If you’re looking for a tearjerker this weekend, Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds is the way to go. In directing this film, Perry surprisingly strayed away from his usual comedic touches and focused on creating a serious and uplifting mood. This was achieved by making sure that the characters and the storyline stayed honest and true to life. He took this to heart even further by stripping off his Madea costume, wig, and make-up in order to show his raw acting skills instead of his past melodramatic hysteria.
In his most personal film to date, Tyler Perry plays a character named Wesley Deeds who seems like he has it all. He is a fifth-generation Ivy League legacy who inherited his father’s successful computer-software company in the booming city of San Francisco. On top of his impeccable resume, he is engaged to a beautiful fiancée, Natalie (Gabrielle Union). However, Deeds is unhappy about his “perfect” life because he feels it to be routine and predictable. His wealthy and powerful parents groomed him to be in the position he is now.
On a socioeconomic level, Lindsey Wakefield (Thandie Newton) lives in a completely different world than that of Wesley Deeds. She is a homeless single mother who tries to make ends meet for her young daughter by working as a night janitor in Deeds’ office building. You can say she is in an unhappier position than her wealthy counterpart, Wesley.
Their lives are jolted when fate brings them together. In multiple instances, Deeds notices the struggles that the single mother and her daughter go through. Out of the goodness of his heart, he helps Lindsey get back on her feet. This sudden good deed sparks something he never felt before and he begins to have an attraction towards her; their relationship further deepens and he has to choose which life he wants to live. This romantic twist will have the audience thinking, “His future isn’t as predictable as he once thought.” Thandie Newton and Tyler Perry deserve applause for their performances in this film.
Good Deeds embodied the themes of “family, responsibility, and caring for one another.” A lot of people will relate to this movie for many reasons whether it is because they are living the lives they don’t want or they desire for a new change. His movies have always uplifted the audience and given them hope in the face of adversity. This film didn’t fail to do so either.
Nice review, Ha Young! I have a few tips, though. You mention that the movie is a tearjerker in your opening sentence, but you don’t explain why elsewhere in the review. Also, your review would have been even better if you could have gone more in depth about Newton and Perry’s performances and why you think they were praiseworthy. (: