Denzel Washington. Even today that name alone is enough to put people in the seats. I know it worked for Cordell and myself! Ryan Reynolds on the other hand, while having some talent, he still conjured up memories of the worst comic book adaptation in recent memory. But it is these two that headline the new action thrillerÂ SafeÂ House.. Now this is a movie that lingered in development hell for a few years as a blacklisted script by David Guggenheim. To be honest, I wouldnâ€™t go so far as to say it should have stayed there, but I think it definitely needed more work before they made it into a film. The thing was obviously put there for a reason! Have we lowered our standards so much that we will reach into the trash bin before venturing out into unexplored territory for a new and compelling story?!

It was written formulaically, and I suppose thatâ€™s fine but only when you can change up the formulae enough that it passes for almost original; a hard thing to do these days. I just donâ€™t think that the script got a rewrite before it went in front of the cameras. They set up a twist that you can see from minute one, they donâ€™t develop your characters in a believable fashion, and you are not really invested in the fate of your protagonists. I mean, I liked Denzel a lot in this but, I wasnâ€™t really all hat worried about him, and Ryan Reynolds? Who cares? The action was similarly one dimensional; I think they went down to the Michael Bay discount warehouse and bought themselves a vanilla car chase or two, some lovely gun fights and bouquet of hand to hand fights. It was OK, I guess is the thing to take away from this, weekend actioneer that will be forgotten once a more flashy movie makes its way onto screen. Ghost rider may even be the one to do it, but weâ€™ll wait and see.

Conclusion: It’s worth a matinee viewing, but that’s about it.

Until next time…

See you at the theater!