Screen Gems wants moviegoers to believe that No Good Deed contains a narrative twist so shocking that it will redefine the very notion of surprise itself. “Get ready for the twist of a lifetime,” the studio announced in a tweet sent earlier this week, shortly after all previously scheduled, nationwide press screenings of the film were abruptly cancelled in order to (allegedly) keep potential ticket buyers spoiler-free.
Well, here’s a spoiler of sorts: Yes, there is a major twist in No Good Deed, a thriller that stars Taraji P. Henson as a wife and mother terrorised relentlessly by a monstrous Idris Elba. But while some audience members may be blindsided by one particular third-act reveal, it’s hardly the sort of ingenious storytelling trick that warrants J.J. Abrams-level secrecy. This review won’t reveal what happens because, to once again quote a Screen Gems tweet: “#NoSpoilers.” But let’s just say that you can easily find a more jaw-dropping twist by randomly viewing virtually any chapter of R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet.
The real truth about No Good Deed is that it’s just another stalker mystery in which impending danger is too obviously telegraphed by thunder claps and malfunctioning car alarms. The characters only vaguely resemble actual people, and even charismatic actors such as Elba and Henson, an Academy Award nominee, can’t elevate the material into anything worth taking seriously. A few scenes succeed in generating legitimate tension, but this movie isn’t so much a nail-biter as a very occasional hangnail-chewer.
An exposition-heavy news report that opens the film quickly dispenses with the full back story on Colin Evans (Elba). He’s a suspect in the disappearance of five women, but was never charged. He’s in prison, serving time for voluntary manslaughter after beating a man to death in a bar fight over Colin’s girlfriend. And he’s determined to get out of prison, an ambition thwarted when a parole board turns down his request for early release.
After that disappointing hearing, Colin takes matters (and guns) into his own hands, killing two guards and escaping from the vehicle meant to transport him back to jail. His first post-escape stop: the home of the girlfriend (Kate del Castillo) whose presence led to that bar fight. His second stop: the home of Terri (Henson), an unhappily married mother of two who used to be a prosecutor specialising in cases involving violence against women.
After Colin intentionally wrecks his car on a stormy night, he shows up at Terri’s door, explaining that he doesn’t have his mobile phone and needs to call for a tow truck. Terri, home alone with her kids, loans the handsome stranger her phone and eventually invites him in, which seems like a pretty stupid move for a woman who surely saw her share of shady, homicidal men during her career. But in her defence: It was Idris Elba. And he was right there, on her porch.
There are three key questions that take centre stage from that point forward:
1. How long will it take for some serious you-know-what to start hitting some fans? (Not very.)
2. Why does Colin decide to target Terri? (Again: #NoSpoilers.)
3. Is it possible to watch Colin repeatedly and brutally attack several women, including Terri, without being reminded of the horrifying video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking his then-fiancee unconscious? Given the degree of attention that video received this week, particularly during ESPN broadcasts that often cut to commercials for No Good Deed, the answer to that last one is a great big “uh-uh,” which may explain why Screen Gems was actually so wary of screening this in advance.
Clearly what happens in No Good Deed is fiction, and is completely unrelated to the very real and upsetting events involving Rice. But after a week of hearing about a man who punched a woman in the face, the last thing some people want to see on a weekend night is a man on screen doing the exact same thing, even when the woman he strikes has no qualms about striking back.
