Denzel Washington is terrific as an accused traitor who's made plenty of enemies over the last decade.
Denzel Washington, left, and Ryan Reynolds in a scene from the movie "Safe House."
(Universal Pictures)"Safe House" THREE STARS
Rated R for violence, strong language and a brief sexual situation
Running time: 115 minutes
Supposedly Matt Weston is a spy for the CIA, stationed in South Africa. But in reality he’s little more than a glorified housekeeper.
His job is to oversee a “safe house,” a secure, off-the-grid installation where the other agents – the real agents – can hide a friend or brutally interrogate an enemy. Every day Matt turns the key, turns on the lights and waits for the doorbell to ring.
Then one day it does, and all hell breaks loose.
And Matt realizes that his “safe house” isn’t very safe at all, and now it’s up to him to protect the infamous prisoner the CIA wanted to interrogate, and whom everyone else on the street wants to kill.
The story of someone pushed into a high-stakes job he isn’t quite prepared for is a good one, and it’s served a couple of genres. It was particularly useful in “Three Days of the Condor,” a similar spy story that had desk jockey Robert Redford suddenly fighting off assassins.
“Safe House” isn’t quite as smart as “Condor,” but that may be as much a function of our sped-up times as it is of the filmmakers.
Back in 1975, audiences would let a movie like “Condor” slow down for a quirky, ships-that-pass-in-the-night romance, and simply climax with an angry scene of dialogue; now, it’s all just car-chase/gunfight/car-chase, with barely a pause.
That kind of pace can sometimes makes a movie feel like more of an endurance test than a drama, filled with demolition-derby violence and ear-puncturing gunshots.
At least Ryan Reynolds – who seemed to briefly have a big-star window there, post-“The Proposal,” and then slammed it shut with a couple of flops – is likable as Matt. You can imagine him as a passed-over government clerk, if not as the daring young man who joined the Agency.
And Denzel Washington is terrific as the “asset,” an accused traitor who’s made nothing but millions – and enemies – over the last decade. Seen first in a snapbrim hat and goatee, he looks like an exiled jazzman, and his softly chuckling confidence make him a great villain.
Or, maybe not such a villain – as other agents begin to come out of the woodwork and, like Matt, we realize that trust isn’t something we should extend lightly.
Whatever its flaws, the film gives you no chance to get bored. The African locations are fresh and despite a sometimes overly ornate style – like fast flash-forwards that confuse events more than clarify them – director Daniel Espinosa keeps things moving along.
Keeping the pace going, too, are energetic performances from some top actors including Sam Shepard, Vera Farmiga and Brendan Gleeson as spies who mostly watch all this unfold from a safe distance in D.C.
True, there are times when we’re held a bit at a distance, too. Despite all the sound and fury, we don’t get to know our main characters very well, or see them do very much besides run, shoot and fight.
But this is still an exciting, energetic ride. And its tricky plot is the illustration of an old lesson learned the moment one royal scribe stole a peek at another’s papyrus: Trust no one.