With Good Deeds multihyphanate Tyler Perry continues to push a brand that has been met with staunch criticism in its perpetuation of racial stereotypes. Not helping his cause are the decisions he’s made in a writer-producer-director capacity (calling them bad films is too easy a cop out). However, his last few outings have been devoted to sequels (the egregiously titled Why Did I Get Married Too?), more Madea (Madea’s Big Happy Family – because grown men in drag is still a laugh riot, right?), and his own attempt at making a prestige flick (For Colored Girls). So it was a surprise to see him rein it in and make a soft feature, albeit one filled with more of the same soap opera hysterics we’ve come to expect.
To its credit, Tyler Perry’s latest is an original work that for the first time has Perry in a leading role (consider it a warm up for his lead in the upcoming I, Alex Cross, based on the James Patterson novel). As the perennial good guy in his non-drag performances, he presents a situation that borrows a chunk from The Pursuit of Happyness and infusing that with a love story involving a member from the one percent and a ninety-nine percenter. Keeping the screaming dramatics to a minimum, he has made his least repellent feature to date that is schmaltzy and sentimental at times, reminiscent of the films that Frank Capra used to make.
Wesley Deeds (Tyler Perry) seems to have the perfect life. But it is more tightly ordered and constricted than a woman wearing a corset. That’s because of his domineering mother (Phylicia Rashad). Steered into running the family business after his father’s passing, Wesley is forced to deal with a number of problems involving his aloof fiancée Natalie (Gabrielle Union), and his disturbingly tense and riled brother Walter (Brian J. White). To add some disorder to Wesley’s predictable life is Lindsey (Thandie Newton playing pretend homely), the office night janitor who’s recently become homeless. Fearing for the welfare of her six-year-old daughter Ariel (Jordenn Thompson), Lindsey struggles to retain her sanity, trying to not let her proud attitude waver in the face of adversity. Wesley hopes to assuage her concerns by offering her temporary residence (not on his couch to rile suspicion from his fiancée but rather a corporate apartment). At the same time he enjoys her nonchalant honesty even their first encounter where she speaks to him with terse words believing the Mr. Deeds that operates the Deeds office complex to be some “old white guy.”
With a wedding date fast approaching and the company’s sustainability on the line, Wesley must choose to live his tightly-constricted, mundane life or feel liberation at the expense of forgoing what’s expected and doing something entirely different.
Since 2006, Perry’s directorial output has grown to eleven films. From adapting his written plays to making original works Perry’s modus operendi is in producing spirituals often involving inhumane characters that are prone to violence as a means of resolution. However with Good Deeds, Perry tones down the violent outbursts to allow for conversations at a normal decibel level. The connection that Wesley and Lindsey have is highly unlikely but works in an ugly-duckling-meets-Prince-Charming kind of way. As polar opposites, there’s a perfect situation forming as Wesley wants children while is fiancée does not, and Lindsey is in need of a father figure for young Ariel after her husband’s passing. Outside factors like dealing with his insolent brother and “important” life concerns has Wesley perturbed all the while reminiscing about his younger days where he loved riding Harleys and dreaming about seeing the world. Like the title implies, the charity that Wesley Deeds offers brings two people together while also confusing and challenging matters.
Placing an emphasis on tender moments instead of a vociferous inferno of screen chaos involving multiple parties, Good Deeds offers some touching scenes, especially those including young Ariel, whose precociousness and smile is likely to illicit quite a few “Awww” moments from the audience. If only Perry could tighten up the need for long, drawn out exposition. The story seems to hit a lull before the screen rage picks up in the third act.
Wearing so many hats, it’s easy to pick some of the instances where a better script supervisor was needed. Such abnormalities include a reserved parking nameplate for Wesley Deeds spotted as “Reserved Parking, Wesley Deeds” in one shot to “Reserved Parking 1″ in another. Another inconsistency is hearing how Jamie Kennedy in a supporting role has never met Natalie’s fiancée, yet in another scene Kennedy and Wesley seem to have a well-established history.
As much as it is easy to pour on the Tyler Perry hate, he at least is trying to bring attention to black actors and actresses (film quality notwithstanding). And the man is a hell of a salesman able to work with the likes of Angela Bassett (who was recently featured in This Means War in a no-nothing role), Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates, and Viola Davis. He even got Dwayne Johnson to do a walk-on cameo. Extra credit must be given to Perry bravery’s in using a cover version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and Richard Marx’s hit “Right Here Waiting,” the latter of which closes out the movie in similar fashion to John Hughes’ Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Director: Tyler Perry
Notable Cast: Tyler Perry, Thandie Newton, Gabrielle Union, Brian J. White
Writer(s): Tyler Perry
