Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Interesting characters clash in extremely violent thriller.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
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Safe House
What's the Story?
Though Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) works for the CIA, he hasn't seen any action in a year. Stationed in Cape Town, South Africa, he basically watches over a "safe house" -- a fancy apartment where suspects can be held and questioned. Suddenly, a longtime renegade agent, Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), decides to turn himself in at the U.S. Consulate, and he's taken to Weston's safe house. Before long, thugs with guns break in and try to kill everyone in sight. Matt decides that it's time to hit the road and keep moving until help arrives. This isn't an easy task, as the bad guys are everywhere, and the crafty Frost keeps trying to escape. Can Weston figure out what Frost's game is?
Is It Any Good?
A pair of relative newcomers, writer David Guggenheim and director Daniel Espinosa were in charge of SAFE HOUSE, and their inexperience shows. Though the movie has a vicious, inky look, it also has junky, hand-held camerawork, with crazy shaking during action scenes. The script includes such old-time chestnuts as a mole within the CIA and a secret file with the names of all the corrupt agents in the world.
But at the movie's core is the very interesting, opposing relationship between the leads, the seasoned, cynical Tobin Frost and the young, optimistic Matt Weston. Washington and Reynolds genuinely click into their characters and provide several shades of grey between them. They clash in intriguing ways -- sometimes visually, sometimes in dialogue -- and their meeting of minds is by far Safe House's most interesting element. It's too bad all the "normal" stuff couldn't have been jettisoned in favor of deepening this relationship.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Safe House's violence. Was it necessary to get the movie's point across? Which scenes were thrilling, and which were disturbing? How does the impact of what you saw here compare to the kind of violence in a comic book action movie?
Tobin believes that no one is to be trusted and that everyone will eventually betray you. Matt has a lot more hope for goodness to prevail. Is there a happy medium between these two attitudes?
Do you think organizations like the CIA are susceptible to corruption in real life? Why might some aspects of working there be exaggerated in the media?
Movie Details
- In theaters : February 10, 2012
- On DVD or streaming : June 5, 2012
- Cast : Denzel Washington , Ryan Reynolds , Vera Farmiga
- Director : Daniel Espinosa
- Inclusion Information : Latino Movie Director(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Universal Pictures
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Run time : 115 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : strong violence throughout and some language
- Last updated : March 14, 2020
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