Review of Safe Haven (2013) by Christopher E — 19 Aug 2017

Too ridiculous for its own good and come the third act, the film is barely watchable.

When a mysterious young woman arrives in a small North Carolina town, her reluctance to join the tight knit community raises questions about her past. Slowly, she begins putting down roots, and gains the courage to start a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children. But dark secrets intrude on her new life with such terror that she is forced to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and rely on the power of love in this deeply moving romantic thriller.

So I've taken some slack for not seeing any Nicholas Sparks films. Granted, this slack has come from a couple of my friends who are in love with him and his novels, but either way, I promised I would watch one soon. It ultimately came down to which film I thought had the more interesting plot, and "Safe Haven" sounded relatively interesting. Sadly, this was just a complete mess of a film. Not only was it not interesting (putting that in a nice way), but there's really no redeeming qualities about this film.

I guess we'll just start with the characters. The actors, whose names I don't know (except for Josh Duhamel), but I guess they were fine. I mean, the talent themselves were likable individuals, but I could've cared less about their characters. I didn't care for their backstories, I didn't have any real interest in their impulsive relationship, and I wasn't invested in the situation.

I thought this movie was at least watchable for the first two acts. I mean, it wasn't like a great film or anything, but I could watch it and be content. Then the third act came, and the movie's story tried to be smart. It tried to pull of twists and turns that it had no right to try, as it was way out of its league. I thought the story was just horrible and insensible, while also being poorly well written.

In the end, there's not really anything to talk about here. It just wasn't a good movie. I get how some people can find some enjoyment in this, but this is a well less than adequate film.