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Safe House(2012)
Universal Pictures Feb 10, 2012 | Wide
A young CIA agent is tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house. But when the safe house is attacked, he finds himself on the run with his charge.
Releases
Original Release | Feb 10, 2012
Box Office
Results
$40,172,720
$126,373,434
$81,702,771
$208,076,205
Director & Top Cast
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital,Datasat,SDDS
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States,Japan
Language: English,Afrikaans
Showtimes
Your Location or
(U.S. Only)
Summaries
Plot Summary
- In Cape Town, South Africa, junior CIA officer Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is serving as a "housekeeper", in charge of securing and maintaining a local CIA safe house in case of an operation. Weston calls his mentor and superior David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson), inquiring about a station in Paris, hoping to move there with his girlfriend Ana Moreau (Nora Arnezeder), a young French physician about to start her residency. Barlow tells Weston he is likely under-qualified for the position, which frustrates him: Weston hasn't had a "houseguest" during his year-long tenure and has thus been unable to gain field experience.Nearby in the city, ex-CIA operative Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) acquires a data storage device from rogue MI6 agent Alec Wade (Liam Cunningham). The pair is attacked by a team of mercenaries led by Vargas (Fares Fares); Wade is killed and Frost is cornered, leaving him no choice but to surrender to the American consulate. Frost is transferred to Weston's safe house with a CIA team led by veteran agent Daniel Kiefer (Robert Patrick), to interrogate Frost before bringing him back to the US. Weston watches uneasily as Kiefer and his men waterboard Frost.The power to the safe house is cut and Vargas's armed men attack the building, killing Kiefer and his team. Weston escapes, taking Frost as his charge, and makes contact with Barlow at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Catherine Linklater (Vera Farmiga), another CIA operative, orders Weston to lie low and await further instructions. CIA Deputy Director Harlan Whitford (Sam Shepard) is overseeing the operation.Weston hides out with Frost and calls his girlfriend Ana, who doesn't know that Weston works for the CIA. Weston tells Ana to leave the house, claiming his office has been threatened, and suggests Ana stay with friends when it appears their apartment is under surveillance.Barlow tells Weston to go to Cape Town Stadium to retrieve a GPS device with the location of another nearby safe house. Weston retrieves the GPS from the stadium, but Frost creates a diversion and slips away, disguising himself as a policeman. Weston, detained by the police, escapes but is unable to catch Frost.Linklater orders Weston to visit the nearest American embassy for debriefing. When Whitford uses the phrase, "We'll take it from here", Weston recognizes it, as Frost had warned him earlier: if Weston hears those words, he's in danger. Weston refuses the orders and chooses to pursue Frost himself. Linklater fears Weston has joined Frost, which Barlow refutes.Weston leaves to recapture Frost but Frost ambushes him at gunpoint and escapes. Weston meets with Ana, reveals his work as a CIA agent, and tells her to return to Paris for her safety.Weston tracks Frost to a shantytown in Langa, where Frost is meeting Nicaraguan national Carlos Villar (Rubén Blades), an old contact and document forger. Vargas and his team attack, killing Villar and his wife, but Frost evades the men with Weston's help. Weston brutally interrogates one of Vargas' mercenaries and learns Vargas is working for the CIA, which is seeking to retrieve the storage device Frost procured from Wade. The device contains Israeli intelligence which contain details of corrupt officials and secret money transfers involving American CIA, British MI6, and other intelligence agencies; Weston's own superiors may be implicated.Weston takes Frost to the new safe house and holds the housekeeper, Keller (Joel Kinnaman) at gunpoint: he no longer knows if he can trust the CIA. As they bandage their wounds, Frost urges Weston not to kill innocent people, recalling how he was forced to kill an air traffic controller on a mission. Frost later learned that he was simply a pawn in a plot to silence a whistle-blower who would expose wet-work committed by the CIA.Keller attacks Weston and, after a brutal struggle, Weston breaks Keller's neck, but is badly wounded in the fight. Frost leaves Weston, who passes out from his injuries.Linklater arrives in the country but is shot and killed by Barlow, who visits the safe house and reveals he is Vargas's employer. Barlow confirms that the file contains incriminating evidence against him and encourages Weston to lie about what has happened. Frost returns and kills Vargas and his men but is shot by Barlow. Weston shoots Barlow in the chest, killing him. Frost gives Weston the file and tells Weston he is better than him, before Frost dies from his injuries.Back in the United States, Weston meets with CIA Deputy Director Whitford, who dangles a promotion but informs Weston that unflattering facts about the CIA must be removed from his report. Whitford asks Weston about the file, but Weston denies having been told about it by Frost. Whitford warns that whomever possesses those files will have many enemies; Weston assures him that he will "take it from here." Weston leaves and leaks the files to the press, implicating personnel from multiple intelligence agencies, including Whitford.Later, Weston watches Ana from across the street in Paris; Ana reads a note passed to her and makes eye contact with Weston, smiling, before Weston walks away.
Storyline
- Matt Weston ( Ryan Reynolds ) is a CIA rookie who is manning a safe house in Cape Town, South Africa, when Tobin Frost ( Denzel Washington ) the CIA's most wanted rogue agent is captured and taken to the safe house. During Frost's interrogation, the safe house is overtaken by mercenaries who want Frost. Weston and Frost escape and must stay out of the gunmen's sight until they can get to another safe house. — Douglas Young (the-movie-guy) Tobin Frost is a CIA agent who's believed to have turned rogue, is in Cape Town, South Africa. When he is pursued by men who want to kill him, he goes to the American Consulate where he knows he will be arrested. When the CIA learns of this, it's decided to bring him to a safe house in Cape Town, where they will interrogate him. Shortly after they arrive, the men who chased Frost storm the safe house and kill everyone there. Matt Weston, the agent who's tasked with looking after the safe house, is the only one left, so he takes Frost and they go on the run. While on the run, Frost tells Weston that the only way those men found the safe house was that someone (on the inside) told them about it. Eventually Frost escapes and Weston is told to report to Langley but just as he's about to go there, he recalls something that Frost did that helps him figure out where he could be going. But just as he arrives, the men who are after Frost show up but Weston saves him and they head off. But Weston knows that Frost is holding something back. — rcs0411@yahoo.com In Cape Town, South Aftica, rookie CIA agent Matt Weston is a safe house keeper and is in love with his French girlfriend Ana Moreau who does not know about his double life. When the most wanted rogue and former CIA agent Tobin Frost surrenders to the American Consulate to escape from an attack of dangerous soldiers of fortune, he is brought to the safe house to be interrogated by specialist Daniel Kiefer and his team. However there is a breach in the safe house and mercenaries break in the place expecting to capture Tobin Frost. Matt escapes with Tobin and he contacts the CIA senior management Harlan Whitford, David Barlow and Catherine Linklater that give instruction to Matt to reach another safe house. But Tobin warns Matt that there is an informer in the CIA and he shall not trust in anyone. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Tobin Frost was once a well respected CIA agent, until he turned nine years ago, he who is now wanted for espionage. Largely underground, he voluntarily turns himself in to the US government via their consulate in Cape Town, South Africa. From there, he is transferred to a safe house overseen by neophyte CIA agent Matthew Weston, this posting which is relatively low within the bureaucracy. Weston's job is to protect his house guests at all cost. Out of circumstance, Weston and Frost are forced to go on the run from the house, largely without the help of anyone else within the agency, including those at Langley such as Weston's boss David Barlow, Barlow's peer Catherine Linklater who is in charge of the section interrogating Frost, and their superior Deputy Director Harlan Whitford, that is until they are able to give him further instructions. Weston's task is difficult as they are being pursued by some men who are after Frost for some reason and are willing to kill, and Frost is largely an unwilling companion, who tries to undermine Weston, particularly psychologically, and escape at every opportunity. Weston has no idea why Frost came in, something those at Langley are trying to determine. Weston knows his career is on the line if he fails in the mission, that is if he survives. During the process, Weston is continually thinking about his girlfriend, French national Ana Moreau, to who he lied about his job, and thus whose life may be in danger without her even knowing it or ever knowing why it may have been in danger. — Huggo 1 more All