Rating: 
Summary: Authentic portrayal of environmental illness
Review: Thank you to the storytellers of a modern American reality.
This is an educational movie.
Referred to as "sick building syndrome" or "acute environmental
Illness/sensitivity/allergy", it is a real affliction for many whose immune systems are already compromised by the ambient
toxic chemicals in our environment. And, YES, further weakened by
an atmosphere of soulless consumerism and isolation from meaning.
Julianne Moore is her usual stunningly effective character artist.
The pace and tone are perfect for her nervy confidence to go out on a limb in her work.
This was bound to be box office mistake.So unconsoling. It turns one to the truth of ones own ordeal in society. There is just
the mystery of a lone person , misunderstood, struggling against
great odds that are counter to her well being.She is unconsciously in complicity with those forces and learning to reconnect with her authenticity.
I was stunned at how much this movie made me care.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Film, Top Cast. Not one for Christmas Eve though..
Review: Did anyone notice that the time frame of this film was 1987? Only about five years later than the first sightings of AIDS victims in the USA. Even though Carol White was portrayed as a vacuous, self-effacing, and possibly self-loathing homemaker, I don't think that her ailments were psychosomatic. Nor do I believe that her malaise had anything to do with the environment. It made perfect sense that she was seduced into seeking healing and hope at the retreat in New Mexico directed by the New Age charlatan (after all, these people still flourish today).Safe stunningly reveals the cultural arrogance that existed back in the 1980's in any country that was fertile ground for the nouveau wealthy, the already rich, and the affluent. Nice people with nice homes, cars, looks, clothes and very good jobs simply did not get AIDS. Alas, if bank accounts and social acceptability were the only real immunity against venereal and immune deficiency diseases, then most of us would already be dead. Check out the very last scene in the film where Carol White looks intently into the mirror in her quasi-bubble residence. Doesn't it look as though, for all intents and purposes, that Carol is looking extremely ill, her face gaunt and possessing a not so shadowy large dark Kaposi's Sarcoma-like discoloration over her left eyebrow?
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, dark, disturbing, important
Review: This film demonstrates Todd Haynes' cinematic mastery even more so than his newer, more critically praised film "Far from Heaven". His ability to create extreme levels of unease and tension in his audience with seemingly simple scenes is amazing. This film is satiric at times but the satire is so dark you'll more likely cringe than laugh. This film has a similar theme to American Beauty but rather than attempting to be hip and sugar coated this film goes straight for the jugular. No punches are pulled in this shocking and profoundly disturbing vision of the claustrophobic monotony and falsity of life.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie is a real drag
Review: Yes, I noticed how this movie very subtly points out the monotony of so-called 'normal' lives. And usually, I appreciate any film that is willing to do this. Unfortunately, in this film, it all adds up to an excruciatingly monotonous story. If you like movies that drag on forever, scenes that linger on boring people for way too long........this is your movie..:-)
I like Julianne Moore, but here, she is misused. I didn't care about her character. I didn't care about any of the characters. Everyone is just very dull.
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait to see Far From Heaven!
Review: I had to watch Safe twice to make something out of it. I didn't know what to think of it while watching it the first time because I had no idea where it was leading. At the back of my mind I kept wondering how they'll end this film, so all I could do was take in each moment. But when I finally got to the end where she says to herself, "I love you", I thought, that was kind of funny! And the more I thought about it, looking back on the film, the more I realized how funny it was. I appreciated it much better watching it the second time. The impression I got from it was that it was a satire on our society. People are so individualistic and involved in themselves that they close themselves off from everyone else. Julianne Moore's character, Carol White, takes it to the extreme. She lives a meaningless life, trying unhappily to fit into her social role, until one day when she learns of a place where people can be themselves and get better. They don't need to deal with the rest of society anymore, they just need to take care of themselves. It's a pretty funny film if you see the satire in it. And it's really spiffy how the director takes certain shots. In one scene, you can see how much Carol White is turning into a mannequin of society. (As in, how her social role overtakes her.) The director shows her standing in the middle of a room in her house, and she's almost camouflouged with the furniture and decor, like the model housewife she is. Her husband stands on the other side of the room dressed in a sharp business suit completely blending in with his side as well, like the perfect businessman he is. Spiffy, ain't it? Anyway, it's a great film. I wouldn't recommend it if you want to watch something for big laughs...the humour is subtle, but the idea is quite clever and perhaps something that not many people would be aware of because many of us live in that world right now.
Rating: 
Summary: The slowest-moving 'horror' movie ever made.
Review: Yes, Safe is a horror movie. Ostensibly dealing with "environmental illness," the viewer is left to decide whether the heroine is indeed sick or has imagined it all. Regardless, after seeing all types of traditional and non-traditional doctors, Moore's character ends up on an isolated New Mexico retreat where she still can't escape those nasty environmental toxins. Her only "safe" place is inside of a geodesic dome scarcely bigger than a pup tent. Creepy and unsettling. Safe moves at an extremely leisurely pace. Julianne Moore turns in a harrowing performance. I recommend this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Safe can be deadly
Review: I think this is one of the best and most significant films of the 90s. It is a very introspective film, so if you require shootouts, steamy sex scenes and explosions to remain interested, this is definitely not the movie for you. Even fans of independent films may find their attention spans challenged by the deliberately slow paced and downbeat style of Safe. It is, however, well worth paying attention to. I've seen this movie three times now, and I notice more with each viewing. The opening frame, which puts brackets around the title [Safe] is a study in itself. Carol White (the name, like many details in this film, is quite significant), played by Julianne Moore, is an affluent suburban housewife who apparently becomes allergic to everything around her. Yet Safe, which might first seem like a made-for-television disease-of-the-week affair, has a far more subtle and thought-provoking theme than illness. From the start, we are oppressed by the white, sterile perfection of Carol's environment. The interiors of her house could have been designed by a feng shui consultant. The colors are all soft; everything is arranged in perfect symmetry. When a furniture store accidentally delivers a black rather than teal couch to the house, Carol panics (black=impurity). Carol at first attributes her illness to stress and her doctor concurs. Yet her life is anything but stressful; we see her float from the health club to the hair salon to lunch with a friend at a restaurant. Her symptoms worsen, and she learns about environmental illness; "Are you allergic to the 20th Century?" a flyer asks. As Carol becomes unable to cope with her life, she enters Wrenwood, a new age retreat center that promises to cleanse the body and spirit of impurities. Wrenwood preaches a self-righteous philosophy of asceticism, withdrawl from society and positive thinking. In Safe, director Todd Haynes has taken a profound look at some disconcerting aspects of modern society. What is perhaps best about the film is its nuanced performances. Carol, though ill and upset, is never completely out of control for long; she always returns to her "I'm fine" persona (which is part of her problem). The new age center and its staff, which could have been a parody of silliness or cultishness, is similarly subtle. If you listen to what they preach and the effects it has on patients (everyone is always on the verge of tears), you can see the flaws and distortions, but it's sophisticated and plausible enough that you can also see how people might fall for it. Safe suggests that the desire to escape all forms of impurity may be one of the most pathological things about our culture.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm not jaded enough to enjoy "Safe"
Review: Never before has a movie provoked such mixed feelings in me. After reading shining reviews for "Safe", and after seeing the DVD case that proclaims "One of the best movies of the decade! - Village Voice", I bought it sight unseen. This was a mistake. Firstly, I understand the pointlessness of Carol's life, and there are scarce amusing incidents (the couch, for instance). There should have been a better way to *reflect* the futility, rather than mire the audience in it. More clearly, boring stuff is BORING. "Clerks", for instance, showed the everyday dredge of minimum-wage life in a fascinating way. "Safe" shows Julianne Moore, bored at home, bored driving a car, bored at a party, etc. The most interesting undertone (even though it's spoken aloud several times throughout) is the mystery of Carol's condition. We're supposed to assume that it's psychosomatic on some level, but the ending gives us only another little nudge. It felt extremely unsatisfying... there was no denoument, no real climax. There was just, stuff happening, and more often than not, boring stuff happening. I also question this movie's target. It seems to be a ridiculing of "civilization". But, it's set in the 80's. So, now we're at a ridiculing of 80's civilization. Wow, that's NEVER been done before, dot dot dot... Skip "Safe" unless you're one of those people with black-dyed hair and an all-black wardrobe, one of those people who enjoy a fumbling, barely concealed attack on a time and culture that may as well have not existed, like "Safe" itself.
Rating:
Summary: "Safe" made me sick! Cinematic torture...
Review: Safe is perhaps one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It ranks among Ace Ventura 2 and the remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau featuring Marlon Brando. Safe is agonizingly slow, stupefyingly boring and if you're any kind of a skeptic (like myself) you'll be rolling your eyes constantly. Don't waste your time with this stinker. Multiple chemical sensitivity has been defined as ... If you sympathize with people who wear foil beanie caps and live in overturned toilet bowls, this is the movie for you! By the way, I say all of these things as a huge Julianne Moore fan. If it hadn't been for her, I would have stopped the movie 15 minutes into it.
Rating:
Summary: Are you in denial??
Review: This movie isn't for everyone. Some of the reviews below show that there are many folks who simply are unable to see or don't want to see the inherent spiritual void in our current so called 'civilization'. But back to the movie...
I was and am completely unfamiliar with this director's body of work. I rented the movie because I liked Julianne Moore in the movie "Hannibal". At first I thought it was some kind of weird satire on the stepford wife like existence of 1980's suburbia. Then, as the movie progressed, I thought it was a quasi documentary on environmental illness. Then a documentary on a new age type retreat as a solution to this illness. Boy was I wrong on all counts! For me the movie is showing us what is underneath our 'civilization', our technological 'advances' (some of which are killing us), our affluence. And what is that? A deep and profound spiritual void. An emptiness that is truly horrifying. Yes, our environment may be killing us, but worse we may have no spiritual foundation to address the issue. The new age center depicted in the movie certainly couldn't come up with a solution. And the irony of only the affluent being able to afford to go there (I would assume)!
This is by far the most deeply disturbing film I have ever viewed. Beating out "Requiem for a Dream" (a disquieting film about the ravages of drug addiction). However, it is worth it's difficult and tragic moments for the payoff: IT MAKES YOU THINK! What a concept for those who hated the movie!! And, as some reviewers pointed out, the director doesn't bludgeon you over the head with any particular idea. He leaves it to the viewer to suss it out for themselves. In this I have to agree with some of the feeling that this film is a masterpiece, and is worth the angst to begin thinking about the issues, which at bottom include: where are we going folks?
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