No Good Deed

The plot: A cop doing a favor for a friend ends up unwillingly getting involved in a heist.

No Good Deed is an interesting neo-noir/heist movie. Sam Jackson, a lonely and frustrated cop, starts off investigating a runaway daughter for his neighbor, only to stumble into a heist that is already underway. Taken hostage, he anxiously awaits his fate while trying to get some kind of angle on his captors.

The captors include a femme fatale, a violent thug, a cultured and domineering mastermind, and a racist elderly couple. They've also got an inside man that they're conning. This quirky group provides some black humor and tension. We're introduced to each character early, and the development is done rather well. The characters play off of each other in interesting ways, though I suppose it's pretty obvious that Jackson is the match to this powder keg. Still, it's fun to watch the requisite backstabbing, double-crosses, and con games as they play out.

If you're looking for a slick, fast-paced thriller, you might end up being a bit bored or disappointed. The biggest problem is that the whole thing is a bit predictable, though you'll probably forgive that if you're a fan of the actors or neo-noir. It seems worth a 6 or 7, rather than the somewhat mediocre score that it has now.

rented this cause of the cast. hadn't heard anything about this movie, no wonder why. In a few words, it is awful, the acting is very average, below average i would say, especially if you consider the actors in it,and that is offcource due to the bad script and stupid plot. The story starts with samuel playing cello!! as he is a wannabe musician, and he is also a grand theft cop. the neighbor comes in and convinces him to look for her dissapeared daughter. he has a photo of her and her boyfriend and goes on to look for them on turk street. He ends up in a house where some criminals live and are planing to rob a bank and think that he is after them, while he is not. The robers are an old couple, a psycho guy with bad temper, mila jojovic and tairon, the brain of the operation apparently. The plan they have for robing the bank is verry unconvincing, and thats a very weak part of the movie. The other weak part is the relationships between the characters, which is also silly and unconvincing. There is no chemistry between the characters and the whole story just sucks, the acting and the script doesnt help either. The ending is crap too.

To sum up, avoid, nothing here to see (except of the breasts of mila jojovic lol!)

While a cop(Jackson in good form, and yes, he does get to do one cool speech in this) is out searching for a teenager that will never be anything other than a MacGuffin, he stumbles upon a band of quirky criminals looking to steal money from a bank. The femme fatale Erin(a *stunning* Jovovich), Tyrone, the brains of the operation(Skarsgård, threatening without even needing to be armed), Hoop, the slow-witted thief, and the Quarre's, a racist WW2 veteran pilot and his home-maker wife. $10 million is what they expect to get out of it... and that kind of dough can lead to backstabbing. Add to that that Murphy's Law is in effect when they go for the score. This is modern film noir, and it's fairly solid. The characters are all "grey", no black and white, not necessarily likable(not that any of them are annoying), well-cast, credible and well-written. Yes, they have some fun with how odd they are, but not excessively so. This isn't "funny" as such; at most it has sardonic moments and the occasional joke. It isn't about action, either. There's tension and suspense, and the plot is kept moving nicely by many twists and turns. Not everything is followed up on, and the ending doesn't really pack much of a punch... in fact, on the whole, this is a bit of a slow-burner. There is a bit of disturbing content, a little violence and nudity/sexuality. I recommend this for at least a rental for those into crime-dramas. 6/10

Having watched this film, I became bored after about 30 minutes and as it was only just over 90 minutes long I persevered in the hope it would improve!! No chance!!!

The Gang of Six were the WORST band of thieves ever put together in the history of Film Thieves!! Santa Claus, Granny, Psycho, a Member of the Adams family and 9 Toes! All in sync with the dodgy bloke in the bank, who made it so obvious what was going on, he'd have been sussed in an instance!!!

A slow, boring plot....a slow, boring cast....totally lacked invention and motivation.....PLUS, whatever happened to the missing girl???? If her mother was that bothered, why did she never get suspicious when Jack Friar (S L J) never returned???

Dire, Drab and waste of time...If anyone else gets the chance to watch this....DON'T!

The deal with action/crime movies it's quite complex, more when the objective is to put some drama on it. It's about finding a balance that doesn't include too much violence without taking it all out. It's about creating a story that makes sense and deals with human emotions, so we can care about characters. It's a very challenging goal, difficult t achieve. There must be, anyway, one movie that represents that perfect balance. I've heard "Goodfellas" is the perfect example (or haven't I)…I'll talk about that movie soon. The thing is, that while "No good deed" contains some of the elements required to become a good movie, it has another ones that make it stay behind.

The film tries to hard with the plot twists and it's just a way to waste the time recycling until they can finally get to the ending. There's too much violence and with no credible purposes to help the plot. The movie involves some of the typical things as the intelligent guy and brain, and another stupid man who depends on the brain, because if not he can't do things right. And let's not forget about the spicy ingredient that can't be absent and always works: the girl. What doesn't work is the sexual tension between the girl and (I forgot to mention it) the main guy; a cop, trying to make room for a love story, relating them both as the most important characters.

Bob Rafelson manages to keep us interested with his quick movements in a slow paced film. Writer Christopher Canaan manages to create situations that are motivating enough for the viewer, coming up with very original ideas and attractive supporting characters. Some obvious revelations that are not even revelations are samples of the weakness the film has (you know what the password is when they're trying to figure it out); that together with the lame edition bring this movie down.

This time they chose a very attractive young woman for the part of the girl. This was Milla Jovovich; very attractive and with the acting skills required for this specific job. She had no big problems to play Erin, always seemed comfortable and it looked like the role suited her. Stellan Skarsgard is at his best in Tyrone's skin. Relaxed and natural, he created a memorable character you won't feel bad hating; and that's possibly the best compliment for a villain. In the list of the stereotyped characters, the stupid guy Hoop is played coldly by Doug Hutchison; that guy who I didn't even like in "The Green Mile" and seems to be related to Kevin Spacey because of the way he looks. In a hero character away from clichés, Sam Jackson's Jack Friar brings the actor in top action form since his days in "The long kiss goodnight", "One eight seven" and most recently, "Shaft". A pleasure for me was to see the man in his groove again. Two lovable Grace Zabriskie (Mrs. Quarre) and Joss Ackland (Mr. Quarre), and an underused Jonathan Higgins (David) complete the supporting cast.

The movie succeeds, however, in the aspects we expect the least. It succeeds in character development; making its characters understandable in the situations they're involved and in the way they make their decisions. It explores personality aspects not many other films of this type explore, like the intense peace the main characters find in music; forgetting about everything else…When the movie begins, Jack is playing the cello; and we comprehend that's the only thing that eases him down