Safe House

Safe House - Dir. Daniel Espinosa (2012)

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: ** (*****)

Source Code

Source Code - Dir. Duncan Jones (2011)

Duncan Jones obviously has a great passion for sci-fi having made a spectacular debut as a filmmaker with Moon, one of the best films of 2009. He must have had a unique childhood as the son of David Bowie, who was like a science fiction character come to life. Not surprising that Bowie was chosen to play an alien in Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth.

While Jones has several original projects in the works, Source Code is based on a script by Ben Ripley, whose only previous credits include Species III and Species: The Awakening. Not exactly an illustrious resume. Jones’ second film follows the trajectory of many new directors. Source Code is a more mainstream movie with a bigger budget and bigger stars. Often times, those aren’t necessarily advantages, but Jones doesn’t fall into the sophomore slump even if Source Code isn’t as strong or thought-provoking as Moon.

Jake Gyllenhaal is cast as Capt. Colter Stevens (an awesome action hero name), an Army helicopter pilot previously stationed in Afghanistan. He is shocked to awaken inside the body of a high school teacher named Sean Fentress, who is on board a Chicago-bound train. Before he can understand what is happening, the train explodes and Stevens finds himself strapped into a capsule where he is greeted by Air Force Capt. Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga). Stevens is a part of a bold new experiment called Source Code, developed by the cold Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright). Source Code isn’t time travel, but it does allow the subject to relive events (eight minutes in length) by building from the final memories of the dead. Everyone on the train was killed by a bomb and another will go off in the city unless Stevens finds the culprit. Disoriented with little information to go on Stevens is hurtled back and forth until he can complete his mission. At the same time, he must also unravel the mystery of how he came to be apart of the Source Code project.

The best way to describe Source Code would be a melding of 12 Monkeys, Memento, and Groundhog Day. There’s also a dash of Quantum Leap thrown in and they even cast Scott Bakula for a brief voice-over cameo. It’s a high concept actioner in the vein of Inception. Unlike Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus, Source Code isn’t bogged down by endless exposition. Its inventor succintly states Source Code involves quantum physics and would take weeks to explain to the layman. There is just no time to science lessons when a nuke is about to kill millions. Honestly, the whole idea doesn’t make a lick of sense if you really think about it, which means the movie has to keep you engaged long enough so that you don’t poke through the plot holes.

At approximately 90 minutes, Source Code moves at a quick enough pace that the audience doesn’t have time to question the very nature of the Source Code. Each “do-over” is varied enough to avoid tedious repetition. The lead characters are well-defined with Jake Gyllenhaal doing an excellent job at playing the idealistic hero. Michelle Monaghan is also good as Christina, a friend of Sean’s who gradually becomes the love interest for Stevens. Warm and sweet-natured, it’s easy to see why he would fall for her. Jones grounds the film’s outlandish plot by focusing on the love story between the two. Both Jeffrey Wright and Vera Farmiga turn in strong performances, despite their brief and clichéd roles. Aside from the main players, the film noticeably lacks a memorable supporting cast. Unlike the comparable Speed, the other passengers on the train lack distinct personalities as such there is a lack of sympathy for their fates and a loss of dramatic tension in the mystery of the bomber.

Source Code has a unique premise and a powerful opening sequence, but features an ending that leaves more questions than it does answers.

Rating: *** (*****)

SPOILER ALERT: Click on comments section for discussion of ending.

Up in the Air

Up in the Air - Dir. Jason Reitman (2009)


”To know me is to fly with me.”

Up in the Air finds itself soaring onto numerous year-end lists as one of the best films of 2009. Does the film deserve to maintain such high altitude? Will I stop using these lame airline puns? The answer to both is yes.

Based on the best-selling novel by Walter Kim, Jason Reitman and co-writer Sheldon Turner have transformed Kim’s skewed take on the corporate world into a low-key dramedy firmly entrenched in today’s economic climate. George Clooney is Ryan Bingham who fires people for a living. Contracted by a company based in Omaha, Bingham flies around the country firing employees when their boss is too chickenshit to it themselves. He never says the word, “fired,” though. Not even, “released,” “terminated,” or “let go.” He simply tells them their “position is no longer available.” As a part-time motivational speaker, Bingham feels he’s helping these people start a new page in their lives.

As for Bingham’s own life, he has no attachments. He rents a sparse, one bedroom apartment which he almost never occupies. He has two sisters that he hardly ever sees. No, his entire life is lived in VIP airport lounges, business class flights, and hotel suites. While in mid-flight, a stewardess asks him, ”Where do you live?”. Bingham answers simply, ”Here.” His main goal is to become one of only seven human beings on the planet to earn 10 million frequent flyer miles. On his travels, he meets Alex (Vera Farmiga) who shares his affinity for elite status. The pair bond over how sexy they find each others’ membership cards. Neither views their relationship as anything substantial, simply an escape.

Bingham’s blissful status quo is disrupted with the arrival of young upstart Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) who plans on making the impersonal even more impersonal. Natalie intends to implement teleconferencing technology in the termination process. Now, you can hire someone to fire your employees through a TV. Bingham is eventually coerced into taking Natalie on the road with him to see how everything is done. Natalie is given a new perspective once it’s given a human face while flabbergasted at Bingham’s cavalier attitude towards personal relationships.

As a modern day Cary Grant, Clooney excels at playing the charming cad with a gift for gab. That talent is display here in a muted fashion mixed with the same world weariness of Michael Clayton. Clooney’s performance truly draws you into the journey of the character, a journey that doesn’t end as you’d expect. Reitman wisely chooses to avoid the easy way out by avoiding a pat, sentimental ending. Instead, the third act climax takes a decidedly left turn, ending the film in an ambiguous manner reflecting the uncertainty of today. Reitman adds an extra layer of resonance by casting real people who have lost their jobs as Bingham’s victims.

As a filmmaker, Jason Reitman has already won me over with his first two films, Thank You For Smoking and Juno. However, Up in the Air is his finest film yet and firm evidence of an assured writer/director whose talents have fully matured.

Rating: ****