Safe House (2012)

A young CIA agent is tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house. But when the safe house is attacked, he finds himself on the run with his charge.

Director:

Daniel Espinosa

Writer:

David Guggenheim

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Tobin Frost
Ryan Reynolds	...	Matt Weston
Vera Farmiga	...	Catherine Linklater
Brendan Gleeson	...	David Barlow
Sam Shepard	...	Harlan Whitford
Rubén Blades	...	Carlos Villar (as Ruben Blades)
Nora Arnezeder	...	Ana Moreau
Robert Patrick	...	Daniel Kiefer
Liam Cunningham	...	Alec Wade
Joel Kinnaman	...	Keller
Fares Fares	...	Vargas
Jenna Dover	...	CIA Analyst
Stephen Rider	...	CIA Analyst
Daniel Fox	...	CIA Analyst
Tracie Thoms	...	CIA Analyst

Storyline

Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA rookie who is manning a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa, when Tobin Frost ('Denzel Washington' ) the CIA's most wanted rogue agent is captured and taken to the safe house. During Frost's interrogation, the safe house is overtaken by mercenaries who want Frost. Weston and Frost escape and must stay out of the gunmen's sight until they can get to another safe house.

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Plot Keywords:

safe house | cia | cia agent | on the run | consulate | 

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Taglines:

No One Is Safe

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence throughout and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

USA South Africa

Language:

English Afrikaans Spanish

Release Date:

10 February 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Protegiendo al enemigo

Filming Locations:

Cape Town Film Studios, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$40,172,720 (USA) (10 February 2012)

Gross:

$126,149,655 (USA) (11 May 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Bluegrass Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Worthington, Shia LaBeouf, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy, Taylor Kitsch, Garrett Hedlund, Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hardy, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine were among those considered for the role of Matt Weston.

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Goofs

When CIA agents Catherine Linklater and David Barlow lands in South Africa it says Swartkop Air force base Johannesburg, but Swartkop Air force base is actual in Pretoria East.

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Quotes

Matt Weston: You're a dead man.
David Barlow: Yeah, a long time ago.

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Connections

Referenced in The Big Review: Episode #1.1 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"No Church in the Wild"
Written by Kanye West, Jay-Z (as Shawn Carter), Mike Dean, Charles Njapa, Gary Wright, Phil Manzanera, James Brown, Joseph Maloy Roach, The Dream (as Terius Nash), Frank Ocean
Performed by Kanye West & Jay-Z featuring Frank Ocean
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Contains a sample of "Don't Tell a Lie About Me and I Won't Tell the Truth About You"
Performed by James Brown
Courtesy of Universal Records
and Contains a sample of "Sunshine Help Me"
Performed by Spooky Tooth
Courtesyof Universal-Island Records Ltd.
and Contains a sample of "K-Scope"
Performed by Phil Manzanera
Courtesy of Virgin Records Ltd.
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Nothing really new but a good choice of actors, effects and locations

If you have seen conspiracy flicks like "Enemy Of The State", "The Bourne Identity", "XIII", "Unknown" and so on and so forth, you really won't be surprised by this movie. The story presents nothing new and is about the usual stereotypes: the good one turn out to be the bad ones, the bad ones turn out to be the good ones, the weak ones turn out to be the strong ones and so one. I think you get what I mean. The movie has no big surprises after all.

But if this kind of movie is well done, it can still merit a rating of eight points. I only give six point five and for this site seven points because of the mediocre camera work that was shaking and irritating at some points of the movie.

The rest of the film is quite decent. The locations are interesting and the movie takes place in Cape Town in South Africa and not in Europe or North America. The fighting and action scenes are very well done and with the visual and sound effects in cinema, it's a pleasant entertainment to watch this movie for sure. It's a good flick to change your mind, to relax and to take a break from your everyday life for sure. The acting is also rather good with two strong lead actors that are a very cool Denzel Washington and a sympathetic and determined Ryan Reynolds.

The only little flaw is that I would have liked to know more about both characters, especially about their past and what really led them to do what they actually do in the movie.

The movie simply has not the greatest script to stand out among many other similar flicks but it's still a good film. I would suggest you to rather watch the movies I talked about in my introduction or classics like "I As In Icarus" but if you have seen and liked them all, you will surely appreciate this work, too.