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Safe
Haven was definitely not something I was expecting, especially coming from
a Nicholas Spark’s novel adaptation, directed by Lasse Hallstrom. The romance between the two main characters
Katie, a young woman with a haunting secret played by Julianne Hough (Rock of Ages) and Alex, recent widower
played by Josh Duhamel were obvious but the director and screenwriters, Leslie
Bohem and Dana Stevens threw in some unexpected twists that had my jaw drop. I
give this movie a seven out of ten.
The one
thing that seemed predictable for me was editing style. Every time something
happened to Katie in her new life, especially uplifting and good there will be
an automatic jump to her haunting nightmares or something happening at the
police station that brought this particular detective one step closer to
finding her. This detective Tierney (David Lyons) just seems very invested in
Kate because she is wanted for murder but there is so much under the surface
that I didn’t even pick up on it or it’s deep details until the second half of
the film. It was only when I did pick up on the twist that everything in the
movie dramatically changed and the last twenty minutes of the movie are
gripping, chaotic and had me holding my breath. As much as the editing seemed
predictable to me at first when Kate’s storyline and Tierney’s storyline seems
to be drawing closer and closer to each other there is a monumental moment
where this particular nightmare unfolds and by that point we know both from the
back and forth from each story line to make this ultimate nightmare to make
sense and collaborate the film together and make me go, “Oh God. This is going
to get really good.” And it certainly
did.
Incidentally I ended up enjoying
the movie more then when I first walked into the theatre. The storyline
altering twist near the second half turned my mind away from editing and I
became fully engrossed in the film and the action between characters. Besides
that there were certain moments I enjoyed, the interaction with Alex’s children:
Lexie and Josh (played by Mimi Kirkland and Noah Lomax) and Katie, especially
with Kate’s first arrival into town. The way Alex and Kate’s flirting slowly
but surly built up (I mean he does play a grieving widower in the movie) was
nicely done and it was a whole fifty-two minutes into the movie before they
shared their first intimate moment. The relationships of each character and
character development was crafted well and I enjoyed watching Kate grow more
trusting and become more open, since when we first see her she is just a woman
on the run. Especially, with her only female adult friend Jo (played by Cobie
Smulders) who plays a subtle yet ultimately significant part in the movie.
Lasse Hallstrom did a marvelous job
with character development and each one had their growth in the own way and it
was noticeable by the end. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with Safe Haven, these weren’t your typical
starring actors and they stepped up to the challenge of making this bittersweet
love story come to life and they were successful. The storyline was fascinating
and charged with a lot of heavy topics, which I would not expect for a Spark’s adaptation.
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