Ryan: “Man, the look you gave me afterwards…”

Denzel: “Yeah, it was a REAL look. Like what the f***!? [laughs]”

Ryan: “Well, if it was your first on-set black eye, I’m glad it was by an apologetic Canadian.”

If you’ve seen any of the advertisements and TV spots for the new film Safe House starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, and read the above correspondence, you probably noticed two things: for one, there is clearly a lot of eye candy for women of all ages in this film, okay? But secondly, there is a whole lot of action, including black-eye inducing car accidents like the one mentioned above, that will keep you fully engaged and sucked in. People are running on the tops of houses in the film, getting caught up in the craziest and most visually insane car chases (Ryan actually drove in a few of those scenes), there are knife fights, actual waterboarding (which Washington says he did with NO stunt double), knock down, drag out, swinging brawls…and Denzel. Sounds like a great Friday night flick right?

The two charming and charismatic actors went in depth about their characters during a press junket about the new film recently. Reynolds plays Matt Weston, the sitter of a South African safe house in which criminals are held for interrogation and protection. When his safe house is attacked by rebels hoping to capture ex-CIA agent Tobin Frost, Weston goes from simple house sitter to a pseudo-agent trying to track down, battle, and often protect Frost. Washington plays the rogue agent, who is both calculated, and at times, pretty sociopathic while trying to escape capture from the agency he turned his back on. In preparing for the role, Washington says he worked with CIA operatives and studied the behavior of sociopaths.

“There are different kinds of sociopaths, and they don’t have to all be violent. Many can just like to create chaos because it’s simply a power thing. A sociopath will do anything to win.”

And he sure does. Frost lies, imitates others, kills and goes through a lot more to be victorious in his complex situation. He’s the ultimate bad guy, but he’s bad for good reasons (I can’t go in depth as to why, you’ll have to find out on your own). If you’ve been pining to see Denzel go from good to bad again (because we loved it in Training Day and so did the Academy), but also want to see him get his Street Fighter on like in The Book of Eli, here’s your opportunity. There are so many twists and turns and acts of betrayal in this film, I found myself with the bug eyes many a time (until a swift knee in the back of my chair knocked me back into my senses). Plus, the small side story surrounding Weston’s relationship issues is intriguing–and so is that body Reynolds has may I add!

All in all, Safe House is a pretty good piece of work. I’m not a die-hard action fan so I didn’t go in with the highest expectations–however, I was pleasantly surprised. Aside from a few slower moments of talking every now and again, it’s very entertaining and will keep your attention throughout its 117 minutes. And even if you were to go in that joint sleepy, there’s no way you would you find yourself knocked out. There’s too much intense action and noise for all that. Oh yeah, and hotness…

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