Safe House (2012)
Directed by Daniel Espinosa
A dangerous CIA renegade resurfaces after a decade on the run. When the safe house he's remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.
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5 films that influenced Safe House
What critics say influenced Safe House
Director Espinosa stages the endless action with a tremendous flair that recalls John Woo's grittier moments, and cinematographer Oliver Wood, who shot Woo's finest Hollywood moment, Face/Off, gives the whole violent show a downright brackish look that borders on the sublime.
From its swirling action-driven trailer, Safe House suggests a Tony Scott rip-off, as if director Daniel Espinosa had purposefully crossbred Man on Fire 's hallucinatory visual grit with Spy Game 's teacher/student plotline.
Think Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (who went from The Lives of Others to The Tourist ), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (from The City of Lost Children to Alien Resurrection ), or Oliver Hirschbiegel (from Downfall to The Invasion ).
The plot that first-time screenwriter David Guggenheim has orchestrated is strictly generic, the film's visuals courtesy of cinematographer Oliver Wood (2010's " The Other Guys ") are pure uninspired grit, the characters are rail-thin and uninteresting, and the pacing?even when it's moving?seems to just be running in place.
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Think Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (who went from The Lives of Others to The Tourist ), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (from The City of Lost Children to Alien Resurrection ), or Oliver Hirschbiegel (from Downfall to The Invasion ).