Film Review: SAFE HOUSE (2012)

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Writer: David Guggenheim
Running time: 115 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama
UK Release date: 24^th February 2012

Watched on Sky+ Monday 24^th December 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I admit I’m partial to the odd espionage thriller and, on the surface of it; this one appeared to fit the bill. And for the most part, it did; there were a few niggles which I’ll get into later. For now, here’s a very brief summary.

When former CIA agent Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), now considered rogue, turns himself in to the US Consulate in Cape Town, he is sent to a safe house to await interrogation. This particular house is looked after by a young agent; Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds). He is looking to improve his lot and when the interrogation begins the house is attacked. The interrogation team are killed but Weston escapes with Frost; who is soon trying to get into the young agent’s head. Weston contacts headquarters and his superiors; Catherine Linklater (Vera Farmiga) and David Barlow (Brendan Gleeson) tell him to bide his time while they organise an extraction team. But is Frost right, can he really trust them? I’ll leave it there or an interrogation squad will be looking for me (again).

A well made film with some nice stunt work and an awful lot of fight sequences; maybe a couple too many IMO. The performances from both Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds were pretty good, although nobody was particularly stretched. Plot-wise, I guess it was ok but it didn’t particularly do anything we haven’t seen before. If anything I found it about fifteen minutes too long, but still worth a look if you have a couple of hours spare.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED (…Just)

My score: 7.1/10

IMDb Score: 6.8/10 (based on 86,801 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1599348/

MetaScore: 52/100: (Based on 36 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 53/100 (based on 82 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 65/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 105,660 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/safe_house_2012/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Tobin Frost: That house was a secure location. Whoever crashed it didn't stop by a gas station and ask for directions to the nearest safe house. They were invited. Someone told them, Matthew. Think about it. Someone you know, so you better ask yourself, can you trust your landlord?
Matt Weston: Go ahead. You're not gonna get in my head.
Tobin Frost: I already am in your head. They're going to isolate you, Matt. They're going to be real nice to you at first. They're going to put their arm around you and tell you things like, "You did a decent job, son. We'll take it from here." That's when you know you're screwed. Forget about me, they're going to focus on you. They're going to try and make a connection between you and I. So that if this all goes wrong, they'll have something to fall back on in their little Senate hearings. I'm not your only enemy tonight.

Matt Weston: Are you going to kill me?
Tobin Frost: [Frost shoots the wall next to Weston's head] I only kill professionals.

[on the run, advised to follow protocol]
Matt Weston: Protocol? There is no protocol for this?

LINKS:
Trailer:

Film Review: IN BRUGES (2008) – Re-visited

Writer/Director: Martin McDonagh
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Comedy
UK Release date: 18^th April 2008

Watched on Sky+ Monday 24^th December 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is my third viewing of this film; I guess I must like it! Very darkly comic with more than a hint of tragedy underlying the narrative; with each viewing I get more out of it. I don’t know whether it’s Colin Farrell’s portrayal of the slightly dim witted hit man or Brendan Gleeson’s take on the world weary and more experienced practitioner of the art. But I find myself having great affection for these two characters despite the fact I really shouldn’t! But I digress, here’s a brief summary before I expand on my thoughts some more… I should say, for the record, that what follows is mostly my original review with a few tweaks and additions.

Two hit men, Ray and Ken have been sent to lie low in Bruges (Belgium, for those that don’t know where it is) by their boss, Harry, after a bungled hit. They check into their hotel only to find, to their dismay, that they will be sharing a room. This does not go down well, but it’s near Christmas and everywhere is fully booked. The two men are complete opposites, Ken is quite cultured and is happy to go sightseeing in the medieval city. Ray, on the other hand, is much younger and would be happier spending his time in a bar. Ken insists they do some culture and Ray acts like a bored teenager. That is until he discovers a film crew who have a dwarf in the cast, he is fascinated with Jimmy. There he also meets the mysterious Chloe, who he invites out on a date. That evening Harry calls and tells Ken the real purpose for their visit. I will leave my summary here so as not to enrage the spoiler police too much.

I think the Bruges tourist board will be very happy with this film; the medieval architecture comes across beautifully. The cinematography is great and the setting adds real atmosphere. Great performances all round, particularly from; Colin Farrell as Ray, Brendan Gleeson as Ken and Ralph Fiennes as Harry, all were excellent. Honourable mentions also go to; Clémence Poésy as Chloe and Jordan Prentice as Jimmy, both were also very good.

There are a lot of comic moments in this film, mainly in the form of the things Ray says and does. Few films make me laugh out loud, but this one did in more than a couple of places. The drama comes mainly in the final third and I found this put a much darker complexion on the comedic scenes that preceded it. I liked the ending; it seemed quite poetic in a way (sorry, no clues). Over all, a very enjoyable film with some laughs, excellent cinematography and some great performances…

SteelMonster’s verdict: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.3/10

IMDb Score: 8.0/10 (based on 188,049 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/

MetaScore: 67/100: (Based on 34 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 82/100 (based on 160 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 85/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 64,222 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_bruges/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE
[first lines]
Ray: After I killed him, I dropped the gun in the Thames, washed the residue off me hands in the bathroom of a Burger King, and walked home to await instructions. Shortly thereafter the instructions came through - "Get the fuck out of London, you dumb fucks. Get to Bruges." I didn't even know where Bruges fucking was.
[pause]
Ray: It's in Belgium.

Ken: Coming up?
Ray: What's up there?
Ken: The view.
Ray: The view of what? The view of down here? I can see that down here.
Ken: Ray, you are about the worst tourist in the whole world.
Ray: Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.

Ray: [reading Harry's profanity-ridden message] Geez, he's swears a lot, doesn't he?

Ray: [after Jimmy doesn't wave back to Ray] Little fucking cunt.

Ray: I saw your midget today. Little prick didn't even say hello.
Chloë: Well, he's on a lot of ketamine.
Ray: What's that?
Chloë: Um, horse tranquilizer.
Ray: Horse tranquilizer? Where'd he get that?
Chloë: I sold it to him.
Ray: You can't sell horse tranquilizers to a midget!

Ken: You from the States?
Jimmy: Yeah. But don't hold it against me.
Ken: I'll try not to... Just try not to say anything too loud or crass.

Marie: [to Ray and Harry] Why don't you both put your guns down, and go home?
Harry: Don't be stupid. This is the shootout.

LINKS:
Trailer:

Film Review: THE GUARD (2011)

Writer/Director: John Michael McDonagh
Running time: 92 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Thriller
UK Release date: 19^th August 2011

Watched on DVD Sunday 1^st July 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is a recent purchase which I was quite keen to see having heard it was well received by the critics. I have to admit it was a bit of a bargain (at £5) for a film that was released over here less than a year ago. That being said, it was well worth the investment; easily surpassing the ‘six laugh test’, a darkly comic look at life in the Police (or Garda) in the west of Ireland. I will tell you more after this very brief summary.

Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a bit of a loner, he is quite set in his ways and doesn’t like anything upsetting the boat. When he’s assigned a new officer from Dublin, Garda Aidan McBride, he doesn’t take too kindly to the situation. A murder has been committed and a man from the FBI, agent Wendell Everett has come to tell them about a drug smuggling operation about to go down in their area. When McBride goes missing, they suspect the drug smugglers; Francis Sheehy-Skelfington, Liam O’Leary and Clive Cornell are responsible. Throw into the mix a couple of prostitutes, McBride’s wife, Gabriela, some bent cops and Boyle’s sick mother and you’ve got all the ingredients for an interesting film. I really don’t want to say any more or the Spoiler Police (Garda Division) will have me cleaning out the cells (again).

Well made with quite a bleak feel to things, particularly the outside scenes, but then again I guess the west of Ireland is a pretty bleak place at times. Great performances all round, particularly from Brendan Gleeson as Sergeant Gerry Boyle and Don Cheadle as FBI agent Wendell Everett. Honourable mentions go to; Liam Cunningham as Francis Sheehy-Skelfington, David Wilmot as Liam O’Leary, Mark Strong as Clive Cornell and Katarina Cas as Gabriela McBride.

I should warn potential viewers that there is an awful lot of swearing in this film, a few may be offended. There is much to admire here, the extremely dark humour of Boyle is countered by the semi-intellectual banter between the smugglers quite brilliantly. The counterpoint between Boyle and FBI agent Everett also works very well. I found it very enjoyable with many subtle comic moments that are not spoon-fed to the audience as in many other films I could name. Over all, I found it very entertaining and was only let down (IMO) by a scene referencing the IRA that I (for one) could have lived without. Even so… RECOMMENDED.

My score: 7.5/10

IMDb Score: 7.3/10 (based on 27,277 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1540133/

MetaScore: 78/100: (Based on 29 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 95/100 (based on 121 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 81/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 21,341 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_guard_2011/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE
Sergeant Gerry Boyle: I'm Irish. Racism is part of my culture.

Sergeant Gerry Boyle: Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, these men are armed and dangerous, and you being an FBI agent you're more used to shooting at unarmed women and children...
FBI agent Wendell Everett: Oh, fuck you, Sergeant!

Garda Aidan McBride: I'm on it sarge.
Sergeant Gerry Boyle: "I'm on it Sarge." He thinks he's in fuckin' Detroit.

Detective: Like a donkey fucking a hippopotamus, it's party time.

FBI agent Wendell Everett: You know, I can't tell if you're really motherfuckin' dumb, or really motherfuckin' smart.

FBI agent Wendell Everett: You have anybody you want me to call?
Sergeant Gerry Boyle: Nah, I don't have anybody. Just pin a medal on my body like those boys coming home from Iraq.
FBI agent Wendell Everett: Fuck you again Sergeant.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.sonyclassics.com/theguard/
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGuardFilm
Trailer: