No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (2020 Lifetime)
Cast: Michelle Borth, Mark Rendall, Cristina Rosato, Noah James Turcotte
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
Karen never planned on being a hero. A recent widow, she has her hands full with work and parenting her son Max. Then Karen saves Jeremy’s life during a drug store robbery and quickly discovers that the young man is intent on paying her back at any cost. At first, life starts improving for this good Samaritan, but as Jeremy’s efforts become more extreme, Karen begins to wonder if no good deed truly goes unpunished.
Thoughts
Karen, brunette wearing a trenchcoat, is shopping at a drugstore while talking on the phone to her wine-sipping sister in law, Sophie. A creepy man, named Jeremy, is at the pharmacy waiting for his prescription when a robber holds up store for fentanyl patches. Things escalate pretty quickly, and the robber pulls out a gun and is shot down by the police. Karen Saves Jeremy by pushing him out of the way of a bullet. I think Karen may be a superhero?
After the robbery, Jeremy asks the police to give him her information to thank her for saving his life. They obviously say no, and Jeremy goes back to his disheveled (but fantastic location!) apartment and calls his therapist.
At work, Karen is experiencing some PTSD. A balloon pops, and she is floored with anxiety. Meanwhile, Jeremy wanders the neighborhood looking for Karen. As luck would have it, she pulls into her driveway right as he is walking by. He startles her, and then he creeps her out by oversharing. He meets her son, Max, and sister in law and insists on sharing a meal. Karen reluctantly agrees.
Sophie doesn’t think it is weird that Jeremey wants to take Karen out. What is weird is that Karen has a gay hipster tenet named Calvin who refuses to pay rent. Karen has been trying to make ends meet since her husband passed away from cancer. She is up for a big promotion at work, and the clients love her. What is her job? I have no idea, and I couldn’t care less.
Lunch turns into a decent looking picnic, and Jeremy is awkward as ever. Saying things like:
“Your wish is my Tartar?” The not date isn’t all bad. We learn that Jeremy is retired at 35. He founded a tech start-up show company and got bought out by his partner. Lance, Karen’s douchey co-worker, interrupts and steals some almonds. Lance is up for the same promotion as Karen. Jeremy pretends to have to use the bathroom and installs malware on Lance’s work computer to get back at him. Lance still gets the promotion over Karen.
Things get even creepier when Jeremy stalks Max outside of Karate and promises to give him new sneakers… but they are in his apartment. Sophie was supposed to pick Max up, but Max calls her to say he is going over to “a friend’s house.” Max and Jeremy play video games. Afterward, Jeremy brings Max home, and Karen is confused as to what the hell is going on. She isn’t mad about this, Karen seems to be happy that her son and a grown-ass man are friends. Karen instead goes off on Sophie and blames her???
Max gets bullied at school, and they take his shoes. The principal calls Karen, and she can’t pick up Max and can’t count on Sophie… so she resorts to Jeremey. They get ice cream, work on homework together, and Jeremy takes some time to do a little snooping. (and installing camera surveillance on the family laptops.) He finds drugs in Calvin’s room and sheepishly demands Calvin to pay the rent. When Calvin literally pokes him, Jeremy bashes him in the head and drags his lifeless body to the basement and stuffs him in a freezer. Sophie almost catches him.
Jeremy places suspicion onto Sophie by telling Karen that he thinks her sister in law is watching Max while high on marijuana! Then he blackmails Lance into resigning and giving the job to Karen. When Lance doesn’t go for it, Jeremy kills him too and makes it appear to be a suicide. Then Jeremy breaks into the house to get Calvin’s body. Oh, AND he beats up and threatens the kid who was bullying Max. Jeremy is digging himself deeper and deeper.
To take care of Sophie once and for all, Jeremy puts something in her drink and calls the police to report an impaired driver while she takes Max to karate. The cops pull Sophie over and take her into custody. Karen visits Sophie in jail and isn’t hearing it when Sophie blames Jeremy.
Karen gets a promotion, and Jeremy wants to celebrate. Karen starts getting Max ready and finds a tracker in his sneakers. Karen tells Max to stay in the house and don’t open the door for anyone. Then she calls Jeremy to pretend that Max is missing, so Jeremy will track her down in the park.
When Jeremy finds the tracker, he is surprised to find Karen. Karen tells him that she never asked Jeremy to do any of the crazy things. She tells him that she is going to go to the police. Jeremy tries to explain himself, but Karen cuts him off from her and her family. FINALLY.
Jeremy calls his therapist and finally gets a hold of her. The therapist tells him to stop calling her; he isn’t her patient anymore. Without mental health professionals to monitor him, Jeremy hires the robber from the beginning of the movie to break into Karen’s home so he can save her.
Karen finds Calvin’s body but hears a commotion upstairs. It is the robber, and he has Max in a chokehold while at gunpoint. This escalates again. The robber turns on Jeremy and really tries to kill Max and Karen. They jump out of a window to safety. Jeremy watches on helplessly.
Karen and Max are driving to their new life without the mentally unstable Jeremy. They see a car stranded on the side of the road, and Karen wizzes on by. “Too soon!” she says as the credits roll.
Side Note
Also known as “No Good Deed.”
Not No Good Deed the better movie with the same name starring Taraji P. Henson and Idris Elba.
Not one POC in this movie.
Nothing gets resolved here. I feel like the whole movie was leading up to this lame bit at the end. It is an unsatisfying ending.
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Overall rating
🔪(1 Knife)
🍷🍷🍷🍷 (4 glasses of wine required.)
*Photo Credit: © 2020 Lifetime
