Safe House

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Safe House

R

Released Feb 10, 2012

1h 55m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

52%

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191 Reviews

63%

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100,000+ Ratings

For the past year, rookie CIA agent Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) has been eager to prove himself while cooling his heels at an inactive South African post. He gets the chance when Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a turncoat operative, is brought to Weston's safe house for debriefing. But soon after Frost's arrival, mercenaries attack, and Weston and Frost barely escape with their lives. The two men must join forces and try to stay alive long enough to figure out who wants them dead.

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Critics Consensus

Safe House stars Washington and Reynolds are let down by a thin script and choppily edited action sequences.

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

Though it's not a premise we haven't seen played out before on the silver screen, Safe House is a movie that sucks you in, guts you, and spits you out at the end.

Rated: B-

Sep 8, 2017

Full Review

Tambay Obenson

Shadow and Act

[Safe House] is utterly predictable stuff, in case you haven't already figured that out by now.

Aug 14, 2017

Full Review

Bruce Diones

The New Yorker

The film's super-saturated look and quick cutting are mere substitutes for any real sense of intrigue.

Feb 26, 2012

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Although occasionally exciting, there’s a pointed lack of gamesmanship in the events for a yarn involving spies, coupled with a lackluster quality that fails to leave an impression.

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 23, 2023

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

I had a great time with “Safe House”, and I don’t penalize it for aiming at a specific mark and hitting it.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 25, 2022

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Why do scripters even try to hide the identity of the villain until the end? Given the obviousness in these films, they might as well include a character named Professor Plum, usually found brandishing a lead pipe in the conservatory, and be done with it.

Rated: 2/4

Jun 13, 2021

Full Review

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John C

Denzel Washington plays an ex CIA agent/special forces operative (to be honest, I forget) who gets captured and taken to the (official) CIA's most inept hideout which is promptly overrun by baddies and everyone is killed. Everyone that is, apart from plucky Ryan Reynolds who is basically the CIA's caretaker of the unsafe safe house. He therefore has to rescue Washington and escort him to safety, all the time being pursued by baddies who can wipe out a professional CIA team in seconds, but can't shoot an untrained agent and his shackled prisoner. I can suspend my disbelief to accept all that. There's car chases, slick camera work, shoot-outs and punch-up - pretty much everything you'd expect from a modern action film. But it's still only average. The only thing that elevates it from being VERY average is Denzil Washington who, as usual, turns in a pretty decent performance, given what he has to work with. He snarls, charms and punches his way through most situations and Ryan Reynolds seems to have good chemistry with him in his attempts at keeping him both safe and cuffed at the same time. If anyone else was in the film it would simply be average, but if you like the sound of another car chase-laden action film with a better than average cast, give this one a go. It might be slightly longer than your average action flick, but it's entertaining enough not to bore.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/25

Full Review

Cristian s

Gran película de accion y espías, llena de adrenalina y mas de un buen giro en la historia. Gran ritmo, en ningún momento para y te atrapa. Aunque si tengo que admitir que ya se le notan los años, esos movimientos con efectos difusos, cortes de cámara y la tecnología de los aparatos si quedan anticuados hoy día y eso que solo es de hace una década.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/09/25

Full Review

Audience Member

My goodness what a ridiculously stupid movie. The writing is just nonsense with numerous plot holes and unbelievable story beats. It was impossible for me to suspend my sense of disbelief enough to enjoy this bland action movie. Zero suspense, zero thriller, zero of a move. Yuck.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/07/24

Full Review

Jeremiah C

Plot is complete nonsense. At first it seems like Denzel’s character is too smart for his antagonists, but then the whole story devolves into a cliche thriller nonsense in which no one has a good motive and everyone gets shot for no reason.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

12/06/24

Full Review

Matthew E

A lame plot plus ludicrous shaky cam and absurd camera cuts = a big let-down. It's a safe bet that I won't watch this director's mess again.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/21/24

Full Review

Space C

⚠️ SPOILERS ⚠️ What absolute garbage. Sure, the action scenes are okay but Frost (Washington) dying and Weston (Reynolds) living ?? After how DUMB his character is!? What. A. Joke.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

09/14/24

Full Review

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Daniel Espinosa

Director

Denzel Washington

Tobin Frost

Ryan Reynolds

Matt Weston

Vera Farmiga

Catherine Linklater

Brendan Gleeson

David Barlow

Sam Shepard

Harlan Whitford

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Safe House: Official Clip - They Want Me Alive

2:28

Safe House: Official Clip - Mercenaries Everywhere

2:43

Safe House: Official Clip - Who Do You Work For?

3:09

Safe House: Official Clip - We Got Him

2:36

Safe House: Official Clip - Housekeeping

2:49

Safe House: Official Clip - I Only Kill Professionals

2:12

Safe House: Official Clip - Pursued By Killers

1:54

Safe House: Official Clip - Dangerous Passenger

1:18

Safe House: Official Clip - Armed Intruders

2:07

Safe House: Official Clip - Bullets Over Shantytown

3:07

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Synopsis

For the past year, rookie CIA agent Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) has been eager to prove himself while cooling his heels at an inactive South African post. He gets the chance when Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a turncoat operative, is brought to Weston's safe house for debriefing. But soon after Frost's arrival, mercenaries attack, and Weston and Frost barely escape with their lives. The two men must join forces and try to stay alive long enough to figure out who wants them dead.

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Producer: Scott Stuber
Screenwriter: David Guggenheim
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Bluegrass Films, Relativity Media, Universal Pictures
Rating: R (Strong Violence Throughout|Some Language)
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 10, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $126.1M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital

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