Review of Safe Haven (2013) by Matt W — 28 Jul 2013

I actually found this film hard to review in many ways. I wasn't really ever bored as such; I watched everything and was interested to see how it turned out. But it has to be clarified from the beginning that when I say I was interested- this is in context of a Nicholas Sparks film. These films are fantasy. And everything is completely ludicrous, ridiculous and plain stupid.

I knew this beforehand. And I knew there were infamously awful twists. And they were. But it didn't bother me, as these films are fantasy. They have a particular audience. This is for the Eastender's audience- if you have put all the Nicholas Sparks films together, it would result in a very much extended episode of a soap opera.

And it would be the end of the world.

Another thing to add is that my rating is actually nearer to a 2.3 rating, but I just couldn't bring myself to raise it to a 2.5. The reasons for this is simple- firstly, although everything is like a cartoon, I still found myself reasonably caring about what was going to happen to these characters- there was a chemistry between the leads that I felt.

The main problem was the story itself, as the film turns to the crazy in the third act. I was never really sure what the film wanted to be, with these constant tonal shifts from 'Sleeping with the Enemy' to 'Generic Love Story'. It did feel a little schizophrenic, and it definitely brought me out of the film more than a couple of times.

Also, if you don't like romantic clichés, stay clear from this. There is fantasy rain that falls, that instantly soaks them, which then results in a romantic evening... of love. There's that moment where something dramatic happens at the end of the second act, which could break them up... FOREVER! Leaving the audience in a state of 'shock'...

But all of that aside. We expect this. And this wasn't made for me. And it's not a terrible movie by any means. It's just another romance. And another thing to add is that I didn't get that horrible feeling of 'Yuck' that I experience following a viewing of 'Dear John'. So that's always a positive.

Before wrapping up, I will say a few points briefly:

There was something weird about the way this film was cut together, I don't know who to blame, but some scenes felt like they had started before the scene had. Especially the flashbacks, they were really lazily done.

Anyway. What did anyone expect with this? It's just another 'Sparks' movie. It's a genre nowadays, and if you like the genre, you'll probably enjoy this, but it was just too stupid and ridiculous for me, even though I thought the central performances were performed well.