'Safe House' yields high energy complexity

Going into any movie that has Denzel Washington or Ryan Reynolds, you know it's going to be good. When you put these actors together on the screen, you get a type of amazement that can't really be explained. Such is the case with "Safe House".

The movie follows Reynolds' character Matt Weston, an overlooked and underestimated CIA-operative whose job is literally to sit around at a secret location all day in case the CIA sends someone there. Things become interesting when Weston is informed that he will be having a guest; Washington's character Tobin Frost. We quickly learn that Frost is a rogue agent who's pretty much wanted by every major government. From the moment he gets into the safe house things get complicated.

I'm not going to say much about what goes on during the movie but I was extremely impressed with the storyline and the acting throughout the movie. It was one serious rollercoaster ride of excitement throughout the film, leaving me asking, "what just happened" and then trying to figure out how the movie would carry on afterwards.

The twists and turns in this film never seem to stop as they progress through the minutes. Lies upon lies make this a story that really requires some thinking. They didn't really explain why Frost decided to turn himself in to begin with, but you quickly forget that part of the story after people start getting killed.

The acting in the films was great, which is expected given the star-studded cast. Reynolds did a great job as the lead role, and kept things believable. I will say that Washington did a great job too but he seemed very distant throughout much of the film. Maybe it was just the CIA persona but it was difficult to make much of an emotional connection with his character. The few times they did give any insight to his personal life were quickly interrupted by gunshots.

If there's one thing I learned from this movie is that you cannot trust anybody involved with the CIA. After watching Weston run all over the city and get shot at by pretty much everyone he talks to, I start to feel bad for him. He seriously can't catch a break in this film. He goes from a mundane life with no real excitement from his job to getting shot at, stabbed, beat up by everybody, and having to kill people in what's basically a business week.

I will say that I do wish that they had expanded on the plot a little more to create depth in some of the characters, but many of them didn't live long enough to tell their stories. Needless to say, I'll be going to see this movie again. But if I go missing for a while its because I've decided to create a safe house of my own, pretend to be a CIA-operative, get shot at by a lot of people, kill another operative, and save up about $6,000 to give to my girlfriend (who I've lied to about everything) so she can relocate and I'll catch up with her in about a week. Challenge accepted.