Safe House: Too Many Shades Of Gray (A CherryOnTop Review)

7 out of 10 cherries

Safe House is the upcoming espionage thriller that should have it all. It’s got the mighty Denzel Washington as Tobin Frost, a legendary CIA agent gone rogue. It’s got Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, Buried) as fresh-faced rookie Matt Weston, doing his first stint as the “housekeeper” of a CIA safe house in Cape Town. It’s got a dynamite cast, a master cinematographer (Oliver Wood of the Bourne spy series) and a gorgeous South African setting. It’s even got a rather timely political theme: the security of state secrets. So why hasn’t Safe House got more zing?

When fugitive agent Tobin Frost ends nearly a decade underground by showing up at the U.S. consulate in Cape Town, the CIA figures something major is afoot. Frost is taken for interrogation to a safe house, which quickly turns out to be not so safe after all. “Housekeeper” Weston tries to keep a handle on his unruly “house guest” as they escape their mutual attackers and as the lines begin to blur between friend and enemy in the world of international espionage.

Safe House possesses all the elements of a great film, yet it seems to muddle about at the level of “well-made.” How can that be? It’s certainly not the fault of the leads; Washington and Reynolds make a dynamic duo. Frost shifts effortlessly from acting Weston’s sheepish captive to becoming his most dangerous foe—and his wisest mentor. Safe House is the English-language directorial debut of Swedish up-and-comer Daniel Espinosa, and screenwriter David Guggenheim is a relative newcomer too, but they do a solid job. If the film is kind of a bummer, it’s because it’s extremely, unflinchingly realistic—unpleasantly so. And you never get relief from the oppressive sense of paranoia.

Safe House is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for the WikiLeaks generation. Tobin Frost uses his old CIA connections to trade in secrets, and his latest deal is a doozy. He’s a master spy, a cunning interrogator and a formidable combination of brain and brawn, but he’s neither a hero nor a villain. You don’t know if you like or trust Frost, but you don’t like or trust the CIA either: As soon as Frost arrives in the safe house, off go the security cameras, and an interrogation team led by Daniel Kiefer (Robert Patrick) proceeds to waterboard Frost. (And yes, Denzel actually agreed to be waterboarded for the filming; it’s the real deal.) Safe House makes the Cold War tale Tinker Tailor seem idealistic and rosy in comparison to the grim covert world of today.

The action sequences, too, are brutal, starkly realistic and hard to watch. In one of the most stunning fight sequences of Safe House, Weston confronts another young CIA “housekeeper” at a safe house, Keller (Joel Kinnaman). Frost, handcuffed in the bathroom, can only look on, a passive observer of the death of innocence. The scene is beautifully filmed, yet totally devastating.

Safe House, true to its tag line (“No one is safe”), is overrun with untrustworthy characters. Even Weston lies with disturbing ease to his dreamy French girlfriend Ana (Nora Arnezeder). Be that as it may, the cast really deserves recognition for portraying so many shades of gray so well, including the stateside CIA team with Vera Farmiga, Sam Shepard and Brendan Gleeson as Weston’s mentor, and Fares Fares as Vargas, leader of Frost’s unnamed enemies in Cape Town.

Safe House hasn’t got the glossy technological flair of the Bourne and Mission Impossible series, and it lacks the majesty of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Although Denzel manages to wring out some dark chuckles with Frost’s reactions to Weston’s rookie moves, Safe House is quite serious and oppressive. It’s pretty much the antithesis of the James Bond films, which are as reassuringly, comically heroic as you can get. Still, Safe House is a smart film, even a bold one, and it’s undeniably well-made. It’s just not that fun to watch the death of innocence.

- Elisa Mader
Twitter: @ElisaMader

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February 11th, 2012 | Dan | Comments Off |