Safe Haven is classic romantic fare from Nicholas Sparks - a mysterious woman with an interesting history, a lonely father with a beautiful wife he lost to cancer, a small fishing town, two plucky kids and zany locals. It's the perfect formula for a romance. Duhamel is a pro in these type of films, and Hough, in one of her first major roles, is charismatic and engaging. A lesser actress would have made it a bland performance - Hough injects life into her character. Read on, if you don't mind spoilers.
It would be nice to have an adult film about finding love amidst grief or starting anew, but it seems that having a female character who doesn't have trauma as her driving force is a rare thing these days. The "crazy-ex-husband" trope is jarring and confusing in the way it's framed, and, (aside from creating some conflict), unnecessary. Stories like that deserve to be told - but here it just seems out of touch and out of place.
Additionally, Colbie Smulders, while a great actress, is giving nothing to do here aside from being a quippy best friend. Having her be the ghost of Duhamel's dead wife is a super left of center, very odd and verisimilitude shattering choice. It takes a pretty decent romantic film and changes it into a weird PG version of "the sixth sense."
Overall, this is a watchable romantic drama, elevated by its cast, cinematography and great director. The script is too overstuffed and becomes a "Enough"/"Sixth Sense" hybrid, when it should have been just a decent romantic film. Still - it's tough to hate on a film that takes huge creative swings like "Safe Haven" does. It's weird, tonally all over the place, and can be confusing; but it's sure as hell entertaining.
It would be nice to have an adult film about finding love amidst grief or starting anew, but it seems that having a female character who doesn't have trauma as her driving force is a rare thing these days. The "crazy-ex-husband" trope is jarring and confusing in the way it's framed, and, (aside from creating some conflict), unnecessary. Stories like that deserve to be told - but here it just seems out of touch and out of place.
Additionally, Colbie Smulders, while a great actress, is giving nothing to do here aside from being a quippy best friend. Having her be the ghost of Duhamel's dead wife is a super left of center, very odd and verisimilitude shattering choice. It takes a pretty decent romantic film and changes it into a weird PG version of "the sixth sense."
Overall, this is a watchable romantic drama, elevated by its cast, cinematography and great director. The script is too overstuffed and becomes a "Enough"/"Sixth Sense" hybrid, when it should have been just a decent romantic film. Still - it's tough to hate on a film that takes huge creative swings like "Safe Haven" does. It's weird, tonally all over the place, and can be confusing; but it's sure as hell entertaining.