No Good Deed Review: Mildly Amusing Acts
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“I think the timing makes perfect sense…. because if you wait three years, then you don’t have to disclose that your son died in the house.”
The 2024 Netflix dark-comedy “No Good Deed” is centered around a couple putting their beautiful family home for sale, and three very different families vying to purchase it. Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano play primary protagonists Lydia Morgan and Paul Morgan, the pair selling their place, and spying on potential buyers visiting the property through hidden cams. While Lydia isn’t keen on leaving, Paul can’t wait to get rid of the house, especially since their financial situation is a mess. Besides, the house holds too many painful memories and secrets…
Eight episodes long, No Good Deed firmly establishes one thing: the Morgans’ house is so desirable that it sparks a bidding war of sorts between three families, each desperate to claim it as their own. Author Dennis Sampson (O-T Fagbenle) and his pregnant partner Carla Owens (Teyonah Parris) love the property, but it’s beyond their budget, prompting Dennis’ mother (Anna Maria Horsford) to offer financial help, with the condition that she moves in with them. Meanwhile, lesbian couple Leslie Fisher (Abbi Jacobson) and Sarah Weber (Poppy Liu) are equally smitten with the house and begin investigating the Morgans’ past. Luke Wilson stars as JD Campbell, an actor from the same neighborhood who is infatuated with the property. He and his manipulative wife, Margo (Linda Cardellini), are willing to go to any lengths to make it their own. Who will ultimately get the house, and what really happened to the Morgans’ son, forms the central mystery of No Good Deed.
Lisa Kudrow’s character Phoebe Buffay was/is one of my favorite sitcom characters; however, it’s hard not to notice the lack of variation in Lisa’s style of acting in No Good Deed. Even though Lydia Morgan is a famous pianist and grieving mother, she feels like an older Phoebe Buffay in an alternate universe. Like Phoebe, Lydia is a bit of a kook who thinks her dead son is communicating with her through objects, and while those elements are funny, Lydia’s grief and denial rarely feel as emotional as they should. Lisa Kudrow simply felt miscast, and there’s no chemistry between her and Ray Romano, who plays her husband. Although, some of their spousal fights, arguments, and sarcastic verbal skirmishes do offer some comedic relief.
If it weren’t for the mystery surrounding how Lydia and Paul’s son died, I would’ve stopped watching No Good Deed midway. The show is slow and nowhere near as funny as one might expect a dark comedy to be. The most entertaining on-screen relationship in the series turns out to be the one between Mikey (Denis Leary) and Paul Morgan. Mikey’s exact connection to the Morgans is kept in the shadows for a while, although it’s clear from his introductory scene that he is blackmailing them over something.
Overall, No Good Deed is a mildly entertaining show about different families grappling with their personal issues, with a generous sprinkling of the kind of drama that goes behind house-hunting & making major family decisions.
Rating: 5 on 10. Watch “No Good Deed” on Netflix.
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