Review of Safe Haven (2013) by Austin H — 06 Jul 2013

Safe Haven // Relativity Media // Romance/Thriller.

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, Safe Haven is the latest adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, and features all the corny predictability that comes with such a distinction. Julianne Hough plays Katie, a battered woman on the run from her abusive cop husband. She finds herself in a sleepy North Carolina town where she befriends a local woman Jo (Cobie Smulders) and lives in a shack in the woods. Katie sticks to herself but after some reluctance she falls for dreamy widower Alex (Josh Duhamel) who owns a store in town she frequents. Things are going well until Alex finds out her secret, and soon the psychotic alcoholic husband shows up for the epic conclusion you'll see coming forty-five minutes away.

The story and dialogue are what they are -- cheesy, paint by numbers romance -- and the stars don't do much to elevate the material. Duhamel and Hough are attractive leads but their characters are boring and they don't have enough charisma or chemistry to make them much worth caring about. I would suspect that every plot twist related to the drunk bastard husband is telegraphed by every movie like this ever made but I don't watch Lifetime so I'm not sure. Every box is checked, right down to the finale featuring kids in danger in a burning building.

But is it the worst movie ever made? Not quite. The widower's children are charming and the movie has a handful of funny moments. The thriller elements feel oddly out of place but work okay in their own way. As formulaic and cliched as everything is the genre familiarity of the writers offers up something that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to and probably works for its target audience.

It needs to be pointed out that there is a huge twist at the end that will likely ruin the film for some (and most will hate) but it didn't bother me much. It was honestly one small shred of creativity with the story that made me it seem halfway memorable for about half a second.

**1/4 (out of 5).