Table Of Content
Even though Barlow maintains that his protege isn't working with Frost, the mounting evidence in front of Linklater's face makes it hard for her to ignore the feeling that something isn't right. Reynolds is great, too, but the film truly belongs to Washington as the gruff, clever bad guy you'll end up rooting for. As for the action and choreographed violence, perhaps the number two reason for purchasing a ticket this weekend, again Safe House delivers adequately. Why do scripters even try to hide the identity of the villain until the end?
Storyline
But after leaving his meeting, Weston leaks the files to the media. The move puts him in a precarious position, but at least it's one where he has a handle on the truth. Frost also gives Weston a first-hand account of how duplicitous the higher-ups at the CIA can be.
Safe House streaming: where to watch online?
Frost reveals that he acquired a microchip loaded with files detailing massive corruption in every major intelligence agency in the world. Everything changes when Weston meets former CIA agent turned international criminal Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington). Frost arrives at Weston's safe house after surrendering himself to the Americans to avoid being killed by a group of mercenaries who have been hot on his trail. However, the mercenaries discover his location and destroy the safe house, forcing Weston and Frost to go on the run. Did or didn’t Frost betray his country is the question that the credited screenwriter David Guggenheim and Daniel Espinosa, the young, up-and-coming Swedish director, put into nimble play almost as soon as “Safe House” gets going. And, after some low-key place setting in Cape Town, where Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), an untested C.I.A. agent, is watching over a company safe house, the movie takes off like a shot.
Smoldering Superagent Runs...and Keeps on Running
According to Whitford, "People don't want the truth anymore, man. It's too messy. It keeps them up nights." Although Frost kills Barlow's mercenaries, he's fatally wounded in the process. Before Barlow has the chance to finish Frost off, Weston stumbles out of bed and shoots his former mentor.
Weston contacts Ana, giving her a cover story that his office has been threatened and suggesting she stay with friends when it appears their apartment is under surveillance. Barlow tells Weston to go to Cape Town Stadium where he retrieves a GPS device containing the location of another safe house, but Frost creates a diversion and escapes. Weston, detained by the police, escapes and is forced to fire at them.Frost escape gets reported. After hearing that Weston fired at the police, Linklater orders him to visit the nearest American embassy for debriefing. En route, Linklater suggests that Weston has joined Frost, which Barlow refutes. When Whitford asks Weston about the microchip, he tells the deputy director that he's unaware of any such thing.
On media pages
Linklater orders Weston to lie low and await further instructions.
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Vargas' team attacks again, killing Carlos and his family, but Weston helps Frost escape. Weston brutally interrogates one of Vargas' wounded mercenaries, who reveals that Vargas is working for the CIA, which is seeking to retrieve the storage device from Frost. As they bandage their wounds, Frost urges Weston not to kill innocent people, telling the story of how he was forced to kill an air traffic controller while on a mission. He later learned that he was simply part of a plot to assassinate a whistle-blower who would expose wetwork committed by the CIA.
Plot
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. 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. Safe House is 3744 on the JustWatch Daily Streaming Charts today. The movie has moved up the charts by 1372 places since yesterday. In the United States, it is currently more popular than Savage Dog but less popular than Bad Moms.
Weston realizes what is truly important to him
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Back in the US, Weston files a report with CIA Deputy Director Harlan Whitford (Sam Shepard). Whitford thanks Weston for his report, and follows up on Barlow's promise of a promotion by offering to make him a senior agent. However, he also makes it clear that he will be expunging any mention of Barlow's wrongdoing from the report so that the information doesn't leak out.
When they arrive, he pulls a gun on the agent running the safe house. This leads to a bloody fight that leaves the agent dead and Weston severely injured. Safe House wasn't bad, it just wasn't new, and if a movie is involving rogue agents, it needs to meet its characterization with a plot that keeps us guessing. At some point in the tense, tough, visceral action movie “Safe House” a side character describes a rogue superagent played by Denzel Washington as “the black Dorian Gray.” Now that’s a movie pitch in waiting. Mr. Washington, or rather the mystery man he plays, Tobin Frost, a former operative for the C.I.A., lets out a short self-aware laugh of a man who isn’t just fielding a compliment but also owning it fully. A team led by veteran Daniel Kiefer transfers Frost to Weston's safe house in order to interrogate him for intelligence before he is returned to the US.
When Whitford tries to cover up the situation, it's the final moment of clarity. Weston knows now that if he continues to work for the CIA, he will completely forfeit any hope of an honest life. Eventually, he'll begin to believe whatever lies he tells himself and others to keep the charade going, just like Frost warned. By the time the two are en route to the next safe house, Weston has clearly internalized Frost's words.
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands. Barlow's betrayal is a literal manifestation of Frost's earlier warnings about living a life of lies and deception. Even after Barlow offers him the promotion he had previously been eager for, his feelings about his mentor and the CIA have soured.
Back in the United States, Weston meets with Director Whitford, who informs Weston that unflattering facts about the CIA must be removed from his report, but that he will be promoted. He asks Weston about the file's location but Weston denies knowing about it. Whitford states that whoever has those files will have many enemies. Elsewhere in Cape Town, ex-CIA NOC operative turned international criminal Tobin Frost acquires a data storage device from rogue MI6 officer Alec Wade. Frost flees and, out of options, surrenders to the American consulate. Throughout their time together, Frost continuously tries to convince Weston to not trust his superiors at the CIA.
He tells him a story about how, when he was a young agent, he was deceived into murdering an innocent man by one of his superiors. More disturbing is Frost's admission that he let the deception slide and continued working for the CIA. He explains, "You practice something for a long time, you get good at it. You tell a hundred lies a day, it sounds like the truth." Weston tracks Frost to a township in Langa, where Frost meets Carlos Villar, an old friend and document forger, who provides him with travel documents but suggests that he leave his life of crime behind.
Spends most of its 117-minute running time much like its central characters -- tearing madly around, making a lot of noise and not really getting very far. The South African location, Denzel Washington's duplicitous dialogue, and the intense car chases help to coax viewers into forgetting about the humdrum plot. Safe House stars Washington and Reynolds are let down by a thin script and choppily edited action sequences. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.
When the safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead. If you've ever scoured HBO Max looking for a solid, yet underrated, thriller, there's a good chance you've already come across Safe House.
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