No Good Deed
(2002)
ApolloMedia Distribution / Kismet Entertainment Group / Remstar Films / Seven Arts Pictures : Columbia TriStar Home Video / Momentum Pictures
4.25 / 10
This film is based on a Dashiell Hammett short story "The House On Turk Street". I've not had the pleasure of reading the Hammett story so I cannot make any comment on the adaptation into film. Though the story, particularly the "Bank Heist" is so convoluted I cannot believe the film is more than loosely based on the story.
What the screenplay writers, Christoper Canaan and Steve Barancik, give us is a tangled and twisted plot that verges on laughable. There's too much going on and too much characterisation. I usually moan of not enough characterisation in a film but here, most of the cast has a distinctive character to portray.
You have Samuel L Jackson portraying policeman Jack Friar who plays the cello to relax. Though he has a vacation planned at a cello camp, he stays to help his neighbour whose daughter has gone missing. During his investigation, he is knocked unconscious only to awaken in a house tied to a chair. Jackson gives a decent performance of a man in trouble, he's scared as well as curious, trying to figure out what is happening.
Milla Jovovich is the proverbial gangster's moll, Erin, who is used to being used and abused by the gangs boss, Tyrone. She does a great job of putting over her nervousness when she's around Tyrone, as he's a calculating and manipulative psychopath, and a more sisterly act when she has to calm down Hoop the hothead loose cannon.
Stellan Skarsgard is the head of the gang, Tyrone, and he gives a cool and calm performance, though you know there's a dangerous man under the suit.
Hoop is maniacally played by Doug Hutchinson. Hoop wants to act NOW and hates to be still and is easy to anger.
Joss Ackland and Grace Zabriskie play the married couple, Mr and Mrs Quarre, who have been brought in as the getaway pilots. They do a brilliant job of making the marriage believable. Ackland does a great Grumpy Old Man and Zabriskie portrays a mother-like quality in concern to the gang.
With these six characters in close proximity for most of the film, their actions and counteractions are just too much for the runtime, 1 hour 43 minutes, of the movie, to the point where it appears messy and rushed; even more so, when more twists to the tale start to be revealed.
On the whole, director Bob Rafelson does a decent job, there are quite a few nice shots, I particularly like the scene where Jack and Erin play the piano and the cello. I think if the film was about a half hour longer it might have given the film a better pacing to cope with everything.
This is one of those movies I would recommend to people who like the genre. So if you want to see a Dashiell Hammett story in film; if you like bank heist movies; or anybody in the cast; then this film is worth at least one viewing... if you have nothing else to watch.
What the screenplay writers, Christoper Canaan and Steve Barancik, give us is a tangled and twisted plot that verges on laughable. There's too much going on and too much characterisation. I usually moan of not enough characterisation in a film but here, most of the cast has a distinctive character to portray.
You have Samuel L Jackson portraying policeman Jack Friar who plays the cello to relax. Though he has a vacation planned at a cello camp, he stays to help his neighbour whose daughter has gone missing. During his investigation, he is knocked unconscious only to awaken in a house tied to a chair. Jackson gives a decent performance of a man in trouble, he's scared as well as curious, trying to figure out what is happening.
Milla Jovovich is the proverbial gangster's moll, Erin, who is used to being used and abused by the gangs boss, Tyrone. She does a great job of putting over her nervousness when she's around Tyrone, as he's a calculating and manipulative psychopath, and a more sisterly act when she has to calm down Hoop the hothead loose cannon.
Stellan Skarsgard is the head of the gang, Tyrone, and he gives a cool and calm performance, though you know there's a dangerous man under the suit.
Hoop is maniacally played by Doug Hutchinson. Hoop wants to act NOW and hates to be still and is easy to anger.
Joss Ackland and Grace Zabriskie play the married couple, Mr and Mrs Quarre, who have been brought in as the getaway pilots. They do a brilliant job of making the marriage believable. Ackland does a great Grumpy Old Man and Zabriskie portrays a mother-like quality in concern to the gang.
With these six characters in close proximity for most of the film, their actions and counteractions are just too much for the runtime, 1 hour 43 minutes, of the movie, to the point where it appears messy and rushed; even more so, when more twists to the tale start to be revealed.
On the whole, director Bob Rafelson does a decent job, there are quite a few nice shots, I particularly like the scene where Jack and Erin play the piano and the cello. I think if the film was about a half hour longer it might have given the film a better pacing to cope with everything.
This is one of those movies I would recommend to people who like the genre. So if you want to see a Dashiell Hammett story in film; if you like bank heist movies; or anybody in the cast; then this film is worth at least one viewing... if you have nothing else to watch.
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