Safe House

The most dangerous man on the CIA's wanted list hands himself into a safe house in Cape Town. Now all the house keeper has to do is keep him alive...

When "Tobin Frost" the man at the very top of the CIA's most wanted list walks into a Safe House in Cape Town to hand himself in, he puts not only his own life, but also the lives of everybody around him in jeopardy as they struggle to keep him alive.

Matt Weston is bored on his detail, knowing he is more qualified than to "House sit" in a beautiful location, but a place where nothing really ever happens. He has a hotline, to one of the big wigs at Langley, but keeps getting told to bide his time, soon something will come up and he will be first on the list. He is told to babysit "Frost", but for some reason, for a house that is not meant to exist in the outside world, his, suddenly is getting a whole lot of attention and his quiet existence is shattered by various would be assassins.

As he struggles to figure out a way to contact his handlers and also stop from dying, he takes his prisoner on the run and the body count mounts as those chasing both him and "Frost" make a last ditch attempt to stalk their prey on the beautiful streets of the South African city.

If "Agent Matt Weston" can figure out who has authorized the hit on his prisoner before its too late, then maybe he can stay alive, but with a secret force and half the CIA on his tail, it does not look good. He will discover that sometimes you don't want to know the answers to certain questions....

The film is an action packed roller-coaster ride from start to finish. Back-stabbing, double crossing and keeps the audience guessing to the very end, who on earth may be behind the ginormous body count. The action takes place on the back drop of the streets of possibly the most beautiful city in Africa, capturing the carnage, while every day life goes on unabated. The story is intricate, but rather decent to watch and will have action fans drooling in their chairs throughout.

Ryan Reynolds returns to the big screen in his first serious role since "Green Lantern" and impresses with a far, far better performance than his last outing. He seems to enjoy the depth that goes along with playing CIA Agent. "Matt Weston", allowing himself to fully embrace the heart-stopping chases and death defying shootouts that he must endure to keep a man, who he doesn't know, alive. His acting is respectable and worth the ticket price, and it would be good to see him in a few more testing roles, he has more to show.

Hollywood legend Denzel Washington is his usual genius with his delivery of the character of the fugitive, "Tobin Frost". An ex CIA Operative, he vanished off the grid and has back-stabbed his country for the past decade, but now needs to know which of his many enemies, wants him dead. This is his first outing since the action squash-buckler, "Unstoppable" in 2010 and it is so good to have a man of his talents back in the driving seat. His grasp of "Frost" is inspired, showing coolness even under the most deadly of pressure, but you imagine that he is always secretly aware of who is trying to do him in. His performance, although not as in depth as the likes of "Courage under Fire" or "Philadelphia" is still inspired and well worth your time.

Irish born Brendan Gleeson has been on an awesome run of late, with such hits as "The Guard" and "Albert Nobbs" to his credit in recent months, comes up trumps once more as CIA Director "David Barlow". The audience will never really know whether to trust the mentor to the lead character; he seems to always have a hidden agenda and may not always be putting the interests of his service in first place. Vera Farminga, does well as fellow CIA agent Cathernine Linklater", one who seems on the level and actually wants to see the situation resolved amicably. Nora Arnezeder does a convincing job as "Ana Moreau", the under fire girl friend to "Matt Weston".

All in all this is a decent film. The pace is good, the plot intricate, but not impossible to follow, while the action is intense and the drama emotive. This is a film that will entertain quite a wide audience demographic and with the South African setting proves that Cape Town is a really viable location for feature films. Keep an eye out for a truly superbly shot scene at a local football game. Well worth your time, but probably not one for the kids

6.5/10