Good Deeds

Good Deeds (2012) is a movie that I recently watched on HBOMAX. The storyline follows a rich business owner who has an unappreciative fiancée and reckless, angry brother. His life seems perfect but when he meets a down on her luck single mother janitor in his building, he decides to help her out and falls in love in the process. His perfect life is about to take a drastic turn...

This movie stars, is written and directed by Tyler Perry (Diary of a Mad Black Woman) and also stars Gabrielle Union (Bad Boys 2), Thandiwe Newton (Crash), Eddie Cibrian (The Cave), Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show), Rebecca Romijn (X-Men), Jamie Kennedy (Scream 2) and Brian White (Stomp the Yard).

This picture does a great job of depicting a single mother's struggles and Newton delivers a tremendous performance. The characters are unique and the situations are perfectly depicted. The soundtrack is absolutely tremendous. I will say many elements felt unrealistic but still made you smile as they unfolded. The mother and daughter dynamic is well portrayed and the child acting by Jordenn Thompson was impressive. The conclusion was cliche but made me smile.

Overall, the ratings for this are a bit harsh. I would score this a 7/10 and recommend seeing it once.

The ratings are unduly harsh for what is a good movie overall. Some especially good moments all of which included the excellent Thandiwe Newton, always very good in anything she is in. For this film she basically holds it all together and is the stand out performer.

The story is predictable but then it's hard to be totally original when it's all been done many times before.

The story is a simple rediscovery one where the main character has to re-allign values and needs some home truths to help get there. Often people can have so much and yet have no value or worth in life. Stepping back and prioritising a little self over others may be the only way to break free from a rut and achieve true happiness.

My first Tyler Perry movie, and far better than some of the reviewers have made out and well worth at least a 6/10.

I have always liked Thandie Newton and Brian White and they do well in their roles and make them believable, Tyler Perry is solid in the leading role, likewise Gabrielle Union was good in her role as Tyler Perry's characters girlfriend.

The story was predictable from very early on, but still interesting and worth watching. A small amount of violence, but not over done.

Nothing amazing or new for me, but definitely worth watching at least once if you like romantic movies.

I just got through seeing Good Deeds. It was a little better than the rest of his movies but not as good as Why Did I Get Married. This movie did have that same old monotonous theme the rest of his other movies have. Even with that being said this movie was as predictable as a Scooby Doo cartoon. Now that can be said about all of Tyler Perry's movies. Phylicia Rashad, Gabrielle Union, and Thandie Newton did do their thing in this movie but that still couldn't help it. I wish Tyler Perry could come up with more imaginative story lines and make movies where you would have to actually think and be surprised as to what will happen in the movie. I mean my 11 year old step daughter can write a more complex script.

This film is true to Tyler Perry's style in that he always wants to convey positive messages. There were so many messages in this film that I don't even know where to start. The film demonstrates that no matter how much money you have, you can still be unhappy in your own skin. It also made me realize that I should stop gripping about the things that I don't have and consider myself blessed to have what I do because there is always someone out there that has it worse. I am glad to see Tyler Perry (Wesley Deeds) step out of the comedic genre. I think that he was very believable as the romantic lead. I really hope that he continues to expand the types of films that he makes so that he does not become stereotyped as a one-hit-pony. Gabriele Union (Natalie) is always perfection in any role that she plays. I don't think that she gets the credit that she deserves, but I will say that she did a fantastic job hosting the BET honors awards (she is very funny). Thandie Newton (Lindsey Wakefield) pulled at your heart strings in this film. Every time I see a homeless person on the streets I always ask myself, "I wonder how he/she got here". Well, Lindsey answered that question for me in this film and makes me realize that sometimes it is to no fault of the individual. It's just life and things happen. Thandie is like a chameleon transforming from a strong-willed woman in For Colored Girls, to a beaten down struggling women in this film. Brian White (Walter Deeds) reminded me that there are still haters in this world and definitely convinced me that he was the king of the haters. Tyler obviously like working with Phylicia Rashad (Wilimena) because he has cast her in a couple of films with good reason. I don't care how many films I have seen her in; every now and then I get a glimpse of Mrs. Huxtable. Is it just me? The one thing that I have to say about the audience in this theater is that we all reacted the same way at the same time and we did it out loud. I love that! I also have to say that I love this film although it was very predictable. It was just refreshing to see a positive film for a change that conveyed basic life messages. I give this film a green light.