AllMovie

Safe House is a thoughtful, if gradually paced, thriller that explores a fascinating issue: how the crisis of a degenerative brain disease becomes greater when it involves someone burdened with secret information. Not only might the information die, or at least lose its credibility once the affliction reaches a certain level, but the Alzheimer's patient will also lose the ability to defend himself against his enemies, especially when his loved ones don't believe they exist. The intelligent subject matter and an unrestrained performance from Patrick Stewart elevate Safe House above the usual straight-to-video fodder. Stewart's work adds dimension to an already thoughtful screenplay, and the details of his blockading his home against outsiders -- the behavior of either a deranged fool or a prudent planner, it's hard to say which -- make for funny material with built-in ambiguity. Even the viewer is not always sure what's real and what's only a manifestation of Mace Sowell's henpecked mind. His relationship with the young psychiatrist (Kimberly Williams) develops in a manner free from cliché. All of this makes Safe House a minor original worth seeking out.