Movie Review: Safe House

Yesterday, after a 3-hour belly dance class, the hubs and I decided to see a movie. We read a few reviews and when one that we read was based in Cape Town, that was it- we knew we had to see it.

Now, please bear in mind that I am in no way a professional movie reviewer, as you will soon realize, but I really felt I had to tell people about it.

“Safe House” stars Denzel Washington (The Pelican Brief, Antwone Fisher) and Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal, Green Lantern) . Two beautiful men. Ryan plays a CIA agent that runs a “safe house” that Denzel, an “off the reservation CIA agent,” is taken to stay the night. The bad guys who were after Denzel break in and mayhem ensues. Ryan starts to realize some people in the CIA were bad and starts to align with Denzel.

Ryan Reynolds shirtless. (source)

I won’t give any more away, but I do want you to know that it is graphic and has lots of violence. The film is “grainy” and makes some of the chase scenes look incredible. It was Denzel and the CIA that brought the trouble to CT; it was not locals creating problems.

Denzel Washington. To be fair, I searched for a shirtless picture of him too, and was unable to find one! (source)

And the scenery- very much Cape Town, and it felt like the city I know. You know how some movies take place in a city, but they really didn’t film there? Not this movie- all real Cape Town places. I recognized many of the roads and buildings in the movie, and I thought that the movie portrayed Cape Town in a balanced way. One of the opening scenes was Ryan riding a motorcycle on a curvy road- I drive De Waal Road at least once a week! And last week, I was across the street from The Standard Hotel, one of the “seedy hotels” that they seek refuge in.  The only thing I’m not sure of is how accurate they were with the physical location of different places. The American Embassy is not in the city centre, but fairly far away from where the movie portrayed it to be located.

The Standard Hotel in Maitland, Cape Town, South Africa. (source)

As Lance Harris of TechCentral says, “The real fun lies in spotting the locations where Safe House was filmed. It’s not every day that we get to see American actors tear around the streets of Woodstock in frantic car chases, or shoot up Green Point Stadium, and then, absurdly, escape on the metro train. This isn’t a postcard-perfect Cape Town either, but one that spans from pretty views of Table Mountain to the shacks of Langa and the grit of, erm, Parow.”  

Overall, I enjoyed the movie and was glad to see Denzel and Ryan in a movie together. Although Denzel’s aging nicely, has anyone noticed that his nose is growing bigger?

And Ryan? he’s….um…he’s cute. Nuff said.

P.S.- I've almost reached 100 posts, and I'm thinking of doing another giveaway!!! What do you think?

Song of the post: Shot a Man Down by Peachy Keen. They are a South African band, from Cape Town, and I have to thank A Daft Scot’s Lass for spreading their goodness.