‘Safe Haven’ is not normally the sort of film I’d go out of my way to see. Based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks it tells the story of Erin Tierney, played by Julianne Hough, who goes on the run, wanted for murder, ending up in the sleepy water-side town of Stockport (no, not the stockport) and becoming involved with Alex Wheatley, played by Josh Duhamel, and his family, with Alex falling in love for the first time after his wife died of cancer. Naturally, her past is out to get her and eventually catches up with her, but how will it all turn out?
I liked the look of the trailer as it looked more exciting than your regular ‘chick flick’ and though the plot is pretty predictable and falls within the usual codes and conventions of the genre, it does actually have several plot developments that come out of nowhere and make you re-evaluate everything you’ve thought so far in the film. I don’t want to spoil it by making reference to them but they are pretty well woven into the plot.
It does have a few moments that are a little bit questionable though. Erin spends most of the film in hot pants and, though I’m not going to complain, does strike as a little bit out of the ordinary plus the letters left for Alex’s children by his wife are labelled for the son on his graduation and the daughter on their wedding day which smacks a little of gender stereotyping, but we’ll gloss over that for the moment.
The actors aren’t really tested in the film but the relationship between Alex and Erin works well and there’s just enough interesting side-characters to carry the film, plus the locations are beautiful and it all moves through the film happily and hangs together as a plot.
With elements of thriller, chase movie and romance there’s a little bit of something for everyone in the film and though the elements that make up the main body of the film are things we’ve seen many times before and are pretty predictable, it does have a few tricks up its sleeve that lift it up from the usual romcom chick flick.
(7/10)
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