NO GOOD DEED
DIRECTOR: Sam Miller
CAST: Idris Elba, Taraji P Henson, Kate del Castillo, Leslie Bibb
CLASSIFICATION: 13 LV
RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes
RATING: **
IDRIS Elba’s up to this point good-guy screen persona both counts for and against him in this crime thriller of no thrills.
He plays convicted criminal, Colin Evans, who starts off the film seeking parole for murder, only to be denied.
It is no plot giveaway to say he escapes – the trailer shows as much. He then goes on to terrorise Taraji P Henson in her home. Again, the trailer shows this.
For about the first third of the film, you cannot tell if Evans is a good guy or a bad guy, because his actions can be interpreted either way, and you just cannot quite believe that Elba is playing someone evil – hence the screen baggage being both a curse and a blessing.
Henson’s character, Terry, is a frustrated stay-at-home mom who is nice enough to let a random stranger into her home. The title reflecting the adage that no good deed goes unpunished, things quickly go pear-shaped because this stranger has dark motives.
The film is basically a home invasion cat-and-mouse story and it works, or does not, according to whether you buy into the characters or not. And, we don’t.
While the two leads are definitely talented enough to create fully rounded characters, they are not given enough to work with. The violence the Colin character metes out is at odds with the charming character Elba creates, so you are both repelled and attracted to the character, which only serves to distance him from the viewer. But, this is not the stuff a mesmerising bad guy character, like say Heath Ledger’s Joker, is made of.
Henson’s character stands in for the audience, but again, she sways somewhere between bored lawyer, suspicious do-gooder and protective mother. Then the last scene undoes what should have been a strong film about female empowerment at a time when violence against women is foregrounded in all forms of media.
It may be a thriller, but there is very little tension, despite the stormy weather, flickering lights and a male lead who menaces as well as he smoulders. Everything about the film – plot, visual clues, music, characterisation – is clichéd. You can see where this is going and the leaps in logic are annoying. Like, if she is supposed to be so clever and competent, would she really have let him into the house?
The set up of the characters takes much too long with the film meandering along in the first third, on fast forward during the second third when the two get to know each other and then falling apart in the violent last third.
If you liked The Equaliser or The Guest, you will like this.