Safe House was Espinosa's first English-language film. Filming took place on location in Cape Town. The film premiered in New York City on February 7, 2012, and was released in U.S. theaters on February 10, 2012, by Universal Pictures.[4] The film earned mixed reviews, with praise for Washington and Reynolds' performances, but negative criticisms for the screenplay and the editing of the action scenes. Nevertheless, the film was a commercial success, earning $208 million worldwide against an $85 million budget.[3]
Plot
In Cape Town, South Africa, junior CIA officer Matt Weston is serving as a "housekeeper", an operative in charge of securing and maintaining a local CIA safe house in case of an operation. He calls his mentor and immediate superior David Barlow, inquiring about a station in Paris. He hopes to move there with his live-in girlfriend Ana, a young French physician about to start her residency. Barlow tells him he is likely underqualified for the position, which frustrates Matt as he has not had a "houseguest" during his year-long tenure and thus has been unable to gain field experience. Barlow promises to revisit the issue in a few months.
Elsewhere in Cape Town, ex-CIA NOC operative turned international criminal Tobin Frost acquires a data storage device from rogue MI6 officer Alec Wade. A team of mercenaries attacks them and kills Wade. Frost flees and, out of options, surrenders to the American consulate.
A team led by veteran Daniel Kiefer transfers Frost to Weston's safe house in order to interrogate him for intelligence before he returns to the US. Weston watches uneasily as Kiefer's team waterboards Frost. The mercenaries, led by Vargas, attack the safe house and kill Kiefer and his team. Weston escapes with Frost and heads to the U.S. Consulate.
En route, Weston contacts Barlow at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, along with Catherine Linklater, the operative in charge of Frost's interrogation and Kiefer's superior, and CIA Deputy Director Harlan Whitford, who is overseeing the operation. Linklater, under advisement from Barlow, orders Weston to lie low and await further instructions.
Weston contacts Ana, giving her a cover story that his office has been threatened and suggesting she stay with friends when it appears their apartment is under surveillance. Barlow tells him to go to Cape Town Stadium where he retrieves a GPS device containing the location of another safe house, but Frost creates a diversion and escapes. Weston, detained by the police, escapes and is forced to fire at them.
Frost's escape is reported. After hearing that Weston fired at the police, Linklater orders him to visit the nearest American embassy for debriefing. When Whitford tells him, "We'll take it from here", Weston decides to pursue Frost himself as Frost had warned him that when he heard that particular sentence is when Weston should become concerned about his own safety. Linklater and Barlow travel to South Africa. Linklater suggests that Weston has joined Frost, which Barlow refutes.
Weston tracks Frost to a township in Langa, where Frost meets Carlos Villar, an old friend and document forger, who provides him with travel documents but suggests that he leave his life of crime behind. Vargas' team attacks again, killing Carlos and his family, but Weston helps Frost escape.
Weston brutally interrogates one of Vargas' wounded mercenaries, who reveals that Vargas is working for the CIA, which is seeking to retrieve the storage device from Frost. As they bandage their wounds, Frost urges Weston not to kill innocent people, telling the story of how he was forced to kill an air traffic controller while on a mission. He later learned that he was simply part of a plot to assassinate a whistle-blower who would expose wetwork committed by the CIA.
Weston takes Frost to the new safe house, where Weston keeps the housekeeper, Keller, at gunpoint. Keller attacks and severely wounds Weston before Weston kills him. Frost reveals the device contains evidence of corruption and bribery involving the CIA, MI6, and other intelligence agencies, put together from a Mossad intelligence report. Frost leaves Weston, who passes out from blood loss.
Barlow kills Linklater and travels to the safe house where he reveals that he is Vargas' employer. He confirms that the file contains incriminating evidence against him, and encourages Weston to lie about what has happened. Frost returns and kills Vargas' team but is fatally wounded by Barlow. Weston then shoots and kills him. As he dies, Frost gives Weston the file, saying he is a better man than Frost.
Back in the United States, Weston meets with Director Whitford, who informs him that unflattering facts about the CIA must be removed from his report, but that he will be promoted. When asked about the file's location, Weston denies knowing about it. Whitford states that whoever has those files will have many enemies. Weston assures him that he will "take it from here,“ shakes Whitford's hand, and leaves.
Weston leaks the files to the media, incriminating personnel from many intelligence agencies, including Whitford. He then travels to Paris and covertly observes Ana while she sits with friends in a cafe. She notices him across the street and smiles before he walks away, content that she is safe.
The film premiered in New York City on February 7, 2012, and was released in U.S. theaters on February 10, 2012. Safe House was released to Blu-ray and DVD on June 5, 2012 in the United States.[6]
Reception
Box office
Safe House grossed $126.4 million in the United States, and $81.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $208.1 million.
Safe House earned $13.6 million on opening day, and a total of $40.2 million over the weekend, finishing second behind The Vow. The film was the second-biggest opener for Washington, behind American Gangster ($43.6 million), and third-best for Reynolds behind X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($85.1 million) and Green Lantern ($53.2 million), respectively. In its second weekend, it finished first at $23.6 million. It became the second film in 2012 to cross the $100 million mark domestically after The Vow and the fourth film to cross the mark worldwide after Underworld: Awakening, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and The Vow.[3]
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 53% based on 194 reviews; the average rating is 5.70/10. The site's consensus reads, "Safe House stars Washington and Reynolds are let down by a thin script and choppily edited action sequences."[7] On Metacritic the film holds an average weighted score of 52 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[9]
Future
In September 2012, it was announced that Universal had hired screenwriter David Guggenheim to write a script for a possible sequel.[10]
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