No one is safe. It's an appropriate tagline for “Safe House.”
Denzel Washington ("Unstoppable") is Tobin Frost, a rogue ex-CIA agent on the run for selling intelligence secrets to the highest bidder. When he finds himself cornered in Cape Town, South Africa, he turns himself in to the U.S. Consulate, which leads him to be transferred and interrogated in a safe house guarded by a young, rookie agent, Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds).
Action thriller is a fail-safe genre for Washington and he doesn't disappoint. It's Reynolds (“Green Lantern”), known for his comedic talent in lighthearted romcoms, who surprises the most. When the safe house is stormed by armed thugs, he's left with no one to trust and in charge of the dangerous traitor. Outrageous car chases, brutal hand-to-hand combats, nonstop shootouts, he gets down and dirty with the best of them.
Washington and Reynolds never develop the kind of rapport that we would expect, but their interactions are enjoyable, and frankly, a relief in between the super-charged, high-body-count violence. With choppy cuts and chaotic closeups, sometimes it's hard to tell what's going on.
