Safe House

2012, Mystery & thriller/Action, 1h 55m

194 Reviews 100,000+ Ratings

What to know

critics consensus

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

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Movie Info

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.
  • Rating:
    R (Strong Violence Throughout|Some Language)
  • Genre:
    Mystery & thriller, Action
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    Daniel Espinosa
  • Producer:
    Scott Stuber
  • Writer:
    David Guggenheim
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     wide
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $126.1M
  • Runtime:
  • Distributor:
    Universal Pictures
  • Sound Mix:
    Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital

Cast & Crew

Denzel Washington
Tobin Frost
Ryan Reynolds
Matt Weston
Vera Farmiga
Catherine Linklater
Brendan Gleeson
David Barlow
Sam Shepard
Harlan Whitford
Rubén Blades
Carlos Villar
Nora Arnezeder
Ana Moreau
Robert Patrick
Daniel Kiefer
Liam Cunningham
Alec Wade
Joel Kinnaman
Keller
Fares Fares
Vargas
Daniel Espinosa
Director
David Guggenheim
Screenwriter
Scott Stuber
Producer
Denzel Washington
Executive Producer
Scott Aversano
Executive Producer
Adam Merims
Executive Producer
Alexa Faigen
Executive Producer
Trevor Macy
Executive Producer
Marc D. Evans
Executive Producer
Oliver Wood
Cinematography
Brigitte Broch
Production Design
Richard Pearson
Film Editing
Susan Matheson
Costume Design
Ramin Djawadi
Original Music
Sarah Halley Finn
Casting
Nigel Churcher
Supervising Art Direction
Pablo Maestre Galli
Art Director
Shira Hockman
Art Director
Jonathan Hely-Hutchinson
Art Director
Melinda Launspauch
Set Decoration
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Critic Reviews for Safe House

All Critics (194) | Top Critics (52) | Fresh (103) | Rotten (91)
Full Review… Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online Full Review… Tambay Obenson Shadow and Act Full Review… Bruce Diones New Yorker Full Review… Peter Bradshaw Guardian Full Review… Robbie Collin Daily Telegraph (UK) Full Review… Nigel Andrews Financial Times Full Review… Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Full Review… Owen Nicholls NME Full Review… Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Full Review… Brent McKnight The Last Thing I See Full Review… Jim Ross Roobla Full Review… Julian Lytle Ignorant Bliss
View All Critic Reviews (194)

Audience Reviews for Safe House

  • Aug 15, 2017
    Safe House is a well acted action thriller. I mean if you are going to bring in Ryan Reynolds, Denzel Washington, Brendan Gleeson and Vera Farmiga...you're pretty much halfway to making a good film. Yet somehow this still fell short from being great. We follow Washington who plays a dangerous renegade with important information. On the run from mercenaries that raided a safe house, Reynolds attempts to prove himself by bringing him in. Full of espionage, double crossing and a damn convoluted plot in an attempt to make it engaging. But in actual fact, it's just generic. If you've watched this, then you'll probably remember nothing about the story. Seriously, give it a shot. Acting though was spot on. Washington and Reynolds made for an uneasy chemistry and the two work well together. Kind of like a master and his apprentice, except this master is on the opposite side of the law to his apprentice. Farmiga, criminally underrated by the way, was underused. Her character was pretty much pointless which infuriates me every time I watch this. Gleeson was good, but again was underused until the final act. The action scenes were great, the first act is definitely the most lively. A car crash, a raided safe house and a car chase in Cape Town. It was exhilarating and Daniel Espinosa filmed it rather well. Sound mixing was noteworthy, the gun shots were loud and piercing which always gets me pumped when watching an action flick. The locations were varied, from the streets of Cape Town to a football stadium filled with hooligans playing vuvuzelas (do you remember them? Flipping awful things). Just nothing felt fresh. It's a "been there done that" scenario too scared to try something new in case the film doesn't make back its budget. If the plot was engaging, this would've been a great surprise but sadly it's just good. Entirely watchable and well crafted, but nothing outstanding.
    Luke A Super Reviewer
  • Dec 13, 2016
    Decent if typical Hollywood action thriller with by now obligatory rah-rah underpinnings. By the numbers. Picked out the surprise twist ending bad guy in under 2 minutes. The cast simply needs to show up and be charming, and this much they manage. There's no real teeth here though.
    Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
  • Jan 30, 2016
    A very under appreciated film that yes the script could of been abit better but Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds performance and pretty good action scenes make up for it, The story was good but kind of a missed opportunity, But still a good action thriller.
    Jamie C Super Reviewer
  • Oct 08, 2015
    Half the film is ripped off The Rock, the other half is cobbled together from some left over 90's action movie script.
    Marcus W Super Reviewer
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