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Safe House
Reviewed
by
Felix Staica on
February 12th, 2012
Univeral Pictures presents
a film directed by Daniel Espinosa
Screenplay
by
David Guggenheim
Starring:
Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds
and Robert Patrick
Running
Time:
115 mins
Rating:
M
Released:
February 9th,
2012
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6/10
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Swedish director Daniel Espinosa makes his
Hollywood transition with Safe House,
a Bournesque spy thriller. Though many other big names auditioned for
the lead,
we have Ryan Reynolds as Matt Weston, an eager rookie CIA agent
deployed in
Cape Town at a ‘safe house’. This is essentially an isolated, monitored
apartment where suspects are brought in for questioning and so forth.
Bored by
twelve months of answering calls and looking at screens, he hopes to
secure a
much-wanted position in Paris, much to the delight of his French
girlfriend Ana
(the attractive Nora Arnezeder does not get much screen time). In the
dead of
night, the phone rings. However, it is not his promotion but rather a
‘houseguest’ heading his way. This is no ordinary enemy of the USA.
Enter a scraggly Denzel Washington, as
Tobin Frost, one of the best agents ever, who went rogue nine years ago
but is
now throwing himself at the mercy of America. He has secret info and is
being
chased by some menacing, bearded foes. They break into the supposed
safe house
and agent Weston must avoid them but also shepherd one dangerous guy
until the CIA
can send back-up. This task involves amazing car chases, football
stadiums,
trains and slums. This is a very efficiently edited film, with lots of
sharp cuts
and high-tech gadgetry but it is lacking the Bond chic or lustre of the
Mission Impossible or Bourne
franchises. The focus is on the
individual, and Reynolds delivers great physicality. I think the aim at
a
romance angle is somewhat superfluous and adds useless minutes to the
straining
runtime of virtually two hours. Reynolds and Washington form a great
goodie-baddie chemistry and you start to wonder about the integrity of
those in
power. This is an enjoyable film provided you know what you’re in for.
While
not spectacular, Safe House is good
genre fodder with South Africa as a gritty, unusual backdrop.
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