Barnes & Noble

Leave it to Todd Haynes (Poison, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story) to employ that mysterious malady of the late 20th century, environmental illness, as a vehicle for an icily brilliant critique of contemporary society. Playing subtly with the conventions of both melodrama and satire, Safe poses the question: What happens when someone becomes allergic to the world? Julianne Moore (at her frailest) is Carol, a housewife in suburban Southern California who is suddenly made sick and anxious by everything around her -- her home, her husband (the brilliantly understated Xander Berkeley), her life. She retreats to a remote spa, and there she begins to steadily withdraw from the world. Moore, though blank-eyed and pale throughout, never really looks "sick"; does that mean she's actually well, or are we all unwell? Haynes is calm and deliberately paced in his approach, never becoming ham-fisted with his humor. Consequently, the realization that the world around us is very faulty becomes very real. Recently voted the best film of the '90s in a critics' poll conducted by the Village Voice, Safe is a quiet dynamo. Pete Segall

All Movie Guide

Todd Haynes presents a revisionist take on the paranoia thriller with this story of a Southern California housewife who suddenly falls victim to an inexplicable, apparently incurable illness. Carol White (Julianne Moore) lives with her husband and son in suburban comfort until she collapses one day, for no apparent reason. Her condition worsens in the weeks that follow, as she suffers from coughing fits, exhaustion, and spontaneous nose bleeds, triggered by sources as disparate as car exhaust, cologne, and the sun. Failing to find any medical explanation for her maladies, her doctor refers her to a psychiatrist, who suggests that her physical ailments are psychosomatic -- a theory echoed by her callous and increasingly frustrated husband. At her wits' end, Carol withdraws to an expensive New Age retreat for sufferers of "20th century disease," where the community's guru (Peter Friedman) champions a dubious regimen of diet, climate control, introspection, and self-love. Michael Hastings

Washington Post

...tremendously affecting and eerily compassionate.... [Moore] turns her potentially gonzo-neurotic archetype into a tender being, whose anguish and plight become charged with moral importance. Instead of playing mere spiraling victim, she infuses her persona with extraordinary grace, so that her struggle is shared by all of us. Desson Howe

Product Details

• UPC: 043396060180
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 1:59:00

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