Safe House (15)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An espionage action thriller that's not quite stupid enough for Tony Scott to helm, though it does feature Scott's house actor Denzel Washington as another of his secular saints.
He's a rogue CIA agent who, having sold out his colleagues, gives himself up to the American Embassy in Cape Town after eight years on the run. When the safe house he's assigned to is attacked, the "house-keeper" (Ryan Reynolds) has to help him escape; at the control centre in Langley, bigwigs Sam Shepard, Vera Farmiga and Brendan Gleeson fret over the "intel" leaks and hope nobody's watched the Bourne movies lately.
Director Daniel Espinosa lifts most of the chase sequences from the Matt Damon school of international mayhem, and throws in some gratuitous violence of his own. A waterboarding scene is the film's way of announcing its edgy "contemporary" credentials: Washington faces off the torture with his usual cool insouciance. Does nobody else find him maddening?
Safe House is a generic slam-banger, seemingly engineered to be forgotten almost while you're watching it.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments