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

The US Consulate is not in the CBD of Cape Town. It is actually in Tokai, 27km by road from where it is shown in the movie.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Matt Weston: How am I supposed to get more experience by staring at four walls all day?

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.85 (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

Danzel Saves What Really Is A Mess

It's an interesting albeit predictable action flick that's nothing special but delivers enough to make it worthwhile. It does feature what has to be the dumbest CIA operatives/handlers ever put on film. What transpires, especially early, will make most viewers say "why in the world didn't they just…" but getting past that means enjoying a film where Denzel Washington perfectly menaces and charms his way through every scene. Put just about anyone else in this role and the film would lose a lot. Ryan Reynolds was good enough and the rest of the stellar supporting cast is absolutely wasted. Again, I found it interesting despite it being three repetitive acts of mindless turns highlighting that the government is pure evil and they apparently keeping hiring the same set of mindless goons who race around guns blazing everywhere with little effect or competence whatsoever. Also, the camera work was AWFUL in terms of the overuse of the shaky cam.