Safe House [Blu-Ray]

There are three types of viewers who will find mainstream espionage thriller Safe House appealing. These viewers include Training Day fans, celebrity-driven moviegoers and people who are too easily distracted by choreographed chase sequences and shootout scenes to realize the faults of a paper-thin script. Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds scavenge from past performances in Training Day and Smoking Aces, respectively, playing one-note C.I.A. agents in this monotonous spy thriller. Reynolds plays Matt Weston, a glorified babysitter working for the C.I.A. at a safe house used for interrogating criminals. Washington plays Tobin Frost, a highly lethal rogue agent who has been captured and taken to the safe house for interrogation, planning on leaking disreputable and classified information. The interrogation is interrupted by a group of brutal mercenaries hell-bent on killing Frost and after all the C.I.A. agents, save Weston, are murdered, the rookie C.I.A. recruit is forced to take the sociopathic Frost on the run. Considering the striking cinematography and impressive supporting cast (which include Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard and Robert Patrick), one would think this movie would be at least remotely interesting, however it's painfully clear that everyone involved is cashing a paycheque and if it's not apparent to viewers after watching this, they most likely base their opinions on the blurbs and the "sick" Kanye West soundtrack in the TV spots and trailers. Safe House is yet another over-hyped, dime-a-dozen spy thriller that won't hurt anyone's career, due to the fact that it's so unmemorable. The Universal Blu-Ray makes up for the lack of substance in the film by jam-packing the disc with many extras, including behind-the-scenes and action sequence featurettes. The Blu-Ray also includes features on shooting in Cape Town and on the real-life C.I.A.