Safe House

Plot

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

Release Year: 1998

Rating: 6.9/10 (1,480 voted)

Director:
Eric Steven Stahl

Stars: Patrick Stewart, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Hector Elizondo

Storyline
A psychological thriller; Mace Sowell, an ex-intelligence operative and whose past government activities catches up with him, faces his own mortality, in the shape of the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Holding the electronic key to secret information which implicates a Presidential front-runner, Mace struggles for his life while battling the debilitating effects of the disease.

Writers: Eric Steven Stahl, John Schalter

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

Taglines:
The less you know, the safer you are.

Release Date: 24 January 1999

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Factual errors:
In two of the early scenes of the chessboard coffee table, the pieces are set up wrong. A player always has a white square in the lower right corner. Later, when the characters are playing a game, the board is set up correctly.

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'!

User Review

Fascinating premise and interesting movie

Rating: 9/10


The concept of making the audience wonder whether the hero is really
being threatened or is the victim of delusions, has been used several
times recently. I enjoyed this take on it better than most and I love
Patrick Stewart in any role! I hadn't expected it to be so
heart-wrenching at times, but it was. One scene, in which Mace (P.S.)is
doing a cognitive test for his doctor, was particularly effective. As a
result, this was not only a suspense movie it had some very realistic
portrayals of the slow but steady mental decline of Alzheimer's
victims–and how tragic that is, as they realize it is happening. I
think I appreciated that accurate and informational aspect as much as I
did the mystery of Mace's activities with his complex computer set-up.
I watched this while walking on my treadmill and usually do a movie in
two sessions. This one kept me going through the entire time.