No Good Deed (2014 film)

No Good Deed
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sam Miller
Produced by	Will Packer Lee Clay
Written by	Aimée Lagos
Starring	Idris Elba Taraji P. Henson
Music by	Paul Haslinger[1]
Cinematography	Michael Barrett
Edited by	Randy Bricker
Production company	Will Packer Productions
Distributed by	Screen Gems
Release dates	September 12, 2014 (2014-09-12)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$13.2 million[2]
Box office	$54.3 million[2]

No Good Deed is a 2014 American thriller film directed by Sam Miller and written by Aimée Lagos. The film stars Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson, Kate del Castillo, Mark Smith, Henry Simmons, Wilbur Fitzgerald and Frank Brennan. The film was released on September 12, 2014.

Despite mixed to negative critical reception, the film was a box office success and received two Image Award nominations, winning one for Taraji P. Henson's performance.^[3]

Plot

The movie opens in Tennessee with a prisoner, Colin Evans (Idris Elba) in a police van on the way to court with two other policemen. It is revealed that Colin has been in prison for over 5 years for manslaughter and pleas to the court to be granted parole, saying that he is a changed person. However, the court denies him parole, claiming that he is not trustworthy enough. On the way back to prison, a frustrated Colin deceives the policemen in the car and murders both mercilessly. He escapes the van.

At the same time, in Atlanta, Terri Granger (Taraji P. Henson) is home with her young children. Her best friend Meg (Leslie Bibb), a young and carefree woman suggests that Terri relax and not stress herself with her children and husband. Meg knows that Terri's relationship with her husband has taken a rough toll on her. Hence, Meg tells her not to worry and that she will visit her at night for a 'girls' night' to cheer Terri up. Terri's husband Jeffrey (Henry Simmons) arrives home just long enough to pack his things and visit his father, leaving her quite abruptly with their two children.

Colin stalks his ex-fiancee, Alexis (Kate del Castillo), and witnesses her intimacy with another man. He follows her home and they get into a violent argument, resulting in him murdering her in his fury. On the journey back, a terrible storm causes Colin to lose control of his car and it crashes into a tree. As he seeks for help, he notices that there was only one house with the lights on, which happens to be Terri's. Later, Colin asks Terri for her help in getting a tow truck. She invites him inside after he uses her phone where he can take shelter from the storm as they wait for the tow truck.

Meg is shocked to see Colin. The three then talk and share glasses of wine. When Terri leaves momentarily to comfort her baby, Meg and Colin are left alone. Colin asks to be excused for a smoke break. Meg follows him into the garage and he offers her a cigarette, which she accepts. Meg asks him if he was having an affair with Terri. Colin shrugs, leading Meg to assume that Terri was indeed having an affair with him. However, later she criticizes him, saying that Terri would never do such a thing without telling her best friend. Her criticisms infuriate Colin and he strikes her dead with a shovel leaving her dead body on the garage floor.

Terri returns to the hall after putting her baby to bed and is surprised to see that Meg is not there. Colin tells Terri that Meg left, but Terri is overcome by suspicion, especially when she sees Meg's umbrella in the stand. Terri realizes that Colin is not the nice person that he appeared to be. Alarmed, she rushes to the kitchen to call the police, only to find out that Colin had disconnected all the wires. Realizing that her and her children's lives are in danger, she rushes to Ryan's bedroom, only to find Colin playing with her. As they walk out of Ryan's bedroom, Terri hits him with a fire extinguisher. However, he manages to fight her back by aiming a gun at her. Terri is forced to obey him (including taking her clothes off in his presence). In a brief moment where she strikes him unconscious, she manages to flee to her bedroom and dial 911. Colin recovers and finds her in the bedroom. He yanks the phone out of her hand just as she finishes her call. She begs him to leave, but Colin forces her to take the children and get into her vehicle. He forces Terri to drive. While walking out of the Garage, Terri sees Meg's dead body on the floor.

Tearfully, Terri asks him why he was doing this, to which Colin replies that she will see for herself soon. He refuses to tell her their destination. As they pass by a police car on the road, Terri flashes her headlights when she thinks Colin is not looking, hoping to catch their attention. The police car forces them to pull over and a young policeman interrogates them. The policeman requests Terri to step out of the vehicle, which she does. He asks her if she is all right, to which she is forced to reluctantly agree because Colin is alone with her children in the vehicle. The policeman senses her reluctance, but before he can do anything, Colin steps out of the car and shoots him dead. He shoves Terri back into the vehicle and they resume their journey.

Colin makes Terri drive to a house with the children. Not known to Terri, this was actually the home of Colin's ex-fiancee, Alexis. She panics when she sees Alexis' dead body in the bedroom. As she tries to find the first-aid kit in the house, a tree knocked over by the storm outside hits Terri's car, causing the alarm to go off. Worried that the noise would attract attention, Colin binds her to the bed while he goes to check on the car. As Colin exits the house, Alexis' phone rings. Terri manages to free herself from being bound to answer Alexis' ringing phone, and the call turns out to be from Jeffrey, who is trying to meet Alexis. It is only then that Terri realizes that he was not out of town with his father after all and was having an affair with Alexis. Terri also realizes that the encounter with Colin was not random, and that Colin wants revenge on Jeffrey because of his affair with Alexis. Terri tells her surprised husband the truth and has him call 911. She misleads Colin into thinking that they have escaped and hides her children. When Colin discovers her, she attacks Colin once more, this time grabbing his gun and shooting him until he falls out of a window, dead.

The police arrive, along with Jeffery, who is punched in the face and isn't forgiven by Terri, who, sometime later, leaves him. The movie ends with Terri moving into a new house with her children.

Cast

• Idris Elba as Colin Evans
• Taraji P. Henson as Terri Granger
• Leslie Bibb as Meg, Terri's friend
• Kate del Castillo as Alexis, Colin's ex-fiancee
• Mark Smith as EMT
• Henry Simmons as Jeffrey Granger, Terri's husband
• Wilbur Fitzgerald as Doctor Ross
• Mirage Moonschein as Ryan Granger, Terri and Jeffrey's daughter

Production

Filming of No Good Deed began in April 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.^[4]

Release

No Good Deed was initially set to be released on October 18, 2013. In January 2013, Screen Gems announced the film would be moved to open on January 17, 2014, at the beginning of the MLK Holiday weekend. This date conflicted with another Will Packer-produced film, Ride Along, a Universal Pictures release that stars Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. For this reason, in April 2013, the studio pushed back No Good Deed's release date for a second time to April 25, 2014. Yet again, in early October 2013 (and giving no specific reason), Screen Gems for a third time pushed backed the release date of the film to September 12, 2014.^[5][6] Sony Pictures Releasing debuted the first official trailer for the film on June 12, 2014.^[7][8] No Good Deed was released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 6, 2015.^[9]

Box office

No Good Deed was released on Friday, September 12, 2014. The film was #1 at the domestic box office over the 3-day weekend, grossing $24,250,283 at 2,175 North American theaters ($11,150 per theater average).^[10] The film was producer Will Packer's third #1 film of 2014, following Ride Along and Think Like a Man Too.^[11] No Good Deed grossed $54,323,210 worldwide.^[2]

Reception

No Good Deed has received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 10% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 3.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Dull, derivative, and generally uninspired, No Good Deed wastes its stars' talents — and the audience's time."^[12] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 26 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[13]

The audience for No Good Deed was 60 percent female, 59 percent over the age of 30. Filmgoers gave the movie a "B+" CinemaScore.^[10]

Soundtrack

Screen Gems and Madison Gate Records released the soundtrack to the film No Good Deed digitally and physically on September 9, 2014.^[14] The 15-track album contains the film's original score composed by Paul Haslinger.^[15][16]

"No Good Deed offered a great opportunity to re-explore a style of score I had first developed for the film Vacancy; music designed to enhance psychological qualities in the telling of a story, in this case, a rather dark one. My personal preference for this kind of approach is to mix classic film noir elements with music, sound-design elements; sometimes alternating, sometimes superimposing them. The goal ultimately was to connect the headspace of the characters with that of the audience, to make the audience feel the threads of the story as they watch it unfold. Working off great performances by Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson, this was a unique and rewarding project to be involved with!" - Paul Haslinger.^[17]

All music composed by Paul Haslinger. 

See also

• List of films featuring home invasions

References

External links

• Official website
• No Good Deed at the Internet Movie Database
• No Good Deed at Box Office Mojo