By: debbie lynn elias
Long an admirer of Tyler Perry and his works (with a few exceptions), I was curious to see what he would bring us with GOOD DEEDS, a film in which Perry sheds his usual onscreen persona of Madea and her over-the-top hilarity, and presents us with a man who, as I have come to learn, is the closest thing to Perry himself that we have ever seen. My curiosity is well-rewarded as GOOD DEEDS soars with emotion and is without a doubt, the best work that Tyler Perry has done to date; and by work, this includes television and theater, as well. GOOD DEEDS is not only filled with, but is, a beautiful spirit that champions the core values of Tyler Perry – love, family, the ethics of right and wrong, respect and good deeds.
As Wesley Deeds, the buttoned down proper gentleman and CEO of a computer software company started by his father, Deeds is a man who always does what is expected of him, takes care of his mother, his black sheep brother, his employees, his similarly perfect fiancé Natalie, and others in need. The one person who gets neglected, however, is Wesley Deeds himself. Wesley never puts himself first. He is truly, “the good son.” On the other hand, we have his brother Walter. While Wesley is good, kind, thoughtful and generous, despite their privileged and educated upbringing, Walter is crass, crude, rude and disrespectful to everyone and everything around him, including their mother. Walter is the bane of Wesley’s existence, and quite possibly done intentionally given Walter’s anger and jealousy over the company being given to Wesley to run.
Then there’s Lindsey Wakefield. A single mother and former nursing student, Lindsey’s husband was killed in Iraq. Left alone to support and raise their young daughter Ariel, Lindsey was forced to quit nursing school and take a job as a janitor at the Deeds Company. But children are expensive and a job cleaning an office building doesn’t pay that much which puts Lindsey in a financial bind. Literally thrown out of her apartment, Lindsey and Ariel gather up what belongings they can find left on the street and do the unthinkable – they move into their car. Proud, not wanting to take charity but also not wanting to lose her daughter, Lindsey keeps quiet on their situation, that is until Wesley Deeds, himself working late at the office one night, finds little Ariel asleep in a janitorial closet.
Stepping outside the box without the Madea character to hide behind, as Wesley Deeds Tyler Perry just soars. Described by co-star Brian White as “the barest Tyler we’ve seen”, even Perry admits, “This is the closest to me that anybody has ever seen. I can verify it personally. I keep my life separate from the business.” And as for having trepidation about stripping his persona down to “Tyler” for Wesley Deeds, Perry described it to me as “the toughest” thing he’s done. “Are you kidding me? To lose the costume? To lay it out there? That’s tough.” As Wesley, Perry is the man that all aspire to be and hope in their heart to be and as comes as no surprise, despite the stoicism of the character, Perry still infuses a beautiful “wearing of the heart on the sleeve” element that just shines. Particularly effective are several shower scenes where Wesley sits alone, with his thoughts and the water running over him. Hard to see but I imagined there were tears running down his face as he suffered the emotional loss of pursuing his own dreams while privately expressing the weight of being the “perfect son” and always in control. Some truly beautiful and poignant images. Perry proves here that he is more than a one-trick pony.
An actor who has proven there is no role she can’t tackle, Thandie Newton is emotionally luminous as Lindsey. Tough, strong and practical on the outside but filled with vulnerability, fear and a heart of gold on the inside, it’s as if Lindsey was tailor made for Newton. Her range of emotion resonates. She makes you empathize and sympathize, but never with any pity. She makes you feel. And her chemistry with Perry is pure magic. Their hearts are so pure and their connection so real…….the word is magic, beautiful magic. The relationship between Perry’s and Newton’s characters is one of the greatest strengths of the film. As Newton reflects on it, she calls it “a really beautiful relationship. It’s very truthful even though it’s so far fetched in a way – who would expect these two people to ever collide.”
According to Newton, “It’s very easy working with [Tyler]. We have a very natural rapport. I feel very comfortable working with him. And I’m also very aware that he feels very comfortable working with me. That generates a really good feeling between us. That’s quite significant because this was a new kind of role for him. He’s much more used to character acting…and he’s really trying to branch out into more evocative, deeper character work and being a leading man, in a romantic movie, too. His need to get the support from the actors was important. So I felt honored that he reached out to me to be the one to support him with his new endeavor.”
Brian White is perfect as bad son, Walter Deeds. The antithesis of White himself, White makes Walter sullen, resentful, jealous, and does so not only through visual expressiveness but through his dialogue delivery and tonal inflections. And he excels at giving “the evil eye” when repeatedly berated by his mother, “Why can’t you be more like your brother?” Important to White and his creation of Walter was that he and Perry “sat down and talked about the backstory of our two brothers and what had happened in life and what their relationships were like with their father…Wes, Walt and Dad had a tumultuous relationship. In many layers and levels it was deep.” Describing Perry not only as “my very very good friend, but he is my brother”, the realism these two bring will have you believing every second that they are brothers. But going beyond that, was having Phylicia Rashad cast as his mother.
One of America’s most beloved mothers, Mrs. Huxtable herself, Phylicia Rashad, handily fills the shoes of Wilimena Deeds. But don’t look for the warm and fuzzy and kind Claire Huxtable here. In a stunning emotional arc, and something that we see on stage from Rashad but not on film, seeing her here as Mrs. Deeds is a gift. Bringing a stoicism, sense of pride and even some callousness, that is matched in manner and essence and presence by Perry, never for a moment do you not believe that she is mother to both Wesley and Walter. According to Brian White, “After about a half hour of getting over, ‘Oh my God! It’s Phylicia Rashad. That’s Mrs. Huxtable!’”, White noted that “my mom and Phylicia Rashad actually favor each other, aesthetically. It was a real trip for me to not only have it be Phylicia [as my mom] but to also have somebody that looks a lot like my own mother across from me.” What amazed White most about Rashad was “watching her change and descend into…the web she spun. You people have no idea how talented she is; the depth and breadth she can go on either side.”
Stealing the film and everyone’s heart is the adorable Jordenn Thompson. With a 100 megawatt smile, as Ariel, Thompson could met every igloo in Alaska on the coldest day. With most of her screen time shared with Newton and Perry, Thompson has the highest praise for each, describing Newton as “awesome”, “the neatest girl I’ve known” and “fun” while reserving the best comments for Perry. ” He’s such a big shot! He’s so tall. Everytime I talk to him I have to go like this [up on tip toes].”
But let’s not forget Gabrielle Union. Still stunning (does she ever age?), she also brings a stoicism to Natalie that blends beautifully with Perry’s Wesley. But to watch her ‘cut loose’ on screen with real life gal pal, Rebecca Romijin, is so refreshing and of course, a touchstone to “Bring It On”. Interestingly, and obviously done intentionally, Perry carefully crafts the script and dialogue to emphasize the love and respect between Natalie and Wesley while showcasing an element of grace…yes, grace.
Written and directed by Tyler Perry GOOD DEEDS has a beautiful spirit. Still celebrating the core values that Perry brings to all of his material, with GOOD DEEDS your heart is lifted as you watch the story unfold. I know mine was. This is a Tyler Perry we’ve never seen before – either as an actor or storyteller. Goodness and kindness emanate from the screen and permeate the story. This film has a soul, or spirit, and it is truly beautiful. Described by White as “a really personal, vividly told story on Tyler’s behalf for all of us”, GOOD DEEDS is itself, a good deed.
While Perry’s longstanding message and core concept of love and family (effectively demonstrated through a different type of dysfunctional family) is the basis of GOOD DEEDS, he ramps it up a notch bringing a level of grace and great civility to the story and the characters that we haven’t seen in his prior films. He gives us true grace under pressure, grace in business, grace in relationships……..and again, I have to use the phrase ‘beautiful spirit.’ One word that also echos in my mind is “respect.” He goes miles in showing us the beauty of respect and the need for respect. As an example, even though Walter is a black sheep, at all times he is still shown respect by his brother and mother (of course until he becomes a drunken ass and gets his butt whooped in the elevator). And by creating Walter with a stereotypical gutter mouth and attitude, Perry visually shows us the difference between respect and a lack of respect and what happens. It’s as if he takes a piece of paper, folds it on half and writes on one half – This Is What Happens When You Are Respectful – and on the other half, writes – This Is What Happens When You Are Disrespectful. It’s a powerful visual message that Perry boils down to black and white.
Extremely interesting and way outside of the box for Perry is his pushing himself into a romantic leading man – including a very tasteful sex scene between Wesley and Natalie. While impactful, I fear the metaphoric symbolism will be lost on most of the audience. And while it shows Wesley “being unpredictable”, it is also unsettling. Lensed in front of the windows that make up the walls of the glass tower in which Wesley and Natalie live, while metaphorically representing Wesley opening his eyes to the world and also letting the world see him, and by having a raging storm and pouring rain going on outside (like the water in the shower) – my mind kept racing to the window breaking and the two go tumbling 100 stories down to the ground.
In a rare move, Perry also moves the setting of the film from Atlanta and the South, to San Francisco. Shots of the city skyline are great transition tools to show passage of time, but I felt as if there were too many skyline shots. Wesley’s daily change of clothing did the same thing while retaining an intimacy between the audience and the characters. The skyline shots often took me out of the moment – but for a great glimpse of Alcatraz, another metaphoric visual for Wesley’s buttoned up emotional imprisonment.
The accompanying score for the film is simple and eloquent while the individual soundtrack song selections are an emotionally eclectic yet transitory collection.
Tyler Perry has done his own good deed in bringing us GOOD DEEDS. He doesn’t need to hide behind Madea anymore.
Wesley Deeds – Tyler Perry
Walter Deeds – Brian White
Lindsey Wakefield – Thandie Newton
Wilemina Deeds – Phylicia Rashad
Natalie – Gabrielle Union
Ariel Wakefield – Jordenn Thompson
Written and Directed by Tyler Perry.
