A passable rainy-day thriller driven by a pair of compulsively watchable performances, As Good as Dead holds the unique distinction of featuring saccharin screen beauty Andie MacDowell as a horribly scarred religious extremist hell-bent on avenging the death of her hate-spouting minister husband, and underappreciated character actor Frank Whaley as her psychotic, neck-tattooed sidekick. If those curious casting choices alone aren't enough to peak your interest, perhaps it's worth mentioning that the manipulative cult leader in question is none other than stalwart screen veteran (and original Hannibal Lecter) Brian Cox.
The widow of late cult leader Reverend Kalahan, Helen (MacDowell) is determined to seek revenge against the man who murdered her husband. However, in a tragic twist of fate, Helen, her dangerously unstable son, Jake (Matt Dallas), and their sadistic enforcer, Aaron (Whaley), discover that they may have targeted the wrong man. The more the trio interrogates the terrified Ethan (Cary Elwes), the more apparent it becomes that Helen, Jake, and Aaron may have escalated a situation that no one can walk away from untarnished. As Helen grows increasingly convinced of Ethan's innocence, cold-blooded killer Aaron vows to leave no witnesses and attempts to manipulate Jake into taking his side. Meanwhile, Ethan's estranged wife, Kate (Nicole Ansari-Cox), tries to call Ethan when he fails to pick up their ten-year-old daughter, Sarah (Emma Kantor), at the predetermined time, and drives to his apartment to confront him personally.
With a story that seems to gloss over more than a few pivotal details and a dunderheaded protagonist whose incompetence seems born of lazy screenwriting, the only factors that keep As Good as Dead afloat are the film's highly capable cast and director Jonathan Mossek's talent for maintaining a satisfying sense of momentum once the action gets under way. Fortunately for us, that's just enough to keep the film on the winning side of watchable. Sporting a cane, disfiguring facial scars, and a slow Southern drawl, MacDowell is magnetic whenever she's onscreen, but as the former heroin addict and ex-convict who went up the river for performing an impromptu lobotomy with a Phillips-head screwdriver, it's Whaley who makes the biggest impression. His turn as the wiry, Southern-fried racist whose distinctive "SS" neck tattoo betrays his clean-cut appearance signals once again why the ubiquitous and versatile Whaley is one of the most dependable bit players around. If Brian Cox is wasted in the opening scene and Dallas repeatedly fails in his noble attempts to exude genuine menace, at least MacDowell and Whaley are there to pick up the slack. Apparently having learned an important lesson in restraint following his laughably blubbery appearance in the original Saw, Elwes plays things fairly cool as the man whose guilt remains in question until the bitter end, and although Erez Mossek and Eve Pomerance's slipshod screenplay repeatedly undermines his character's believability, it does a commendable job of keeping us guessing as the stakes get exponentially higher.
Weary channel surfers will likely agree that As Good as Dead offers just enough thrills to warrant giving your calloused thumbs a break from clicking. But while it isn't exactly the kind of sleeper that's likely to have suspense fans gnawing their fingernails down to the knuckle, it's definitely worth a look for Whaley followers in need of a fix, and to see MacDowell make a break from her squeaky-clean image.