No Good Deed is predictable, but still suspenseful

Movie Title: No Good Deed

PG-13, 1 hour 24 minutes

Grade: C

In a Nutshell: He’s creepy. She’s stupid. It’s all very predictable, but that didn’t stop the audience I watched the movie with from screaming, cheering and clapping. And yeah, 90% of the audience was middle-aged women who were happy to see the helpless female victim finally start to fight back and kick some bad guy butt.

Uplifting theme: Don’t be stupid. Don’t open your door to strangers, especially to large, menacing men who could squash you with their finger. On a serious note, women need to know self-defense and how to handle a firearm.

Things I liked:

Idris Elba is excellent. He is equally convincing as a heroic character in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom and Thor, as he is as an escaped felon looking for psychotic revenge.
Even though I thought the movie was pretty cliched, I still noticed that I was chewing my gum really fast. Despite your head knowing what’s going to happen, your heart still races.
The beautiful Leslie Bibb plays Meg, Terri’s slutty and wise friend who offers some comic relief.
The movie takes place in Atlanta. I lived in a suburb near Atlanta for 15 years and loved it. The movie would have benefited, however, from a few of those magical fireflies they have in the South.
I wondered if this would be a remake of the 2002 Samuel L. Jackson movie No Good Deed, but it’s really not.

Things I didn’t like:

Terri could have gotten help from other people so many times during the ordeal. She’s supposed to be an educated District Attorney turned stay-at-home mom, but she makes some really dumb and annoying choices.
It kind of feels like one of those Lifetime movies created for an estrogen-filled audience.
I have to admit that I’ve uttered the phrase “No good deed goes unpunished” many times in my life when I have done something kind and yet it turned around to bite me. It happens. Still, it’s important to not become so cynical that you stop serving others. You just have to be smart about it too.

Interesting lines:

“I would have thought with all those brains you got, you woulda figured out what game we’re playing.” – Colin
“Why are you doing this?” – Terri

“You’ll see.” – Colin

Tips for parents: I’m not sure why this movie is rated R because it has 2 F-bombs. Idris Elba steps out of a shower and is naked, but because of the lighting, you don’t see anything. The beautiful Taraji Henson wears a tank top that gets wet in a scene…

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