Movie Review: "No Good Deed" (2014)

Movie: "No Good Deed"
Director: Sam Miller
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 24 minutes

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Colin Evans (Idris Elba) is a convicted felon who is up for parole on manslaughter conviction. He is also a suspect in the murder of five women, though he was never convicted. After his parole is denied, he escapes from a prison transport van and murders the two guards escorting him. He then immediately drives to his ex finance's house and murders her after he learns that she has been seeing another man. Colin then heads back out on the road, but a bad storm hits and he veers off the road and into the tree. He heads to a nearby home and convinces the woman living there named Terri (Taraji P. Henson), who is home alone with her kids, to let him use the phone and eventually invite him in to dry off. She has unwittingly let a murderer in her home and we are left to wonder if she will be his next victim. 

When we first saw the trailer for this film, we automatically assumed it would be rated R because it was so devious and creepy looking. In fact, several months later when we found out it had received a PG-13 rating, we were confused as to how it would even work with any sort of efficacy as a home invasion thriller.

While this movie isn't the worst we've ever seen, it's certainly stupid enough. Literally the first thing they teach you when you enter the school system in preschool or kindergarten is DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS, let alone LETTING A GODDAMN STRANGER IN YOUR HOUSE. We have a supposedly intelligent and powerful former criminal prosecutor heroine, Terri, who switches between doing something kind of smart and doing something absolutely foolish, starting with but not limited to letting Colin into her home in the first place. Colin is not immune to doing dumb things, either, as he does his fair share of stupid stuff, such as letting Terri repeatedly bash him over the head with blunt objects and not just killing her in the first place. The moments that are supposed to be thrilling and tense aren't at all. You see the ultimate ending coming a mile away and the twist is completely unnecessary, which renders this movie not even worth watching. We should give props to Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson, though, since their acting in this film is fine and dandy. They did the best with what they were given. It's not their fault that the script was weak and the overall concept of the film was basic and trite.

The worst part about this movie for me, though, is the absolutely repulsive mindset that this man, this convicted killer and complete random stranger off the street, is sexualized and fawned over by thirsty, desperate women the entire film. In one scene, Terri goes as far as taking off her shirt and fixing up her hair in the off chance that Colin, once again for emphasis, A COMPLETE OUTSIDER TO HER LIFE, might be into her, even though she's married and has kids. Really, Hollywood? Not every woman in this world is a sex maniac just waiting around for the right D to come waltzing in off the street because of happenstance. Meg, Terri's best friend, played by Leslie Bibb, spent the entire movie lusting over every single man that walked into her line of sight and yet espoused the need to not be in a relationship. It's none of our business what she does in her own life, but they made her character come on way too strong and eventually made her sadly desperate and, for lack of a better term, slutty.

Its only saving grace is that it's not terribly long, but while this film is shorter than average, somehow still feels longer. At least we were able to get out of the 100 degree heat for 84 minutes.

My Rating: 4/10
BigJ's Rating: 4/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 12%
Do we recommend this movie: No.