Safe Haven Reviews
Nicki M
Super Reviewer
April 26, 2013
The good part of the movie is about 15 minutes before the end - finally some drama and scares! The actual end, however, had me reaching for a vomit bucket with that note, and actually I didn't get who the wife was until I read someone else's spoiler. She kind of looked different in the writing scene. So yes, fail.
Better than some Nicholas Sparks movies, at least this one does have a plot and some darker themes. But I still felt like I was watching a Hallmark movie, and who the hell is Julianne Hough? No one who can act, that's for sure. I didn't buy her as a coupe with Josh Duhamel for a minute.
The good part of the movie is about 15 minutes before the end - finally some drama and scares! The actual end, however, had me reaching for a vomit bucket with that note, and actually I didn't get who the wife was until I read someone else's spoiler. She kind of looked different in the writing scene. So yes, fail.
thmtsang
Super Reviewer
March 11, 2013
I like Nicholas Sparks based movies. I thought it was going to be another The Notebook weepy but it was a love story with thriller edge to it. Great cast. Beautiful on screen couple Josh and Julianne. Good story - similar to Sleeping with the Enemy. The last few scenes were a bit off the wall.
www.themoviewaffler.com
Super Reviewer
February 13, 2013
'Safe Haven' is the latest big-screen adaptation of a novel by that literary force of nature, Nicholas Sparks, an author who I imagine woos females with the pick-up line "Hello, I'm Nicholas Sparks". His books, and the resulting films, ('The Notebook', 'Dear John', 'The Lucky One' etc), usually follow a similar template involving a mysterious leading male character and a smitten female who helps him confront his demons. With 'Safe Haven', he turns this idea on his head, positioning Katie as the troubled lead running from her past. For most of the film, the story plays like 'The Fugitive' meets 'Dawson's Creek'. Then things take a bizarre twist. Spoilers to follow...
I usually attempt my best to avoid spoilers but there's really no way to discuss this film without analyzing its two major, and completely ludicrous, plot twists. Throughout the first half of the film we see Detective Tierney harass the elderly neighbor who helped Katie escape. He even shows her a photo of Katie for identification purposes. Then, in the third act, it's revealed that Tierney is none other than Katie's abusive husband whom she stabbed when he attacked her in a drunken rage. This makes absolutely no sense for two reasons. Firstly, we now know he lives across the street from the elderly lady and so obviously knows she would know who his wife is. Why didn't he just ask her "have you seen my wife?". Secondly, at the beginning of the movie we saw him chasing Katie through a bus station with no evidence of a knife wound in his side. As if that wasn't enough, we get the double whammy of a final plot twist which has to go down as the "WTF?" moment of the year. Throughout the film, we see Katie befriend Jo (Smulders), a straight-talkin' Southern girl who encourages Katie's interest in Alex. Well, it turns out Jo is actually no less than the ghost of Alex's dead wife. Had this been a horror movie I would have probably seen that one coming but I never expected a Nicholas Sparks movie to enter 'Sixth Sense' territory.
If you fancy some unintentional laughs, 'Safe Haven' is a gold-mine, one of the most bizarre films you'll see all year.
Katie (Hough) flees her home, leaving a bloodied body behind her. Seeking refuge with a neighbor, she changes her hair from long and brunette to short and blond before heading to the nearest bus station. There she evades Detective Tierney (Lyons) and takes a bus to the small town of Southport, an idyllic community on the North Carolina coast. In Southport, Katie takes a job at a diner and befriends general store owner Alex, a widowed father of two. She plans to make a fresh start, (and we know this because the tin of paint she purchases just happens to be labelled 'Fresh Start'). Despite her initial reservations, Katie's relationship with Alex takes a romantic turn. When Alex sees her face on a wanted poster in the local police station he confronts her, leaving Katie a choice to make on how to live with her secret.
'Safe Haven' is the latest big-screen adaptation of a novel by that literary force of nature, Nicholas Sparks, an author who I imagine woos females with the pick-up line "Hello, I'm Nicholas Sparks". His books, and the resulting films, ('The Notebook', 'Dear John', 'The Lucky One' etc), usually follow a similar template involving a mysterious leading male character and a smitten female who helps him confront his demons. With 'Safe Haven', he turns this idea on his head, positioning Katie as the troubled lead running from her past. For most of the film, the story plays like 'The Fugitive' meets 'Dawson's Creek'. Then things take a bizarre twist. Spoilers to follow...
I usually attempt my best to avoid spoilers but there's really no way to discuss this film without analyzing its two major, and completely ludicrous, plot twists. Throughout the first half of the film we see Detective Tierney harass the elderly neighbor who helped Katie escape. He even shows her a photo of Katie for identification purposes. Then, in the third act, it's revealed that Tierney is none other than Katie's abusive husband whom she stabbed when he attacked her in a drunken rage. This makes absolutely no sense for two reasons. Firstly, we now know he lives across the street from the elderly lady and so obviously knows she would know who his wife is. Why didn't he just ask her "have you seen my wife?". Secondly, at the beginning of the movie we saw him chasing Katie through a bus station with no evidence of a knife wound in his side. As if that wasn't enough, we get the double whammy of a final plot twist which has to go down as the "WTF?" moment of the year. Throughout the film, we see Katie befriend Jo (Smulders), a straight-talkin' Southern girl who encourages Katie's interest in Alex. Well, it turns out Jo is actually no less than the ghost of Alex's dead wife. Had this been a horror movie I would have probably seen that one coming but I never expected a Nicholas Sparks movie to enter 'Sixth Sense' territory.
If you fancy some unintentional laughs, 'Safe Haven' is a gold-mine, one of the most bizarre films you'll see all year.
Cameron W. Johnson
Super Reviewer
April 30, 2013
You know that strengths are slim when you have to go so far to compliments shooting locations, but really, from what I can gather, environment is a somewhat major aspect in Nicholas Sparks stories, which celebrate their settings as story and theme components that need to be well-selected in the long run, and indeed are, for although we're not exactly hanging out in the Bahamas here, this film's Southport, North Carolina, setting boasts a secure warmth and subtle loveliness that helps in defining this story in some ways. True, it's often hard to get all that firm of a grip on the thematic value behind this film's environment, but if you bond with nothing else when it comes to this story, then you're bound to be a little connected to the immersive value behind attractive location tastes, and maybe even the engagement value behind some decent performances. Now, as you can probably imagine, there's very little for our performers to work with, so there are no truly outstanding performances in this film, with the underused David Lyons going so far as to be all-out weak in uneven, borlingly under-expressive, when not cheesily overdone performance, yet there are more decent notes to this cast than I expected, with the lovely, but usually hit-or-miss Julianne Hough being, not necessarily revelatory, but worth commenting on in this film, as she convinces and charms enough to bond with her role and do the best that she can to sell you on character depth and keep this character study afloat. Hough and company are underwritten, but, with the exception of Lyons, generally adequate in their efforts, and a film like this at least needs that, being a sloppily written character piece whose characters remain well-portrayed enough to earn some moderate degree of your investment, almost entirely through the charm that all but saves the final product. Now, don't get me wrong, the film isn't so charming that it entertains to the point of achieving, at the very least, decency, and what charm there is is largely achieved only through sheer somewhat endearing ambition, but when it's all said and done, it's hard to deny that this film does try. Sure, the final product's efforts to escape mediocrity are to no avail, but there is something to like in the telling of this generally unlikable tale, and with that charm going bonded with the aformentioned strengths, - few though there may be - the final product comes out standing on the edge of genuine decency. Still, no matter how much the film tries, it doesn't quite make it to decency, being far from dislikable, but too disengaging to satisfy, at least on some level, thanks in part to, of all things, unevenness in pacing.
Sure, there have more more messily paced Nicholas Sparks films, but make no mistake, this film's storytelling is hardly all that tight, slapdashing certain aspects in a rather awkward fashion that throws off momentum, though not quite as much as the moments of slow-down, of which, there are too many, being achieved through anything from excess filler to repetition, and detrimental to kicks, especially when accompanied by atmospheric dry spells that further distance engagement value. The film is hardly boring, but it is bland much more often than not, no matter how much it desperately attempts to wake you up with "thriller" aspects at times that would be more effective if they weren't so superficially handled or, of course, forced, breaking through the relatively lighter moments in atmosphere with tonal unevenness that could very well have been thinned out if the film took time to flesh out its tonal layers or, for that matter, anything. Look, it's not like you haven't seen these characters or this story time and again, so it's not like exposition would bring anything new to this film's substance, but some effort has to be made to flesh out this story if it's to be all that engaging, and with this film, while development isn't thrown entirely out of the window, it is thinned out something fierce, failing to cook conflict enough to secure intrigue that is key in any thriller, even ones of this type, which play up thrills only so much and primarily meditate upon character value, something that this film can't even flesh out nearly as much as it should. Sure, there's just enough heart to most of the acting to keep this character study from falling completely flat, but, on paper, the substance behind this drama boasts few organic layers, and only so much expository depth, resulting in superficial characterization that strips away much of the genuineness within the humanity behind this character piece, and disengages you about as much as the histrionics that no paint-by-the-numbers Nick Sparks film would be complete without. Rather surprisingly, Sparks' dialogue tastes aren't quite as sloppily translated as they have been in other adaptations of his melodramas, but Gage Lansky's and Dana Stevens' punch-up is pretty bland, and that gives you quite the opportunity to meditate upon how most every other storytelling aspect is tainted with histrionics, which aren't so intense that the final product comes out resembling a soap opera, but are nonetheless considerable in their corning up dramatic depth with manufactured theatrics that are all too often much too manipulative to be bought into. It all comes down to a twist to an all but entirely superfluous subplot involving Cobie Smulders that is just plain laughable, contradicting the film's general tone and themes in such a ludicrous fashion that you really have do have to see to believe, and yet, with that said, you can still see such a lame turn of events if you look close enough, because this film is too superficial to not be easy to deconstruct, and I guess that would be fine and all, if the last chunks of meat to this bone-dry project weren't firmly plucked off by, of course, genericisms. The film is trite, same as most every effort pertaining to Nick Sparks, and that thoroughly reflects the final product's having very little, if anything in the way of guts, being not so lame that it can't almost be saved as decent by what few strengths it has, but ultimately too undercooked to be all that effective or memorable, thus resulting in a fluff piece that meanders along and eventually collapses into pure and simple mediocrity.
Bottom line, the film's lovely, somewhat definitive locations catch your eyes, while some reasonably decent performances catch some degree of your investment, or at least supplement the moderate degree of charm that almost saves the final product as decent, but can't quite fully work past the offputting unevenness in pacing and tone, expository shortcomings, histrionic superficiality and, of course, intense genericisms that make "Safe Haven" a mediocre effort that could have been decent, but ends up falling flat as forgettably trite.
2.25/5 - Mediocre
Julianne Hough is on the run, and probably not just in this film, because as if ABC wasn't mad at her enough for leaving "Dancing With the Stars" to hook up with the face of "American Idol", she supported Mitt Romney, and you do not want to mess with dumb liberals as powerful as the lunatics at ABC. Man, I wonder if liberals are ever going to realize how unfair it is that the citizens who are publically representing them are well-spoken people of power whose sense lapses only when it comes to politics, while everyone recognizes us conservatives through our rednecks, old people who interact with chairs, and people whose tastes in films don't exactly reflect quality judgement skills. I'm not saying that Hough needs to clean up her act, but not even her characters make terribly good calls, as this film will tell you, because no one is safe on a beach in a Nicholas Sparks story, seeing as how someone has got to drown or almost drown at some point. Well, she is backed up by William Lennox of Michael Bay's "Transformers" trilogy and Maria Hill, who is in cahoots with the Avengers, so I think she'll be alright from David Lyons, whose only experience with superheroes is "The Cape". I was about to say that this film isn't quite as exciting as it sounds, but I reckon I lost you at "The Cape", if I even had you in the first place, that is, because really, can you even expect a Nick Sparks thriller to be all that thrilling? Hey, Lasse Hallström was able to make something as boring-sounding as "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" adequately entertaining, so it's hard not to have some hope for this project, which makes it all that more unfortunate that it should end up falling flat. So yeah, quality isn't too safe when it comes to this film, but neither is it in too much danger, thanks to some undeniable strengths.
You know that strengths are slim when you have to go so far to compliments shooting locations, but really, from what I can gather, environment is a somewhat major aspect in Nicholas Sparks stories, which celebrate their settings as story and theme components that need to be well-selected in the long run, and indeed are, for although we're not exactly hanging out in the Bahamas here, this film's Southport, North Carolina, setting boasts a secure warmth and subtle loveliness that helps in defining this story in some ways. True, it's often hard to get all that firm of a grip on the thematic value behind this film's environment, but if you bond with nothing else when it comes to this story, then you're bound to be a little connected to the immersive value behind attractive location tastes, and maybe even the engagement value behind some decent performances. Now, as you can probably imagine, there's very little for our performers to work with, so there are no truly outstanding performances in this film, with the underused David Lyons going so far as to be all-out weak in uneven, borlingly under-expressive, when not cheesily overdone performance, yet there are more decent notes to this cast than I expected, with the lovely, but usually hit-or-miss Julianne Hough being, not necessarily revelatory, but worth commenting on in this film, as she convinces and charms enough to bond with her role and do the best that she can to sell you on character depth and keep this character study afloat. Hough and company are underwritten, but, with the exception of Lyons, generally adequate in their efforts, and a film like this at least needs that, being a sloppily written character piece whose characters remain well-portrayed enough to earn some moderate degree of your investment, almost entirely through the charm that all but saves the final product. Now, don't get me wrong, the film isn't so charming that it entertains to the point of achieving, at the very least, decency, and what charm there is is largely achieved only through sheer somewhat endearing ambition, but when it's all said and done, it's hard to deny that this film does try. Sure, the final product's efforts to escape mediocrity are to no avail, but there is something to like in the telling of this generally unlikable tale, and with that charm going bonded with the aformentioned strengths, - few though there may be - the final product comes out standing on the edge of genuine decency. Still, no matter how much the film tries, it doesn't quite make it to decency, being far from dislikable, but too disengaging to satisfy, at least on some level, thanks in part to, of all things, unevenness in pacing.
Sure, there have more more messily paced Nicholas Sparks films, but make no mistake, this film's storytelling is hardly all that tight, slapdashing certain aspects in a rather awkward fashion that throws off momentum, though not quite as much as the moments of slow-down, of which, there are too many, being achieved through anything from excess filler to repetition, and detrimental to kicks, especially when accompanied by atmospheric dry spells that further distance engagement value. The film is hardly boring, but it is bland much more often than not, no matter how much it desperately attempts to wake you up with "thriller" aspects at times that would be more effective if they weren't so superficially handled or, of course, forced, breaking through the relatively lighter moments in atmosphere with tonal unevenness that could very well have been thinned out if the film took time to flesh out its tonal layers or, for that matter, anything. Look, it's not like you haven't seen these characters or this story time and again, so it's not like exposition would bring anything new to this film's substance, but some effort has to be made to flesh out this story if it's to be all that engaging, and with this film, while development isn't thrown entirely out of the window, it is thinned out something fierce, failing to cook conflict enough to secure intrigue that is key in any thriller, even ones of this type, which play up thrills only so much and primarily meditate upon character value, something that this film can't even flesh out nearly as much as it should. Sure, there's just enough heart to most of the acting to keep this character study from falling completely flat, but, on paper, the substance behind this drama boasts few organic layers, and only so much expository depth, resulting in superficial characterization that strips away much of the genuineness within the humanity behind this character piece, and disengages you about as much as the histrionics that no paint-by-the-numbers Nick Sparks film would be complete without. Rather surprisingly, Sparks' dialogue tastes aren't quite as sloppily translated as they have been in other adaptations of his melodramas, but Gage Lansky's and Dana Stevens' punch-up is pretty bland, and that gives you quite the opportunity to meditate upon how most every other storytelling aspect is tainted with histrionics, which aren't so intense that the final product comes out resembling a soap opera, but are nonetheless considerable in their corning up dramatic depth with manufactured theatrics that are all too often much too manipulative to be bought into. It all comes down to a twist to an all but entirely superfluous subplot involving Cobie Smulders that is just plain laughable, contradicting the film's general tone and themes in such a ludicrous fashion that you really have do have to see to believe, and yet, with that said, you can still see such a lame turn of events if you look close enough, because this film is too superficial to not be easy to deconstruct, and I guess that would be fine and all, if the last chunks of meat to this bone-dry project weren't firmly plucked off by, of course, genericisms. The film is trite, same as most every effort pertaining to Nick Sparks, and that thoroughly reflects the final product's having very little, if anything in the way of guts, being not so lame that it can't almost be saved as decent by what few strengths it has, but ultimately too undercooked to be all that effective or memorable, thus resulting in a fluff piece that meanders along and eventually collapses into pure and simple mediocrity.
Bottom line, the film's lovely, somewhat definitive locations catch your eyes, while some reasonably decent performances catch some degree of your investment, or at least supplement the moderate degree of charm that almost saves the final product as decent, but can't quite fully work past the offputting unevenness in pacing and tone, expository shortcomings, histrionic superficiality and, of course, intense genericisms that make "Safe Haven" a mediocre effort that could have been decent, but ends up falling flat as forgettably trite.
2.25/5 - Mediocre
Jeff B.
Super Reviewer
February 27, 2013
In this PG-13-rated drama, a young woman with a mysterious past (Hough) ends up in seaside North Carolina where her attraction to a single dad (Duhamel) forces her to stop running.
"There's no safer place in the world than right here with me." Apparently, actor Josh Duhamel wasn't sitting in the same theater as me. Oh, this soapy romance plays it Safe...only too safe, stuck firmly in Sparks' predictable sudsy wheelhouse. Julianne Hough builds upon the great promise shown in Footloose and Rock of Ages while Josh Duhamel does his best Josh Duhamel imitation. Together, however, they do throw some, ahem, Sparks. This and an interesting twist at the end save the flick from completely deserving a Dear John letter from moviegoers.
Bottom line: The Yucky One.
Love might mean never having to say you're sorry, but this slice of heaving, er, Haven still has a lot to apologize for. "Life is full of second chances." At least, that's what actress Colbie Smulders tells co-star Julianne Hough, who's looking for a fresh start and clean slate. This seems like a bit of a contradiction though because novelist/screenwriter Nicholas Sparks has been turning out twists on the same love story again and again. This one at least dabbles with becoming a crime-thriller before the inevitable coupling of two star-crossed beautiful people. Despite tinkering with the formula, however, Sparks still throws in his obligatory death scene during the climax. Oh, this is a spoiler? Why don't you just write it in your Notebook and take a long Walk to Remember off of a short pier.
In this PG-13-rated drama, a young woman with a mysterious past (Hough) ends up in seaside North Carolina where her attraction to a single dad (Duhamel) forces her to stop running.
"There's no safer place in the world than right here with me." Apparently, actor Josh Duhamel wasn't sitting in the same theater as me. Oh, this soapy romance plays it Safe...only too safe, stuck firmly in Sparks' predictable sudsy wheelhouse. Julianne Hough builds upon the great promise shown in Footloose and Rock of Ages while Josh Duhamel does his best Josh Duhamel imitation. Together, however, they do throw some, ahem, Sparks. This and an interesting twist at the end save the flick from completely deserving a Dear John letter from moviegoers.
Bottom line: The Yucky One.
Christopher H
Super Reviewer
February 26, 2013
Truth be told, I could watch Julianne Hough with short, blonde hair, do just about anything for any period of time. And for such a young actress with plenty of other professions on her plate, she nails a good portion of her moments. "Safe Haven" is another Nicholas Sparks adaptation and although it lacks the sincerity and thoughtfulness of Sparks' previous works (meaning I did not cry during this screening), it still attempts to hit those marks. Containing many telegraphed and laughable twists, the film falls shy of two hours long and loses all of its steam in the last thirty minutes. Sparks' films rely heavily on the chemistry between the leads and Hough/Duhamel may not be the best couple to come out of his adaptations, it was still nice to see. The love story of "Safe Haven" is worth the price of admission, but the muddling counterparts including the insanely bad twist at the end is what gives these types of films a bad name.
JC
Super Reviewer
February 6, 2013
Not a fan of this kind of this genre and normally would not go to see this paint-by-number Nicholas Sparks/Lifetime Channel damsel-in-distress flick but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Nice scenery and nice things to look at (Julianne Hough) plus two kids not out of Hollywood acting central. Would have given it a fresh rating save for the cornball ending. (2-6-13)
hawkledge
Super Reviewer
February 14, 2013
Formulaic romance pairing Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel with a distracting subplot.
drum2harmonize
April 28, 2013
This film was a mystery to solve and a thriller at that, extremely romantic, moving and even spiritual. I highly recommend it, a movie to own!
Hamee
April 22, 2013
This was a sweet and totally unbelievable story. Nicholas Sparks strikes again with his sappy movie that tugs at your heart.
February 23, 2013
This is not a good movie, nor is it my type of movie, but I was okay with it until the twist at the end. Safe Haven is both dull and dumb; had there been no twist at the end, the film still would have been dull, but it would not have been dumb.
horsecamp07
March 11, 2013
Went to watch this with my friends, and came out crying so hard that it looked as if I'd slammed my face into a can of paint! I Loved this movie and recommend it to everyone!
cezzium
December 9, 2012
The only thing I didn't see coming was due to (spoiler alert) the seriously bad casting of josh duhamel's dead wife. No way that woman was their mother.
February 14, 2013
Honestly this movie was pretty decent. If you're on a date with a girl and you want to watch something cute and also somewhat interesting this is worth the time. I am not a big fan of these movies but I did have fun and it was a cute and actually dark film with a twist I didn't see coming. I didn't mind it but it isn't up to Notebook status. That is the best Nicholas Sparks adaptation but this is harmless
February 20, 2013
Safe Haven is an absolute stinker of a movie. I was BORED and not because it was a chick flick. It just lacked substance and the story struggled throughout. For those who tell you it is as good as the Notebook, don't believe it.
February 19, 2013
I hate film adaptations of Nicholas Sparks novels (which are themselves trite and risible). Sorry, you can tell me The Notebook is great and a modern classic all you want; I know the truth. Safe Haven is no different. It's yet another insult to audiences from Hollywood, and is easily the worst of all its predecessors, which include drivel like the aforementioned Notebook, Message in a Bottle, Dear John, The Last Song, and The Lucky One.What's worse is the fact that Lasse Hallstrom (the talent behind the films My Life As a Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, The Cider House Rules, The Hoax, and Salmon Fishing In The Yemen-good movies) is directing yet another piece of Nicholas Sparks drivel (after Dear John). What does the studio have on him? The story is just as lame as ever; don't expect much in the way of logic and coherence. Katie (Julianne Hough) has left Boston by bus, being pursued by a crazy cop (David Lyons) for a first degree murder rap, or something. And though Hough (2011's Footloose remake) is a likable actress, her perkiness can be maddening. None of that explains her character's incessant smiling. Katie hides out in a picturesque fishing town in North Carolina that only and always seems to exist in Sparks' stories. She immediately meets Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widower with two children and seemingly the only person in that town who is in shape. As the movie goes on (and ever on), you won't much care about the fate of Katie. I know I didn't. The dialogue is insufferably cutesy, and as actors, Hough and Duhamel are capital 'B' bad. They're faces register no known human emotions, at least not for more than a few seconds. Hallstrom directs the whole affair like it's a fashion magazine shoot. Katie also develops an annoying friendship with Jo (Cobie Smulders of TV's How I Met Your Mother), a neighbor who doesn't seem to be acknowledged by anyone else in town. And that's not all there is to hate in this swill. There's a mystery vibe throughout the whole film, as if it were veering into M. Night Shyamalan territory (and really, why would anyone want to be there still?) but seriously this movie is dead in the water as soon as it begins. There are flashbacks that hint at something dark in Katie's past, not that Hough lets you know. Anything that happens to Katie, from murder to attempted rape, seems to always be resolved with good use of lighting, hair, makeup, and her ever annoying smiles. Safe Haven is now neck in neck with Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters for 2013's worst movie. It's the cinematic equivalent of vomit.
February 19, 2013
Even though a Nicholas Sparks fan with most likely enjoy this film, the pacing and some plot direction were a miss that hurt the overall feel of the film.
February 19, 2013
Wish they would have followed the book more closely.... but still entertaining. Good combo of romance and suspense. And Nicholas Sparks pulled on my heartstrings as usual. The biggest surprise of all though... my husband cried... =')
February 16, 2013
If you want to see pretty people in a pretty place, this is the movie for you. If you want a credible plot, skip it.
