During a pivotal sequence in Safe House, Denzel Washington's character is subjected to
waterboarding. Washington himself did multiple takes where he was given the
controversial torture method for several seconds. Some snide film critics will
suggest watching Safe House is akin
to receiving the Guantanamo Bay treatment. No, Safe House is merely guilty of unremarkable mediocrity.
Ryan Reynolds is Matt Weston, a young CIA agent tasked with
minding a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa. His job as a glorified house
sitter doesn't sit well with him. Weston urges his handler, David Barlow
(Brendan Gleeson), for an assignment with a little more action. Well, be
careful what you wish for. The agency has recently apprehended the notorious
and awesomely named Tobin Frost (Washington), a rogue agent who has been on
their wanted list for years. Minutes after arriving at Weston's safe house,
armed assailants breach security and kill everyone in the place while Weston
and Frost barely escape.
The screenplay by Davis Guggenheim strings together all the
worst clichés of the post-Jason Bourne spy genre. There's a stale romance
between Weston and his pretty French girlfriend Ana (Nora Arnezeder). Of
course, Ana has no idea that her paramour is a CIA agent and their love is
doomed because of his dangerous line of work. Not only is the story derivative,
but so are the visuals. The action sequences are done shaky cam style. No
surprising since the film was shot by Oliver Wood, the cinematographer for the
first three Bourne films. Due to Denzel's involvement, the hyper kinetic feel,
and the overly saturated color palette, you'd swear Safe House was directed by Tony Scott. But, no, the director is
Swedish-born Daniel Espinosa doing his best Tony Scott impression.
The one redeeming element of Safe House is its ensemble of award winning actors. Vera Farmiga,
Brendan Gleeson, and Sam Shepard all play high ranking CIA officials, filling
in the roles that Joan Allen, Brian Cox, and Scott Glenn played in the Bourne
series. Farmiga really is wasted, especially when you consider she is the
closest the movie has to a strong female protagonist. The supporting cast
includes character actors like Robert Patrick, Liam Cunningham, Ruben Blades, and
Joel Kinnaman, who will be playing Alex Murphy in the upcoming Robocop remake. Each man is a welcome
addition, but the focus is on the antagonistic relationship between Ryan
Reynolds and Denzel Washington. It's clear the filmmakers were gunning for a Training Day dynamic with Reynolds as
the naïve, fresh-faced rookie and Washington as the dangerous loose cannon.
Unfortunately, their interactions are nothing more than a pale imitation of
those by Washington and Ethan Hawke. Safe
House doesn't even have the fun interplay that Washington and Chris Pine had
in Unstoppable. Reynolds, who is naturally
charismatic and funny, is rendered dull as dishwater with a thinly drawn
character with traits we've seen a dozens of times. Meanwhile, Washington
barely registers, despite possessing a commanding screen presence.
Safe House was hit
theaters in February during the doldrums of the Hollywood studio release
schedule. It came out right alongside other formulaic action films such as Contraband and Underworld: Awakening. Despite featuring great actors like Denzel
Washington, Safe House suffers from a
script that is utterly predictable and generic. Still, the film did well at the
box office pulling in $202 million worldwide off a budget of $85 million. If
you're a fan of Denzel and Ryan Reynolds and aren't looking for anything
challenging, you could do worse than Safe
House. Not exactly a glowering recommendation.
Rating: ** (*****)
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