Chaos in Cape Town

Safe House

**1/2 out of ****

Directed by: Daniel Espinosa

Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson and Sam Shepard

Running time: 114 minutes

Studio executives marketed Safe House, a flashy, fast-paced and somewhat flawed thriller, as a Denzel Washington vehicle where the actor takes on the duties of portraying a masterly, manipulative villain.

However, despite the focus on his striking, smirking badness in the promotional material, his Tobin Frost is a tame character, without the class of his Frank Lucas from American Gangster or the cocky charisma of Training Day detective Alonzo Harris. Instead, Safe House works because of the other leading man, puppy-eyed Canadian Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds is Matt Weston, a low-level CIA agent keeping idle watch over a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa. He is looking for a chance to prove himself so that his mentor (Brendan Gleeson) can promote him to full-time operative.

His one shot comes in the form of enigmatic renegade Tobin Frost (Washington), a cunning criminal with credentials that hint that he cannot be cracked by tough interrogators.

As Frost is tortured at the safe house, a group of mercenaries attack. Weston escapes with his houseguest and receives quick instruction from Langley: keep Frost off the grid and take him to a secure location without attracting attention.

Washington is a striking screen presence, but his Frost isn’t vindictive enough as a villain. The characterization in David Guggenheim's script is too minuscule for such a powerful screen presence. When one character calls Frost "the black Dorian Gray," it doesn't ring true. Frost isn't complex enough as a character to merit that analogy. Washington has a mirthless grin, though, that wouldn't seem out of place in a Hallward portrait.

Meanwhile, certain story elements hinge on implausibilities. Many of these eye-rollers involve the sloppy, underequipped CIA staff. Headed by Harlan Whitford (a gristled Sam Shepard) and Catherine Linklater (a bossy but underused Vera Farmiga), the analysts pace around a control room with giant screens and wait for results. They do not use any, well, intelligence in the room to help combat the situation in South Africa. What a waste.

Nevertheless, Safe House turns out to be a crackling thriller at points. Espinosa directs his action sequences, including a terrifically suspenseful showdown in a steel-shackled shantytown, with bluster and a bit of disorienting camera juggling.

Moreover, Reynolds holds his own against Washington. The Canadian actor shows surprising range – it seems that his intense one-man-show, Buried, wasn’t a fluke – and manages to outshine his onscreen competitor in the film’s second half.

As the stakes rise, Reynolds capably envelops the pain of a gritted, writhing action hero. A prolonged mano a mano fight scene with a deceptive housekeeper played by The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman is blistering and bloody.

While the story’s contrivances dillute the suspense and Washington's presence proves to be underwhelming, Safe House is still a solid piece of frenetic action fun.