Safe House

Denzel Washington has carved out a successful career playing heroes, but it was a villainous turn in Training Day that earned him his most recent Oscar.

Washington tries the bad-guy route again with Safe House, an international espionage thriller that finds his performance rising above subpar material.

He plays Tobin Frost, a former CIA agent who went rogue years ago and has eluded capture ever since. Criminals are after him for some international secrets, so Frost seeks refuge in an American consulate in South Africa, where he is transported to a “safe house” — a secret location where fugitives typically seek asylum prior to interrogation.

As authorities are dispatched, however, the safe house is attacked. Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds), the young rookie agent in charge of the facility comes under fire himself, causing him to flee with Frost as the pair forms an uneasy alliance amid a series of gunfights and car chases.

The American government scrambles to keep Frost in its custody and protect classified information from being leaked as Weston goes from toiling in virtual anonymity to becoming the center of an international incident.

Swedish director Daniel Espinosa tries for a gritty visual approach with hand-held cameras and a washed-out color palette. He keeps the pace lively and stages some intense action sequences.

However, the script by newcomer David Guggenheim is more problematic. It’s a convoluted mystery that takes familiar concepts and doesn’t do much with them outside of adding more shootouts and chase scenes and detouring into conspiracy theories. The major plot twists are a mixed bag, with the lines between good and evil blurring almost arbitrarily at times.

Washington provides a stabilizing force with a portrayal of a cool and collected character that causes him at times to just sit back and observe the mayhem around him. It makes for an interesting dynamic with Reynolds, playing the ambitious CIA rookie who learns his trade under fire.

There are some noteworthy names in the supporting cast, including Vera Farmiga, Sam Shepard and Brendan Gleeson, who aren’t given much to work with in mostly thankless bureaucrat roles a continent removed from the action.

Action junkies might appreciate some of the visceral thrills in Safe House, even if there’s not much to keep the brain occupied in the meantime.

Rated R, 115 minutes.