No Good Deed (2002 film)
| No Good Deed | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bob Rafelson |
| Produced by |
Barry M. Berg David Braun |
| Written by |
Christopher Cannan Steve Barancik |
| Based on | "The House on Turk Street" by Dashiell Hammett |
| Starring |
Samuel L. Jackson Milla Jovovich Stellan Skarsgård |
| Music by | Jeff Beal |
| Cinematography | Juan Ruiz Anchia |
| Edited by | William S. Scharf |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country |
Germany United States |
| Language | English |
No Good Deed is a 2002 crime thriller film directed by Bob Rafelson, his last feature film to date. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Milla Jovovich, Stellan Skarsgård and Doug Hutchison.
The screenplay by Christopher Cannan and Steve Barancik is based on the short story "The House on Turk Street" by mystery author Dashiell Hammett. The original music score is by Jeff Beal.
The film was marketed with the tagline "He was more than a cop. She was more than a thief." It was entered into the 24th Moscow International Film Festival.[1]
Plot
Jack Friar (Samuel L. Jackson) is shown practicing Johannes Brahms' Trio #1 in B Major, Op.8 and injecting himself with insulin. His neighbor arrives and begs him to retrieve her daughter, who has been staying with her disreputable boyfriend on Turk Street. Friar protests that he is just a grand theft auto cop, and she needs to report the case to missing persons.
Friar shows the picture of the boyfriend to several people with no luck. As it begins to rain, he notices an elderly woman, Mrs. Quarre (Grace Zabriskie), who slips on her porch steps as she's carrying groceries. He runs to help her, and once inside, he meets her husband Thomas (Joss Ackland), and they make Friar a cup of tea. As they are sitting in the living room, Friar explains who he is looking for and reaches for the picture in order to show it to the Quarres. However, it blew away as he helped Mrs. Quarre with the groceries, and as he fumbles for it, Hoop (Doug Hutchison) emerges and points a gun to his head.
The Quarres seem to be innocent quasi-hostages, much like himself, but it is later revealed that Thomas, who flew during the Korean War, will fly a plane for them. Hoop appears to be the near psychotic muscle man. The femme fatale is revealed to be a woman named Erin (Milla Jovovich) who is involved with the ringleader Tyrone (Stellan Skarsgård). When Tyrone is in the garden at one point, Erin and Hoop talk about running away together after their crime has been committed.
Tyrone dispatches the Quarres to the airfield where they are to prepare a small plane for their escape to the Caribbean. He assigns Erin to stay at the house and guard Friar. She points out that David will expect to see her at the bank, but Tyrone insists that he can handle David. Tyrone and Hoop leave for the bank.
Tyrone and Hoop decide to go to David's house and ambush him. Meanwhile, on Turk Street, the lack of food has made Friar pass out. Erin realizes he is a diabetic and tries to revive him by dripping orange juice into his mouth. Out of desperation, she grabs his keys and wallet and drives his car to his apartment, where she finds his insulin in the refrigerator.
Erin comments on the packed bags that she noticed at Friar's apartment, and she reveals that she brought his cello back with her. He clearly has fallen for Erin, but the extent is unclear. He allows her to tie him up again, presumably so she will not be killed by Tyrone.
David insists on being alone with Erin, who coyly tries to hew to the plan that she leave with Tyrone for the Caribbean, returning for David in a few days. He wants to go with them, but Erin points out that he can't be seen with Tyrone ever again, promising that she'll return for him. David says, "Enough promises", and the two of them make love for the first time.
The couple realized that they were being abandoned and want their cut of the bank money. As Mr. Quarre tries to take the disc from Tyrone, his shotgun goes off, killing Mrs. Quarre. Mr. Quarre is heartbroken and kills himself with her pistol.
Friar convinces Tyrone, who is clearly averse to shedding blood himself, that as a cop, he can help them with their escape plan. Tyrone reveals that the $10 million has been transferred into multiple banks around Albany in smaller amounts which won't attract the attention that the original sum would. The trio spend the morning going to the various banks withdrawing the funds in cashier's checks.
Friar has to choose whether or not to turn Erin in, since only he knows if she was a hostage or a conspirator. She reminds him of how they almost kissed and says that they've each got their $1 million share of the cashier's checks which they could use to run away together.
Main cast
- Samuel L. Jackson as Jack Friar
- Milla Jovovich as Erin
- Stellan Skarsgård as Tyrone Abernathy
- Doug Hutchison as Hoop
- Joss Ackland as Mr. Thomas Quarre
- Grace Zabriskie as Mrs. Quarre
- Jonathan Higgins as David Brewster
- Shannon Lawson as Amy
- Robert Welch - Willy
Awards
Bob Rafelson was nominated for a prize at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2002.
See also
References
- ↑ "24th Moscow International Film Festival (2002)". MIFF. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
External links
- No Good Deed at the Internet Movie Database
- No Good Deed at AllMovie
- No Good Deed at Rotten Tomatoes
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