Making his Hollywood debut, Swedish director Daniel Espinosa models this big, noisy espionage thriller on the movies of Tony Scott (Déja Vu, Unstoppable), borrowing his oversaturated color palette, hyped-up editing, macho bluster, and perennial star (Denzel Washington). Yet he never conveys any sort of perspective on the material, as Scott does through his obsessive attention to production detail; the stylization feels empty, distracting from whatever simple pleasures the routine plot (involving double agents and stolen microchips) might have delivered. The Cape Town locations are lovely, and there’s a swell cameo from the underrated character actor Ruben Blades. Ryan Reynolds costars.
Safe House
R • 1 hour 55 min • 2012