NO GOOD DEED

I happened to catch NO GOOD DEED yesterday. This movie, directed by Sam Miller, stars Taraji P. Henson and Idris Elba in a classic retelling of the age old scenario of putting a doe eyed woman in a house alone with a psycho killer.

Let me start out on a positive note by saying that Taraji P. Henson does a good job of emoting true fear in this and Idris Elba's character's intellectual psychosis is built up in an interesting way that leaves the audience tense wondering which is worse, what he plans to do or what his frustration will drive him to do. The camera work here is alright too. That being said, the main thing that really drags this movie down is the fact that we've seen it so many times! Whether it be 1967's Wait Until Dark or 1979's When A Stranger Calls (or in it's 2006 remake for that matter), or even the opening scene of Scream, that classic slasher send up of 1996, we've seen it and at this point we all know what to expect. There's running, screaming, kicking, stabbing, jump scares. Pretty much every trope in the book is here even the obligatory plot twist and while that may be ok for movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or P2 or (95% of) High Tension, this movie doesn't try to be inventive in any way. It's straight-up and by the numbers and in effect, it's amazingly stale. I can't say that I recommend it but if you really want to see it, like if you're a die hard Idris Elba fan or something, do yourself a favor and catch it on TNT some Sunday afternoon a couple years from now, then switch over to football after about 45 minutes because you'll likely be bored. No Good Deed gets a 2...out of 5.