Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA field operative without any emphasis on the second bit. Stuck monitoring dials and screens that don’t move, watching phones that don’t ring and lights that never flash, Weston wants a transfer out to be where the action is.
Be careful what you wish for.
After years of nothingness the phone in the usually sleepy Johannesburg safe house agitates to life with the news that the storage facility will finally be needed, if only for a short while.
The temporary inmate is Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), himself a former CIA operative who has been on the run for some time before inexplicably strolling in to the US consulate. Frost is a big get for the agency, and they want him on ice until he can be extradited to the United States.
There is a short scene where Frost’s former colleagues try to shake him down, before one and all are rudely interrupted by several heavily armed men, men that want Frost for themselves.
With most of the CIA down and the bad guys moving in, Weston is faced with fleeing or staying for certain death. While dead men don’t get promoted Weston still opts for option #2, but decides to take Frost with him. Together the mismatched pair head off to lie low and await contact with the CIA cavalry who will inevitably arrive to save the day.
Of course things can never be that simple.
Back in the USA the CIA are hastily politicking, arse covering and buck passing so that any unwelcome developments cannot be tagged on them. But back in South Africa Matt quickly realises that everyone is either against him, useless, or both.
And the fact that his travelling companion happens to be one of the smartest, most devious and above all most deadly men on the planet doesn’t help. He might as well start gargling with the Ebola virus.
There are numerous shootouts and car chases through the streets and shanty-towns of Johannesburg, which despite Wikipedia telling me it has a population of over 4 million still manages to be small enough that Matt and Tobin run into their pursuers every fifteen minutes or so regardless of how far they ran or drove. It’s more like 3 guys playing Marco Polo in an above ground pool than two guys lying low in a massive sprawling city populated by millions.
Despite having the core element strongly reminiscent of Midnight Run this all seems a bit forced, no amount of “We ain’t so much different, you and me” speeches can convince me otherwise. The action sequences in Safe House are OK and the plot moves well. Washington is his reliable convincing self and Reynolds thankfully dials down his roguish, ‘how funny/deadpan/sarcastic can I be?’ shtick so I can momentarily not hate him, but ultimately the ceiling for this film was always going to be merely decent.
They very nearly made it, and would have if they didn’t obey Denzel’s contract stipulation that regardless how evil and genuinely nasty his character is he must be redeemed by the end of the film somehow. Hollywood just can’t let bad guys stay bad guys – at least if they are played by Big Stars that is.
Final Rating – 6.5 / 10. Paying for a ticket would have been a rip-off, buying the DVD or Blu-Ray a waste of money, but if movies are like shares I would say that now Safe House is on DVD it is reasonably priced as a rental. As a cinematic work it is flawed and generic, as a Saturday night 2 hour guilt free time killer it is near perfect.
In classic action movie form, Safe House is done well to make good use of the famous main characters. The budget, directing and dialogue are all top notch, despite the cliché screenplay. I too find Mr. Reynolds’ campy acting tiresome, so I’m glad he is branching out into a new style. I recommended the Blu-ray to my Dish coworker though. Like many people these days, we both have a home theater so the 1080p picture and superior surround sound is a must.