Safe House

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Shepard, Robert Patrick, Liam Cunningham
Directed by: Daniel Espinosa
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An inexperienced CIA agent (Ryan Reynolds) is tasked with looking after a dangerous rogue agent (Denzel Washington) after the safe house is hit and all the other agents killed.

Review:

Tim: Safe House is a film that is directed right at my demographic. I love Denzel Washington, and this is certainly a film that fits in his wheelhouse. Plus, pairing him with a younger male costar has worked very well in recent years (see Training Day or Unstoppable). Unfortunately, the whole affair just feels redundant. The movie comes across as lazy and forgettable, and I was very surprised I didn't care for it all that much. When a movie like this doesn't hit the mark, that is a big disappointment for me.

As a huge Denzel Washington fan, I have to continually ignore his very one-note acting choices. He almost always plays a cop, military guy, or some variation of that. He has done this over and over again to great success and acclaim, and it seems like he's content on continuing down this path forever. That is usually fine with me, but it does get a bit tiresome. Usually, the film does something unique or original enough to make the movie feel fresh and different (Deja Vu, for example). Unfortunately, that was not the case here. This is a poorly made movie that does everything in a lackluster way.

We've seen Washington play villanous characters before, and in those movies, his character was significantly more interesting than it is here. Tobin Frost should have been such a memorable, incredible character, but I just felt completely bored with him. He's supposed to be this brilliant, deadly assassin, but his behaviors never seem to back that up. He's cornered by enemies so has to turn himself into the U.S. Embassy. He's routinely one-upped by an inexperienced CIA agent. He acts in ways that allow the bad guys to close in on him. Nothing about his actions impressed me in the least. This is incredibly disappointing, and makes the character bland and forgettable. This is a huge reason why the movie fails.

Ryan Reynolds isn't much better. His character feels far too one-dimensional, and I never really believed in his motivations or cared about him in the least. We're given the token love interest and a reason he needs to prove himself, but the whole thing feels so by-the-numbers that it was hard for me to take any interest in it. The story is incredibly predictable, besides the occasional "twist".

The supporting cast is a bit better. I always enjoy seeing Brendan Gleeson, and he does at least decent work here. His character was poorly written, which hurts. I like Vera Farmiga, and she is fine in a small role. It's always fun to see Sam Shepard on screen, and I really liked Robert Patrick's character. I just wish he had more to do. As far as the supporting characters go, there is an impressive line-up of talent, but unfortunately, none of them are able to make a lasting impact on the film.

I blame a lot of this film's issues on director Daniel Espinosa. It's no surprise that Espinosa is fairly early in his career, because his inexperience shows continually throughout the film. There's a lot of action scenes, but they are almost instantly forgettable. Action has really matured on screen in recent years (look at the Bourne movies for example). It comes across here as bland, too many quick cuts and mindless gunfire. There's rarely any real excitement or suspense. None of the action comes across as anything we haven't seen numerous times before. The film does try to throw us off by giving a few "twist", but they are far too predictable. I mainly shrugged at these moments because the story hints too aggressively at these moments. There was nothing special about the film.

Now, I don't want you to think I hated Safe House, because I did not. Denzel Washington working with a weak character is still Denzel Washington, and that's something I always enjoy watching. The pairing of Washington and Reynolds was interesting, and while it didn't work as well as with Ethan Hawke or Chris Pine, it was genuinely fun to see these two actors on screen together. The movie at least holds most of our attention throughout. While this isn't a great movie and really couldn't even be called a good movie, it was at least decent entertainment. I'd probably watch the film again, although with expectations far lowered. Still, decent movies are made all the time, and no one involved in this film was shooting that low- this is a disappointment.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Training Day, Unstoppable, Deja Vu, The Bourne trilogy, Smokin' Aces