Not Safe for Work (2014) Reviews

• Much better than its current IMDb summary would suggest.

  MartinHafer2014-05-12

  "An office worker is trapped inside the building where a killer is on the loose." This is the summary for Not Safe for Work that is on IMDb. Nothing more is given about the plot and I assumed this film was sort of like a Halloween or Friday 13th movie with some maniac chasing a poor guy about the building trying to kill him. Fortunately, this is NOT what this film turned out to be and the plot is MUCH more complex and satisfying than just some maniac murdering folks. Instead, it's a pretty good little film—one that is not all about gratuitous violence. In fact, several times the film did have people killed but the director, Joe Johnston, chose not to show the violence in all its nastiness— something I really appreciated. Instead, this film is also about WHY all this was occurring instead of just about the killing—a smart decision in my opinion. The film is told from the viewpoint of Tom (Max Minghella)—a lowly paralegal at a HUGE law firm. Because Tom is ambitious, however, he's gotten on the bad side of his bosses. They just want him to shut up and do his job. His desire to rise above the masses of paralegals gets him fired early on in the film. However, as he's leaving the RBE law firm for, supposedly, the last time, he notices something strange—a hand off between two folks in the lobby. In other words, as one guy is leaving the building, another brings him an attaché case and 'accidentally' leaves it behind and the guy entering picks it up and proceeds up the elevators to the firm. That's certainly odd and Tom follows to see what's happening. Once there, he's shocked to see it's MUCH more serious than he thought, as he sees this man with the briefcase shoot one of the office workers in cold blood. Fortunately, the place is just about empty and the body count is low…and perhaps that is why the man is there at that time. Regardless, Tom is scared to death but cannot leave as well because the killer somehow has managed to disable most of the electronics in the building. The killer's very systematic and he clearly is NOT some random maniac—some sort of conspiracy is clearly afoot. So how is poor Tom to survive—especially when the killer realizes that there is someone else in the office? Not Safe for Work turns out to be a very taut and well executed thriller that is much more like Die Hard than Friday the 13th! The direction is very nice and the acting quite believable and I do recommend you see it. I especially appreciate the rather dark conspiratorial angle about the film and the ending that is a bit reminiscent of the old Warren Beatty film The Parallax View. My only complaint, and you may not notice or care (since I am an obsessive detail person when it comes to film plots), but at one point in the film another woman is shot and killed by the killer. However, she tried to fight back and tried to shoot the guy a gun hidden in her purse. The killer did not know that Tom was hiding in the room. So after the killer left the room, why didn't Tom bother to get the gun from the dead woman?!?! This is the sort of thing that doesn't ruin the film but makes me wonder how they missed this. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens a lot in films and it's a cliché I really dislike. Despite my small rant, see the film. It's worth your time and is awfully good and just goes to show you that you don't need mega-stars and mega-budgets to make a good film.

  More

• Surprisingly good thriller

  daggersineyes2014-12-31

  I think it deserves more than it's current rating of 5. This is a very tight, well directed & acted one-location thriller that can hold it's own against thrillers that had a much larger budget. The actors in this were all fantastic especially the two leads - "Tom" and the exceptionally creepy "hitman". I do love a well acted bad guy!! :) There isn't a lot to say about this flick. It has a fairly simple plot that isn't tremendously original but it's done so darn well it doesn't matter. Could have used a bit more action and maybe more character development but it's nevertheless well worth watching. Delightful! Far better than the eerily similar recent release "Free Fall"

  More

• Decent action/espionage piece Tom has his hands full.

  face-819-9337262014-05-11

  This is a decent little espionage/thriller not so much Die Hard but smart, and most of the technical stuff is done right. You have a story about Tom who is having himself just the worst day at work, and you get a fair bit of back story filler with an understanding of the office itself, and the fact that Tom is very familiar with the layout, and how to get around quickly. The meat of the story like most of these evil corporation stories has flaws all through out, and there are things that Tom should pick up on and he just doesn't, and there are some things that I was hoping to actually see that they did mostly right. HID obviously paid a good deal into this movie, and other than Tom's card not getting any reaction from the readers later in the movie (that can not happen unless the card is broken, the reader will always see something otherwise) the set up was perfect, and it almost makes me think this is a sales video made just for them. I did Enjoy the main story, and was able to forgive a few phone things that they tried to make work that didn't, though the running around was close to being convincing, there were a couple of times that they have Tom run down the wrong hallway, and get back to the bullpen. In the end I do recommend this as a rainy day afternoon filler film that will entertain you, and might give you a few heart racing moments, then you will just forget it. Not the worst movie, mostly just middle of the road stuff though. Jesse of Jesse.ca

  More

• fantastic thriller...

  rajathantony2014-05-13

  Fantastic...go and see it... the plot revolves around an intern working in a law firm where he notices unusual turn of events at the time of his dismissal from work. He further investigates to know why and how.. This is a movie which will keep you at the edge of your seat. This movie is indeed an intelligent movie made with good script and direction. Its filled with twist and turn and with no spoilers..no blood shed of a sort.. quick canny and worth watching.. The script indeed knows the targeted audience and I would recommend every one who is a fan of thriller to see it ... this movie will be in my records...Go and watch it..

  More

• A low budget thriller that is pretty much what you expect

  krachtm2014-11-15

  The plot: On the day that he is fired, an idealistic paralegal witnesses a professional killer murder one of his former coworkers at a legal firm. I guess the setup isn't too original, but that's fine with me. I'm always up for a thriller in which a witness is hunted down by a hit-man. The plot is vaguely topical, and it should appeal to those who rail against "big pharma". The setting is law firm engaged in legal action against a giant pharmaceutical company, and there is occasional commentary about corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. There are a number of minor problems with the film, but I don't think any of them make it unwatchable. If you're more interested in entertainment value than originality, and you're forgiving of plot holes, I think you could do worse than this. The ending has received a bit of criticism here, but I thought it was perfectly fine. However, if you're the kind of person who wants every single plot element fully resolved, I can see how that would annoy you. There isn't any gore, nudity, or excessively harsh language, and the violence is fairly restrained. There isn't really all that much atmosphere, but Mindhella and Feild do a decent job. For a direct-to-video thriller, I'd say it's about what you might be expecting: flawed but watchable, unoriginal but entertaining.

  More