Review: Safe House

in

Safe HouseIt's hard to imagine a movie starring an ass-kicking Denzel Washington and a non-comedic Ryan Reynolds would be something of a chore to get through, but Safe House is at times. It's not really the actors' fault, though. When you've got a story that isn't the most original, and therefore has to be filled with cliche after cliche, you can't really end up with anything other than just an okay film that has a few good fleeting moments and that's about it. It's not to say that Safe House is terrible, because it's not -- it's a more than competent effort from a director at the helm of his first American feature. Daniel Espinosa even proves here that he directs action very well.

Matt (Reynolds) is a young C.I.A. officer who hopes to one day be an active duty field agent. For now he's been relegated to being a "housekeeper" of a South African safe house, meaning he spends hours upon hours in an empty building that the C.I.A. might one day use, but usually never will. On this eventful day, a known international fugitive and former agent Tobin Frost (Washington) has turned himself in to the C.I.A. in order to escape some people trying to kill him. This is the first action Matt has seen, and Tobin Frost is his responsibility, but there seems to be nobody Matt can trust, not even the C.I.A.

Ryan Reynolds is certainly not out of his element in Safe House, but the movie missed the mark by not allowing his sense of humor to come through. Reynolds is certainly capable of holding his own in an action film, but when he isn't being funny while doing it, he comes off as stiff and unnatural. Of course, the argument can be made that that was the way the character was written -- trouble is, the film isn't that deep. Denzel Washington is an unrelenting badass, yeah, but he's not doing anything here that you haven't seen in any Tony Scott film that Washington has been in. Speaking of Tony Scott, it's clear that his visual style served as an influence on the look of the film, which should please fans of films like Man on Fire and The Taking of Pelham 123.

In the end, Safe House isn't a terrible or a bad film. However, it's nothing you should rush out to see unless you're a big fan of either of the leads. It's the same type of government-is-evil-the-bad-guy-isn't-evil type of film you've seen before. But the movie includes enough good car chases, fights, and well-shot action to be a passable 115 minutes in theaters.