Safe House

Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. Rated R.

A young CIA agent assigned to look after a fugitive in a safe house finds himself on the run with his charge when the house is attacked.
Reynolds is perfectly acceptable as a CIA upstart in over his head, though he’s far less convincing following his transformation into a standard-issue action hero, equal parts super-spy and overgrown Boy Scout. Thanks largely to Washington’s sly performance and Daniel Espinosa’s taut direction, Safe House gets off to a strong start, but the tension slackens halfway through and never recovers.