“Safe Haven” is a romantic drama based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film centers on a mysterious young woman named Katie (Julianne Hough, “Footloose”) who ends up in the small town of Southport, North Carolina while desperately attempting to run away from a dark secret in her past. There she encounters Alex (Josh Duhamel, “Transformers”) and his two children, and begins to get attached to the family. Throughout the film, Katie struggles with the conflict between loving Alex and the fear of her past coming back to haunt her.
As a love story, “Safe Haven” contains all of the basic elements of a Nicholas Sparks romance—an idealistic, beachy setting, characters with emotional baggage and the obligatory “caught in the rain” scene. However, for some reason these elements don’t mesh well within the film, and the storyline is often disjointed and incoherent. This issue stems not from the story itself but from how the story is presented within the film. Unfortunately, transitions and scene changes are not executed well, and this makes for a film that doesn’t flow easily.
However, the film does have interesting characters that work in its favor. Alex is a widower with two children that runs a general store in the sleepy town of Southport, and his children Lexi and Josh are two rambunctious but lovable kids still dealing with the death of their mother. Then there’s Katie’s neighbor and friend, Jo (Cobie Smulders, “How I Met Your Mother”)—a plainspoken, down-to-earth woman that always pushes Katie in the direction she needs to go. Each character in the film has some history that makes them flawed, but this also serves to create a set of characters that is both relatable and endearing.
Aspects of the plot also add interest to the film. Mainly this is by way of Katie’s “dark secret,” which is shown only in flashback snippets spread throughout the movie. This technique is intriguing because it leads viewers to assume something about her past that proves to be incorrect when they are given the full story near the end of the film. Additionally, the use of flashbacks keeps audiences engaged.
As far as acting goes, the performances are decent, but certainly not Oscar-worthy. Josh Duhamel is most believable as widowed father Alex, and he delivers the most emotional performance in the film. His skill is especially evident when interacting with the actors who play his children in the movie. Affectionate and paternal, audiences will believe that he loves these children with all of his heart. Unfortunately, Julianne Hough’s enactment is less convincing, and her performance seems to fluctuate between too stoic and too dramatic.
In all, “Safe Haven” is a likable enough story, but one that was not presented well. The film has too many strange transitions and camera shifts to flow cohesively. Though the movie claims endearing characters and decent acting, it’s sometimes a bit tedious to watch and audiences may find they are sometimes bored. As a result, it’s unlikely that this film will become one of the Nicholas Sparks classics like “The Notebook” or “A Walk to Remember,” but it could still come in handy for a chick-flick night.
