Finally caught Safe House today. I enjoyed it more for what it wasn't than what it was. It didn't try to break the mold in regards to action and espionage storytelling. It was fairly basic, which worked out well because there wasn't a risk of turning off the audience by overloading the twists, turns, and head fakes that tend to dominate a movie like this. It was straightforward, no-nonsense thrills.
Denzel Washington, naturally, was superb. If Morgan Freeman is God, Denzel is Jesus. Ryan Reynolds played against type in this one. No jokes, no arrogant one-liners; just a guy who's trying to do his job and not get killed in the process.
I don't know if it was the lighting or the atmosphere - Vera Farmiga looked terrible. She's usually quite gorgeous. Not sure what's going on there. Brendan Gleeson is welcome to appear in every movie I see from now until eternity. The guy is a joy to watch.
It's always nice to see Ruben Blades in a movie.Where has he been hiding? And can he get a role where he doesn't die for once, please?
Director Daniel Espinosa apparently hopes to be the second coming of Tony Scott, which is partially why I believe Denzel Washington (co-producer of the movie) chose to work with him. The resemblance in style is heavily apparent. He could use some work on his fight scenes. Typical of almost every modern day movie, the action was nearly indecipherable, jumbled, but well paced. David Guggenheim's script was filled with sweet government agency jargon. I got a kick out of that. I felt like I was watching a Greg Rucka novel on screen.
Safe House seemed to play it safe and opted to tell a good, solid story instead of turning the espionage genre upside down and it was more the better for it. Good for a rental.
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