Safe House – but for whom? Denzel Washington does it again [MOVIE REVIEW]
Ryan Reynolds in thriller “Safe House.” Photo by Jason Boland
“Safe House,” the rip-roaring film opening this Friday, is an adrenalized, testosterone-laced chase from beginning to end, bolstered by great acting, a credible script and twists and turns that you are too dizzy to see coming.
Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is a former agent now on the CIA’s most wanted list for trafficking in secret intel. Having just made the deal of his life with a British agent, he is surrounded by enemies with a high-powered arsenal who seem to know where he’s going before he does. Someone wants the microchip he has even more than he does. Without other viable choices Tobin does the unthinkable and walks into the American Consulate, turning himself in. The directive from headquarters is to send him to the local safe house. For novice agent Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) this is a dream come true because for the entire 12 months that he’s been assigned to the Capetown safe house, he has done nothing but check equipment and play video games. As has been repeated too often, be careful what you wish for. Soon after Tobin arrives, the secret house is attacked and breached by the same armed men hunting Frost on the street. Following the firefight, the last men standing are Frost and Weston. Weston, clearly outclassed by the legendary Frost, is determined to show his mettle and safely return Frost to his superiors. There’s the rub and there’s the movie.
Denzel Washington is a star, no ifs ands or buts. Few or any can match his portrayal of complex bad guys (“American Gangster,” “Training Day”) whose intelligence exceeds all others, undone only by their massive egos and sense of immortality. Here, Tobin Frost is even more complex, revealing little about himself other than a loyalty for those who have stood beside him. Washington’s implacable face reveals nothing and yet reveals everything. He is the proverbial wily fox running the farmer in circles.
Ryan Reynolds, so effective in lighter fare, has yet to fully succeed as that action hero young men crave to be. That craving has ended because as Matt Weston he ably navigates the road from deer-in-the-headlights to super-charged hero in the time it takes to explode a grenade in his safe house. He’s handsome, virile and vulnerable – a hard combination to beat; and he plays off Washington with a chemistry usually reserved for bromance. He makes his metamorphosis from nemesis to ally something tangible for the audience.
Sam Shepherd as the CIA Deputy Director in charge of operations and Brenden Gleeson as Weston’s case officer are believably complex characters. Less believable is Vera Farmiga as a CIA branch chief. Lacking the heft for the role, she is not helped by her delivery of by-the-numbers expositional dialogue; my only real complaint about the script. Ruben Blades, playing Vilar, a counterfeiter and Frost’s friend of long-standing, reminds us of how much we miss seeing him on the big screen. Nora Arnazedar as Weston’s girlfriend is sweet, if one dimensional, in a totally disposable role, no doubt intended to throw a bone to the distaff audience and meant to add sensitivity and ambivalence to Weston. Instead, her character serves to momentarily slow the action – not a good thing in a thriller.
Written by David Guggenheim, “Safe House” made the list of acclaimed unproduced scripts (the Black List) in 2010. Attracting the attention of Washington and Universal Pictures, it did not remain unproduced for long. Somewhat reminiscent of the film “16 Blocks,” in which a cop needs only to get his criminal charge to the courthouse 16 blocks away, a deceptively difficult task, Guggenheim has etched out his own pathway, front loading the stakes and blurring the lines between the good guys and the bad guys.
Directed with flare, style and lots of noise by Daniel Espinosa, the acclaimed Swedish (yes, I said Swedish) director of cult hit “Easy Money,” Espinosa marks his territory as the next great action thriller director. Espinosa’s pacing is breathtaking; if there are gaps in the story you will not notice, as the action is heart-thumpingly non-stop with some of the best and most terrifying car chases since “The French Connection” and “Bullit.” Espinosa thrillingly weaves impossible situation into impossible situation, maneuvering his players like a chess game on steroids to an ending that should be satisfying to all. He’s a master and we’re sure to hear more from him.
Opening Friday, Feb. 10 at the ArcLight Beach Cities, AMC South Bay Galleria 16, the AMC Del Amo 18 and the AMC Rolling Hills 20. ER