The Bourne Identity started a trend in Hollywood. Certainly there had been numerous fast-paced thrillers before with complex plots and loads of shooting, but the Bourne franchise added certain stock characters, plot elements, and even visual filters that have since become commonplace in what I call the "smart-thriller" genre. Some of the films birthed into this trend have been good. Others not so much. Safe House is definitely the second kind.
In short, the plot revolves around Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) as he tries to transport the wanted-by-the-CIA Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) from one government holding facility to another after the first one is compromised. Various people try to help him, various people try to stop him, and government officials wear nice clothes the whole time. It really was as boring as it sounds, and scenes or set-pieces really stick out in my mind.
Safe House tries to be a smart movie. There are government officials explaining plans and other things in fancy jargon, international conspiracies, plot twists, and all the like. Unfortunately, none of it adds up to anything worthwhile. In Bourne (I apologize for all the comparisons to these movies, but the comparison is warranted), the plot is actually pretty interesting. There are a lot of moving parts, complex motivations, cover-ups, and other elements most people didn't see coming. In Safe House, audiences are never treated to such a prize. I saw this movie with my parents while visiting home a week ago, and my mother, one of the most cinematically uninformed people I know (bless her heart), called the "big" plot twist within the first five minutes of the movie. Not once did anything ever catch me off-guard.
By looking at the cast list, one could be forgiven for thinking that raw acting power could make the forgettable plot worth-while. Names like Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, The Proposal), Denzel Washingon (Remember the Titans, American Gangster), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), and Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter) are all normally top-notch. While Washington does everything he can with the unimpressive script and Farmiga and Gleeson are victims of limited screen time, it's Reynolds that left me the most disappointed. I know he has chops for drama from movies like The Nines and Chaos Theory, but he needs to be able to show his, for lack of a better word, "charm." He's a funny guy with great swagger on screen, and that's what he's normally cast to do. Here, he is forced to be scared and concerned the entire time. It's not that he does anything wrong, he just never does anything overly right. I think in this case, as much as I like the guy, someone more used to doing wit-free drama would have been more appropriate.
With all that said, the movie isn't absolutely horrible. When the action does ramp up from time to time, it's done decently well. There are some brutal gunfights, tense vehicle chases, and other elements you can find in any other action/thriller.
All in all, I can only recommend this movie if you're the biggest of Denzel fans. The man does pretty good with what he was given, which might be enough for some. For everyone else, I recommend a rent at absolute most. Like I said earlier, the film doesn't do anything in particular extremely wrong. The script is flat, bit it doesn't really tread into cheesy. The plot is simple, but at least it's understandable. The action isn't top notch, but there are a few cool moments. The movie won't and shouldn't make any "worst of" lists, but time will probably forget it all together in a matter of weeks.
Rating: 4/10 - Amoral
By Quinn Levandoski
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