Review of Safe Haven (2013) by Thomas W — 15 Aug 2013

If someone were to tell me that the latest Nicholas Sparks novel-to-a-movie adaptation would be one that starred two ridiculously attractive actors playing characters who almost fall in love when a secret from the past that can keep them apart is revealed nearly thirty minutes before the movie ends .

.. I would say "No $--t! Have you not been paying attention!?" Safe Haven is the latest of Sparks' novels to follow this same "winning" (they continue to be profitable!) formula/pattern and it saddens me this is director Lasse Hallstrom's SECOND Sparks film as the Oscar-nominated director has made GREAT films in the past such as The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Salmon Fishing on the Yemen (I've also just realized his greatest films have an edible word in the title).

Safe Haven stars Julianne Hough (Rock of Ages) as Katie, a beautiful young woman on the run from her past. Safe Haven also stars Josh Duhamel (New Year's Eve) as Alex, a handsome widower and saintly father raising two young children in a small, coastal North Carolina town.

The two meet soon after her arrival in town and begin a friendship (quite reluctantly on her part) after she meets him at the small convenience store he runs and he helps her buy an odd assortment of items and he answers some even stranger movie-scripted questions.

Their entire relationship is contrived in a connect-the-dots Nicholas Sparks pattern and the film's supporting players each have a single purpose for the movie -- her jerk of an ex looking for her (David Lyons - Eat Pray Love), his cop pal who can discover her secret in an instant (Ric Reitz - Flight), and her country neighbor giving her relationship advice on Alex (Cobie Smulders - The Avengers).

Hallstrom has made this better than most sappy melodramatic romances (and Hough and Duhamel are both likeable-enough stars) but Sparks' over-the-top climatic children-in-peril moments have become eye-rolling.

The film is standard Nicholas Sparks baloney and anybody who has watched the movies based on his work knows they have much in common. Beautiful actors? Check. Beautiful scenery? Check. Romance? Check.

Melodrama? Check. More melodrama? Check. A scene in or near the water? Check. Good story? ...