Daniel Espinosa's over-edited but engaging spy thriller delves into edgy territory untouched by any of the numerous movies it imitates: it has Brendan Gleeson do an American accent. And it's not bad, as the Irish actor plays a CIA station head in Cape Town, whose understudy Matt (Ryan Reynolds) bristles at having to serve time in the dull post of safe-house attendant. Things pick up fast when they bring turncoat Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) into his site for interrogation. No sooner than you can say Salt, The Bourne Identity, Three Days of the Condor, The Defiant Ones, etc., Matt must flee with Frost from mystery assassins and seek refuge with his Company handlers. Reynolds shows range as the tyro out of his depth, and Washington's mere presence grants credibility to implausible scenes. The film also broaches another controversial topic. Watching a waterboarding, someone asks, "Is that legal?" No one answers.
