Good People

I liked this movie. It was realistic fiction that was entertaining to watch. There is excellent acting among all the main characters, and the story line is so believable. The only reason I can not rate it a 10 is that this movie was oh so predictable. As usual, there is no honesty among thieves, which is the premise of this movie. Then, of course, the underdog always wins. The climax of the movie was very reminiscent of "Home Alone," so I knew what was coming the moment that I saw the set towards the end. The predictability is the only reason I can think of the movie having such a low overall rating. However, when watching realistic fiction, extravagant happenings would convert the realistic to ridiculous. It stayed true to it's genre. I would recommend this movie to all movie-lovers, but I would be shocked if it got an Oscar.

"Whenever you find a pot of gold there's always a monster guarding it." Tom (Franco) and Anna (Hudson) are married and struggling. They are weeks away from losing their house and the job market is dry. They are cleaning up an apartment of one of their tenants who died they find a huge bag of cash. After going back and forth on what to do with the bag they decide to just take what they need to keep the house for another month. Little by little they begin to take more but then someone comes looking for the money. Keep in mind when you read this that I watch every movie we order for the store. There are at least 2 movies a month that come out with the exact idea. The only difference this one has is that big name actors are in this. People find a bag of money with like $1 million in it and think what should we do...we will only spend a little of it to help us out. Soon most of the money is gone then they act shocked when someone comes looking for it. I have always wondered if a bad movie can be made good by adding great actors. According to this movie the answer is no. This is still a b-rate overdone movie with better acting. Overall, a movie that has been done so many times that nothing can help the repetition of the plot. I give this a C+.

And what is good anyway? Who defines what actions are good? Or if good people are not capable of doing bad things? And would that make them bad people? Don't get it twisted though: This is not a philosophical look at those things. If you even remotely asks those questions, it's not because the movie intended to make you think that much. It's your own perception that goes that extra mile (or two).

The movie moves along nicely, you can see almost everything coming your way and it's decent, if you're not annoyed by the standard formula this uses. It's nice to see another french actor making the move into "mainstream" Hollywood, even if he's not in it that much. Decent or a time waster, depending on your threshold

A couple of Americans (Kate Hudson, James Franco) experiencing hard financial times head over to jolly old England to make a go of it. I'm pretty sure that makes no sense but we'll pretend in this fictional world that it does. So the couple are renting a room to a drug addict criminal who dies. They find a stash of money in the ceiling and, like everybody in every movie that has used this plot before, they throw common sense out the window and decide to start spending the money. Of course, some bad dudes come looking for the loot. Now the couple is in trouble and the only person who can help them is the dogged detective (Tom Wilkinson) who won't let the case go. Which is pretty much every movie detective ever. As you can see this thing is riddled with clichés and a formulaic plot. To compensate for the lack of originality we have ample doses of violence and a nice ass shot from Kate Hudson.

It's all put together adequately but it's as stale as month-old bread. Stupid people doing stupid things is the backbone of this movie. The best part is the last thirty minutes. Kate Hudson says "Guns are for pussies" because they have rigged their house Home Alone-style to fight the baddies, which is too ridiculous to miss. I love when the one criminal sees the other one impaled and asks "Are you alright?" Priceless. It's worth watching once, I suppose, if you're bored. But most people will have seen this done before and better many times over the years. There are some unintentionally funny moments, which bumps it up a notch.

I like James Franco a lot, however I have comes to terms with the fact that just because he is in a movie does not mean it is going to be a good movie. Fortunately with "Good People" that is not the case.

Right from the get go the movie had my attention, it starts off very well and sets the mood for the rest of the movie. From there it gets a little slow but remains interesting. Then once things pick up again it is pretty entertaining.

I find it hard to rate this movie too high since the story is generic and it doesn't really do any original or new. However it is still a very watchable and entertaining thriller.

6.5/10