We all know Denzel Washington is an outstanding actor. Most of us know that the same could not be said for Ryan Reynolds. (For those that refute this, ask yourselves whether you are in love with his physique or his performances.) “Safe House” amounts to little more than a “Bourne”-lite adventure reaffirming these virtually self-evident conclusions.
The adventure takes us to South Africa, where the dullness of Matt Weston’s (Reynolds) humdrum job supervising a CIA safe house has begun to take a psychological toll as he feels stuck and unable to move up the institutional ladder. This would be an Occupy-friendly film if only Reynolds were complaining about not having a job; later, the film delves into a new favorite action movie trope that would also have the vagrants of Zuccotti Park licking their chops: THE GOVERNMENT IS CORRUPT! All of them! Just working the government destroys your soul and taints your brain! I get it, Hollywood, you love 1968 and want to keep the spirit of skepticism and distrust of institutions alive … but that was four decades ago and the schtick is getting a little old. Maybe it’s time for a new target.
But the monotony of his vocation gets suddenly broken when a captured criminal is brought it – young Cornel West! Just kidding, Denzel Washington’s rogue CIA agent Tobin Frost only looks like him. The difference between the scholar and the character is that Frost is much better at getting people to see things his way. As the latest Hannibal Lecter knock-off, Frost is hardly as frightening as might be expected, but Washington’s calm portrayal certainly makes him an eerie wild-card and a ticking time bomb.
Marshall and the Movies 
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