Safe House (1998)

This is without a doubt my favorite movie of ALL TIME! Patrick Stewart's performance is nothing less than captivating. One minute you're laughing you're head off, the next you're sympathizing with him. I won't give it away but the ending is awesome. It's so perfect! A movie that you both can and can't take seriously all at the same time! You can laugh one moment, and think in the next. Hilarious and convincing characters that could only exist in a movie, but keep you on the edge of your seat. And it has a plot that's easy to understand but keeps you guessing. Mr. Stewart is a true actor in every since of the word, and this little known nugget is one of his finest works. IT'S A MUST SEE!

This is a film about paranoia. When you think you're being watched, your every move being documented, your every action recorded and analyzed. Mace Sowell, an ex-military officer from a covert operations team no one knows about, is confined to his home, because he fears for his life. His daughter doesn't think that he is in danger, instead, she just thinks he's getting senile, or maybe he's just paranoid. He regularly runs 'drills' in order to keep himself prepared for any direct strike on his house. Meanwhile, he also discovers that he's slowly developing Alzheimer's Disease, which only makes things worse. The plot is great, the idea is quite original, and the movie moves along at a great pace; every scene has some development in the plot, and often it also has some great humor. The film delivers a great sense of paranoia all the way through. The acting is great, both by Patrick Stewart and Kimberly Williams. The consistent paranoia, the various intense scenes that are easily explained once they're over, the overall mood of the film, it all leads up to an exciting climax that only few will be able to figure out until it happens. All in all, a great thriller about paranoia. I recommend this to fans of thrillers, especially fans that are fond of conspiracy theories and paranoia in thrillers. 8/10

Alright, one day I was flipping through one of the pay movie channels when I stumbled upon this understated film. It was the first work I had seen of Stewarts outside of ST: TNG and I was curious to see how he could fare in a non space captain role. While it's not as good as the potential it exhumes, I accept that it was a made for TV movie and thus budgeted accordingly. The supporting cast does its job decently (the chick from Father of The Bride and Hector "I'm one good character actor" elizondo are perfect), but Stewart! Man this guy pulls off the paranoid ex-information agent suffering from alzheimers perfectly. The ending is a twist, but the best scene has to be when Mace (stewart) thinks a limo has arrived to assasinate him and he pops a gun out and starts shooting! Only problem is, it really is just a limo, or is it? This film will have you as confused as Stewart plays, and I'd say that's pretty darn good for a flick you've most likely never heard of. It's fun to find low budget films gone straight to TV that are actually good. "Safe House" is one of them. I give this one a solid "B" grade and you should give it chance.

Every time I see Patrick Stewart I become more and more impressed by this actor's versatility. From Shakespeare to SciFi, from drama to suspense to historical epic, Stewart does it all, and does it very well. With "Safe House," Stewart demonstrates a wide range of talent, including - what I enjoyed most - a flair for subtle comedy, unexpected in a movie billed as a suspense flick.I have to admit first off that if you're looking for a hair-raising, edge of your seat thriller, look elsewhere. I spent a lot more of my time sitting back chuckling than I did on the edge of my seat - and I mean that positively. This was a very funny movie in many ways, laced with some tense moments. Stewart plays Mace Sowell, a man suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease, who tries to convince his daughter Michelle (played by Joy Kilpatrick) that the life she thought he had lived had been a lie, and that he had really been a military intelligence officer whose life was now in danger because of the things he knew. She, of course, assumes that her father is delusional because of the Alzheimer's, and hires a caregiver (Andi Travers, played by Kimberley Williams in a pretty decent performance) who Sowell distrusts from the start, but finally begins to warm up to. There's the outline of a pretty suspenseful movie there, except for one basic fault: I had this thing figured out within about 10-15 minutes of the opening! It's very predictable. However, I must confess that the decision to have Sowell suffering from Alzheimer's throws a wild card into this, and there were a few times when, with the twists and turns that happen, and with Sowell's obvious confusion, I began to doubt what I had assumed would happen. So it definitely managed to hold my interest. Stewart, in addition to some wonderfully funny scenes, also showed his dramatic flair as he portrays Sowell struggling with his emotions as he confronts the disease beginning to ravage his mind.Most of the other performances in the movie are solid but unspectacular. I frankly found the character of Stuart (played by Craig Shoemaker) to be nothing less than irritating. Why he had to play almost every scene at least partly impersonating a famous actor was beyond me, and I really just wanted him to go away after a while. Hector Elizondo as Dr. Simon, Sowell's psychiatrist, was underused and offered little.Basically, though, this is a pretty good movie. I'd rate it as a 7/10.