Denzel Washington is a man who has been labeled as a traitor for stealing US secrets while he was a CIA operative. As he is selling secrets abroad, he gets a particularly nasty hunk of evidence that could make a lot of people's lives very bad. Because more than one group of bad guys wants him, he flees to the only place he thinks he might be safe - the American Consulate. Denzel, as always, does a very good job with his role.
Ryan Reynolds is the wet-behind-the-ears agent who is manning a boring Safe House when the hard-hitting got-getters (headed by Robert Patrick) bring in the big fish that is Denzel. Shortly after starting enhanced interrogation, things happen that make Ryan and Denzel unlikely partners. Both of them try to stay alive and act at the same time.
The movie is all about these two with their cat and mouse game while larger chess moves are being made above them and trained killers are stalking them no matter where they go. There is action, there is intrigue, and there is acting. It's not quite a Bourne movie in terms of intrigue, but the action is cleaner - there is less use of the unsteady cam and quick cuts to hide bad action. There is a bit of over editing, but I can deal with that.
The big players that we see are all CIA execs.
Brendan Gleeson is Ryan's boss who looks out for him and tries to focus the possible missteps on his peers' teams, as he is certain that Rayan is awesome and doing his job to the best of his abilities. I like Brendan, especially in The Guard, and he does a very good job with what is a relatively small role in this movie.
Vera Farmiga is Brendan's peer who was responsible for Robert Patrick's team. She mostly gives looks indicating that she realizes that she is being thrown under the bus, and there doesn't seem to be much that she can do about it. I'm not sure how a woman was supposed to reach her stature while being so easily rolled over by the brusque guy next to her, but that's the way her character was written.
Sam Shepard is the boss at the CIA, and he wades in to give orders and act concerned. He doesn't really need to do a whole lot more than that. It's just as well, the story really seems just like a way to have the action scenes strung together.
Cinematography was good
Acting was very good
Story was good
Action was very good
Direction was good
3.5/5