), a charming but dangerous escaped convict, shows up at her door claiming car trouble. Terri offers her phone to help him but soon learns that no good deed goes unpunished as she finds herself fighting for survival when he invades her home and terrorizes her family.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Since the romanticized version of home invasion thriller already went to the poorly received Labor Day, Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) and Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) has to resort to killing each other in this cliché-ridden exploitative flick. 

While the producers gushed about how nail biting the script is in the EPK, the audience probably has seen incarnations of No Good Deed countless times. Elba plays Colins Evans, a charismatic, psychotic man who escaped from the police after a failed attempt to get paroled. After killing his ex-girlfriend and crashing his stolen van, he seeks refuge in the home of Terri Granger (Henson).

Obviously in the real world, you wouldn’t open your door to a suspicious-looking stranger who is kind of scruffy and soaked all wet because of the downpour. But then again the man in question is Idris Elba. Dark, charming and incredible sexy and with all that inattentiveness from Terri’s husband, the lonely Terri is suddenly mesmerized by this stranger before he turned wacko.

It could have yielded more sexual tension and inspiring events given the two impressive leads yet the lazy scripting prefers to transform Colins Evans into Jason Voorhess from Friday the 13th. He gets punched, knocked on the head, pushed down the stairs, got himself stabbed and miraculously he is still up and going. Taraji P. Henson on the other hand is the new spokeswoman for female empowerment as her character juggles between protecting her brood and disabling Evans. Let’s not forget the inclusion of conveniently staged jump scares such as random car alarms and tree branches crashing into the house.

There’s a minor twist in the end, which gives new meaning to the Disney song, It’s a Small World. Consider that Elba and Henson also co-produced this title, this theatrical directorial debut from Sam Miller (Luther) is a generic dud. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Making A Thriller is a standard making of feature that has the producers and director raving about the script and the two leading actors being interviewed about their characters and the story. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

No Good Deed looks good on DVD with rich, detailed images despite the often-dark setting. A few action oriented sequences delivered a strong presence with equally precise, clear ambient effects and dialogue.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



Back