Susan Granger's review of "Safe House" on Showtime TV (premiere on 1/24/9 9)
Quite often, particularly this time of year, the best new "movies" are those made-for-TV, and this character-driven action-adventure is one of them. Patrick Stewart (Jean Luc-Picard of "Star Trek: The Next Generation") plays Mace, a retired government official, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, who believes a retired Admiral, now a Presidential candidate, is trying to kill him because he's the last remaining member of an elite, "dirty tricks, hit squad" of the Pentagon. As a result of his suspicions, Mace has become a paranoid recluse living in an impenetrable home in Los Angeles. To protect himself, he's surrounded by the ultimate in state-of-the-art weaponry and hi-tech surveillance equipment. And to keep himself mentally and physically alert, he deliberately stages terrifying "drills" with his poolman. Realizing that the keen mind of this once-elegant and refined gentleman is deteriorating, his daughter hires a perpetually perky, professional in-home caregiver (Kimberly Williams) to look after her father and insists that he regularly visit a psychiatrist (Hector Elizondo) who specializes in gerontology. Initially resentful of the young woman, Mace slowly warms to her but, when he mistakenly shoots at a neighbor's car, he realizes that he's soon going to be "put away" in a locked-care facility. In a race against time, Mace thinks he's prepared for what happens next...but is he? Writer/director Eric Steven Stahl has concocted a highly imaginative, edge-of-your-seat thriller. On the Granger Made-for-TV Movie Gauge, "Safe House" is a suspenseful 7. Don't miss the premiere on Sunday night, January 24, at 8 PM on Showtime TV.
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