Safe House (1998)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Eric Steven Stahl

Writers:

Eric Steven Stahl (story) &
John Schalter (story) ...

Release Date:

24 January 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

The less you know, the safer you are.

Plot:

A psychological thriller; Mace Sowell, an ex-intelligence operative and whose past government activities catches up with him...

Plot Keywords:

Alzheimer's Disease | Spy | Paranoid | Paranoia | Conspiracy Theory

Cast

Patrick Stewart	...	Mace Sowell
Kimberly Williams-Paisley	...	Andi Travers (as Kimberly Williams)
Hector Elizondo	...	Dr. Simon
Joy Kilpatrick	...	Michelle Sowell-Ross
Craig Shoemaker	...	Stuart Bittenbinder
James Harlow	...	Marc Ross
Richard Livingston	...	Admiral Thomas Michelmore
Julia Vera	...	Teresa
Brenda James	...	Asthma Girl Interviewee (as Brenda Klemme)
Robert Lee Barry	...	Rocket Scientist Interviewee
Scott Zacky	...	Wise Guy Interviewee
Wayne Demaline	...	'Butch' The Redneck Interviewee
Hank Garrett	...	Hitman / Postman

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Benjamin Productions

Trivia:

Hank Garrett, who plays the mailman whose pen runs out of ink, played essentially the same role in Three Days of the Condor (1975).

Goofs:

Continuity: Andi Travers looks for something to hit the "intruder" with during the first "drill" she witnesses. She looks like she is reaching for something when the viewpoint changes. You can see the handle of a gold club that she is holding. The viewpoint changes back to the oriGinal one and we see Andi reach for and pick up a golf club (the one she was just holding).

Quotes:

Mace: What sort of name is 'Andi' for a girl?
Andi: It's short for Andrea. What sort of name is 'Mace'?
Mace: It's short for 'in your face'!

Movie Connections:

References Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Good premise, poor execution.

"Safe House" shows us a public service retiree (Stewart) with early Alzheimers secluded in a suburban home with a fantastic maze of electronic surveillance equipment, an armory, and a beautiful young caregiver (Williams) to protect him from what he believes to be a plot to get him and what his grown kids believe is simple disease-related paranoia. What could have been a good thriller/suspense/psychodrama is unfortunately brought to the small screen as a comedy cum drama cum farce cum whatever. Although the flick has its moments, they're few and far between and a good premise sinks under the awkward one-man-band execution.