Saturday, June 2, 2012

SAFE HOUSE

Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds
Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Shepard


"No one is Safe"




Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a young CIA agent in charge of a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa. His boring routine consists of checking into the highly secured facility and answering phone calls. Until, he gets word that a former rogue CIA agent named Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) will be brought to the safe house for 'questioning'.

But things go terribly wrong as a bunch of heavily armed men invade the supposedly secure place to get hold of Tobin Frost. It seems that Frost is in possession of a list that contains corrupt agents. Left with no options, Matt helps the fugitive escape until he can be relocated to another secret location.

There is where this action filled spy thriller takes off with a loud blast. Shot in South Africa, the beautiful landscapes from the densely populated ghettos to the very urban metropolis provided an excellent backdrop to the fast paced flow of the plot.

Most of the action stems from the car chases, the explosions from combat scenes as bullets and gun fires are exchanged between the good guys and the villains. Well that is if you can figure out who the *real* bad guys are given that some of the scenes were shot in dark places with a hand held camera that was so shaky, I had to close my eyes, several times.

The inventive plot pulsates from the high level cover up, the betrayal amongst agents to a damaging list that threatens intelligence agencies in every corners of the world. The supporting cast is top notch with believable performances from Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson and Sam Shepard.

Kudos goes to the two main actors who make a good team from every angle. Washington brings the intensity and experience. He shows us once again how impressive he can be by playing lead as well as protagonist roles. And as Tobin Frost he was vicious, ruthless yet quite smart without being overbearing.

While Ryan Reynolds brings youth and inexperience playing a rookie agent with a solid backbone. He, too is equally equipped to play a wide variety of roles without breaking into sweat. He can be a romantic lead. He can also do the action hero. He can make us laugh with his comedic roles. Quite impressive for someone very young!

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