NO GOOD DEED (Sam Miller). 84 minutes. Opens Friday (September 12). See listings. Rating: NN
As home invasion suspensers go, No Good Deed is okay. It’s tense, well acted and moves right along. But there’s nothing here we haven’t seen before – no giant scares, no story turns we don’t see coming.
Idris Elba plays Colin, the charming but homicidal escaped convict who lies his way into the house of stay-at-home mom Terri (Taraji P. Henson) one dark and stormy night. For once, the villain isn’t a psycho or sociopath. He’s characterized right up front as a “malignant narcissist,” and we’re told exactly what kind of motives and behaviour to look for. So it’s fun watching Elba crank the malice and scheming up and down between bouts of apparently genuine warmth.
Henson has the less flashy role, but she’s believable as a harried mom who fears she’s losing her husband and excellent as a terrified but not panicked woman when the menace turns overt.
Except for the flashbacks that give a sense of Colin’s chaotic inner life, director Sam Miller doesn’t do anything exciting with the camera. He also avoids big shocks, hard violence and gore, giving No Good Deed something of a 50s feel.
The title, by the way, comes from the saying (origin uncertain, but attributed to both Oscar Wilde and Clare Boothe Luce), “No good deed goes unpunished.” It’s not a 50s kind of sentiment and adds no notable resonance to the movie at hand.
