"Safe House" from 1998 stars Patrick Stewart, Kimberly Williams, and Hector Elizondo.
Stewart plays Mace Sowell, a former operative for the DIA (not CIA as he's quick to point out) - the Defense Intelligence Agency. Now retired, he lives as if he is about to be killed any second. In his bed is a dummy version of him, while he sleeps in another area; he has a room full of computer monitors which track what's happening on his property, monitors conversations, and he seems to always be signing into something top secret. When he goes out in the car with his daughter Michelle (Joy Kilpatrick), he is heavily disguised and lying on the floor in the back seat. His doctor (Elizondo) prescribes medication for him that he won't take. He periodically schedules "drills" which includes such things as attacks on his home where a masked man (actually his friend Marc) uses his maid as a human shield.
It's clear to Michelle that her father needs round the clock care, as he's in the early stages of Alzheimer's. In order to allow him to stay at home, she hires a social worker, Andi Travers (Williams) to stay with him. Over time, the two form a bond. He tells her that he has enough evidence against his old boss at the DIA, Thomas Michelmore, who is running for President, to ruin his career. Michelmore has already had several people eliminated who knew too much, and Mace believes he is next.
Mace has this evidence on a server that will email it to every news outlet in the world unless it's reset with a new password every 24 hours.
So the question becomes - okay, he probably is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, but is he just paranoid or is someone really out to get him? Is any of this true? It's clear his daughter, her husband, and Mace's doctor don't believe him. Will Andi?
Really fantastic film that keeps you absorbed and involved until the very end with lots of surprise action and humor, all leading up to a fantastic finale.
Patrick Stewart is wonderful as a man who realizes he's going over the edge and fights every second to stave off dementia. Kimberly Williams as his patient and level-headed caretaker does an excellent job throughout, as does James Harlow (Marc) who is constantly coming up with new impressions of actors, everyone from Jim Nabors to Jimmy Stewart.
Highly recommended.
