Two previews played before the advance screening of “Safe House” this week. They gave a good indication of where the action flick is now.
Movies are often marketed with an emphasis the talent involved in them. But “Battleship” is sold to us on the basis of the toy company who owns the property: “From Hasbro, the company that brought you Transformers,” the trailer trumpeted.
Matt Damon seems done with the Bourne franchise, but it will continue without him: Jeremy Renner stars in the upcoming “The Bourne Legacy.” The series helped popularize the quick-cutting action that’s now de rigueur in the genre.
| On screen |
| ‘Safe House’ |
| 2 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds |
| Director: Daniel Espinosa |
| Rated: R for strong violence throughout and some language |
| Running time: 115 minutes |
Against those two trailers, the otherwise uninspiring “Safe House” comes off very well. It’s a mostly by-the-books action film peopled by archetypes of the genre: the bad guy who might not the baddest guy, the everyman who finds himself in a situation over his head.
But it also has action — real action. Not that faked CGI stuff we see in big blockbusters based on toys, and not moves edited so heavily, it’s unclear what’s going on.
We should expect nothing less from Denzel Washington. He’s an old school professional, after all. His star power will make “Safe House” some money — but his work here is restrained, giving his co-star, Ryan Reynolds, a chance to show off some.
Reynolds is Matt Weston, the “housekeeper” of the safe house of the title. But Cape Town doesn’t see a lot of CIA action — until Tobin Frost appears in South Africa. Frost (Washington) is a former CIA agent gone rogue. A special ops team brings him to Weston’s safe house to be interrogated. But agents of the U.S. government aren’t the only ones after him. When a shootout leaves the team dead, Weston is the only man left to hold onto Frost — if he can.
“Safe House” is a kind of cat-and-mouse game that becomes a buddy movie once Weston realizes there’s a mole in the CIA. We know there’s going to be some tough talk, because we’re told Frost is a master of psychological manipulation. As soon as Frost starts speaking, Weston determines to keep him quiet. But as Frost says, “I’m already in your head.”
This is a film filled with lines like, “Everyone betrays everyone.” But the banality of those words almost disappears when Denzel Washington utters them. He’s always charismatic on screen, even when he’s playing an unsavory. Ryan Reynolds could make us forget last year’s mistake, “Green Lantern.” He looks like he’s going to cry when he kills someone. When is the last time you saw a hero with a face like that in an action film?
