Denzel Washington takes a young Ryan Reynolds to school, CIA-style, in the action thriller Safe House this Friday at theaters across the country. In addition to Washington and Reynolds, Safe House stars Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard, Ruben Blades, Nora Arnezeder, and Robert Patrick. The film is directed by Daniel Espinosa (Snabba Cash) and is rated R for strong violence and language.
Matt Weston (Reynolds) is a CIA rookie who is tired of sitting around his do-nothing post in South Africa. He wants experience and action. He gets plenty of both when former superstar agent turned rogue Tobin Frost (Washington) arrives at headquarters after ten years on the run with some cryptic and world changing intelligence. Weston is assigned to baby-sit Frost in a CIA-run safe house, but a group of rebels from a nearby country destroy the house and force Weston to flee across the country with Frost. Weston is faced with Frost’s treachery and a moral question about his career choice while trying to stay alive. Well, he wanted action…
Taken from a screenplay by David Guggenheim, Safe House was ready for filming almost immediately. Says producer Scott Stuber (The Kingdom), “In this job, you read a lot of material; articles, books and screenplays; and sometimes you see a nugget of an idea that you think could be a movie. What was great about David’s screenplay for Safe House is that it read perfectly like a film from the first draft. I saw the movie and the characters, and we were lucky enough to get it.”
Stuber liked the idea of a film starting out in a supposedly impenetrable venue, then turning into a dangerous road trip where no safe house exists. And the road trip was a perfect dynamic for Washington and Reynolds. “It read as a big action-thriller,” relates Stuber “but what I found interesting was the paradigm of these two characters: the veteran spy and the rookie. What we liked about Tobin Frost was that this character was multidimensional: He has many layers and a dark soul. He has given up his ideology, his country, and turned cynical because he believes the world to be cynical. He no longer plays by the rules.”
“Then there’s Matt Weston, who has the ideology that the world is a good, fair place,” the producer continues. “Throughout this journey, Matt realizes that’s not the case. As you get older, you see that whatever path you choose, there are politics and things that are not fair. But do you choose to keep your soul? Do you keep your credibility and your honor? The question of the movie is whether or not Matt will be able to go through this journey and still keep his integrity and humanity.”
For director Espinosa, it was a chance to expand his talents and perhaps beef up his resume. “My background is more European art house.” says Espinosa “When I did Snabba Cash (his most noted work to date), it was a trial for me because I wanted to see how my interest for character and inner plot would contrast against a movie with a strong pace. After that, I was looking for something that had an archetypical journey for characters and a strong pace. When I read Safe House, it felt, in many ways, like a reverse of Unforgiven: You have the old warrior who knows that the world is corrupt, and you have the young gunslinger who believes that, somehow, his romantic ideal of good will prevail. This film has given me the opportunity to meet with some of the greatest talents in this business and to get to work side by side with them.”
Two of those talents are the co-stars, Washington and Reynolds. For Washington, it was a chance to make a “different” film. “I got the chance to see Daniel’s film Snabba Cash,” says Washington “and it had a unique style and was a very different film. That made me very interested in him as a filmmaker. Scott, Daniel, David and I worked on developing the character. Safe House was an opportunity to revisit ways of working that I used to do.” Offers Espinosa, “Denzel is a master. He works harder than any actor I’ve ever met. When he decided to do the movie, he thoroughly researched and spent about a half a year studying his character before we even shot. When he got on set, no matter what the situation in front of him was, he reacted as the character that he was playing.”
To find an actor who could effectively portray Weston and hold his own against Washington, Stuber went with Reynolds, whom he was familiar with. Stuber recalls, “We had to be certain that the actor opposite Denzel would be ready. I’ve known Ryan for a long time and was sure that he would step up to that challenge. More importantly, he wanted such a challenge.” Adds Reynolds, “First and foremost, I was riveted by the story. It was also an opportunity to work with Daniel, who is an unusual and unpredictable filmmaker. He is unlike anyone I’ve ever worked with, or even met before. He’s this incredibly wise, intuitive, intellectual thug. It’s a weird combination that gives him this incredible street sense. He’s a guy who could easily be in a bar fight, and at the same time, if you name any book, there’s a good chance he’s read it; among the plusses, not the least of which was working with Denzel. You know you will learn a lot working with Denzel. Spending time with him makes you a better actor.”
Reynolds will be spending a lot of onscreen time with Washington in this film, and the studio is banking on their chemistry to pull Safe House through. Espinosa is something of an unknown and his style, or uniqueness of style will be tested in the big market. He may need all the help he can get.
Safe House Trailer
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