Safe House

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 17th February, 2012 (India)
Time : 115 minutes
Director : Daniel Espinosa ; Writer : David Guggenheim; Music : Ramin Djawadi
Starring : Ryan Reynolds, Denzel Washington, Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Shepard, Ruben Blades, Nora Arnezedar, Robert Patrick

A movie which manages to keep you on knifes edge without really coming up with anything earth shattering / innovative in terms of storyline.

Ryan guards a CIA safehouse in Cape Town and thirsts for some field action. When a rogue CIA agent, Denzel, is caught and brought to the safe house, all hell seems to explode. Ryan and Denzel are the only survivors of the attack and now Ryan has to somehow keep him safe and in custody. Not an easy task as wave upon wave of attacks come their way and Denzel is quite keen to go his own way and make money by selling secrets.

The film, shot mostly around Cape Town, throws up some stunning locales (there is one aerial shot in particular of a car driving through the fields that is simply spectacular). Ryan essays his part of a rookie agent, fresh on the job pretty well and the interactions between him and the veteran Denzel are very good. Denzel does what he does best, combining a soft spoken philosphers role with some brutal sporadic action. The fine ensemble cast does justice to their parts as well and the action is quite intense and very physical.

While it tries to surprise you at different points in time, its not anything you’ve not seen before. Its old wine but packaged well, keeping you on the edge of the seat without quite bowling you over.