Nicholas Sparks' Safe Haven Is A Maelstrom Away From Refuge

By Victoria Pietrus in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 21, 2013 4:40PM

Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel in Safe Haven (Photo credit: Relativity Media)

Novelist Nicholas Sparks’ newest book-to-screen project Safe Haven dabbles in the predictable lightweight get-to-know you scenes, beach bods, and swoon-worthy, exhaustive kisses. Rather wayward for a Sparks narrative however is the alcoholic, sociopath whose bitterness takes up a good half of the story, all of which culminates in a Sixth Sense twist that makes you wish you felt numb but invariably, indeed, that’s anger and annoyance that lingers instead, something from which you could have easily defended yourself by avoiding this film.

Julianne Hough plays Erin Tierney, a woman who furtively flees her hometown in disguise (by dying her hair inconspicuously bleach blonde and somehow chopped with scissors to perfection) in order to avoid a baffling murder charge. Arriving in the picturesque beach town of Southport, North Carolina, she adopts the name Katie, waitresses at a local restaurant, and hides out in a dilapidated, isolated cabin in which she charmingly decides to paint the floors yellow. She meets and falls (of course reluctantly) in love with local storeowner and determined dad Alex Wheatley played by Josh Duhamel. Alex’s wife has passed away from cancer, a plot point most noteworthy and reminiscent of the bestselling Nicholas Sparks we know and love.

Hough and Duhamel work hard to connect, and a few scenes are touching and intimate, much as I’m sure accomplished director Lasse Hallström intended. With previous success from The Cider House Rules, Chocolat, The Hypnotist and Salmon Fishing in Yemen, it’s obvious that Hallström is no stranger to decent melodrama. It's curious why he chose this Sparks-ian project in particular, especially after having tackled 2010's release of Sparks' equally tepid Dear John. Was it the lure of a Valentine’s Day box office topper? A chance to “interpret” another book on-screen? We may never know, and while Hough and Duhamel are sweet in their archetypical caught-in-the-rain scene, their slow-dancing scene, and their blithe beach scene, this film does not approach the depth or intention in what is unabashedly everyone’s favorite Sparks, The Notebook—his apotheosis we love to love, and the reason for which we will return to see these films, most especially in desperate hope to regain the same thrill and gratification from that 2004 classic romance movie.

Hough’s face is a bit too wooden, and Duhamel’s delivery is a bit too overwrought for viewers to really buy into their attempt at portraying everlasting love. This film should be avoided, though, not because of the barely-there main characters but because of the stilted, confusing scenes with Cobie Smulders whose role as Katie’s friend Jo is unwelcome and silly combined with the mania of villain husband and errant police officer Kevin Tierney (played by David Lyons). His plodding pursuit and neurotic obsession over finding his wife weighs forcefully on the pace and emotion of this film, and it turns this seeming romance into a cock-eyed thriller that leaves the viewer reluctantly in suspense to see what he’ll do next to Katie, Alex, and Alex’s two heart-wrenchingly adorable children.

With its well-meaning main actors and exquisite scenic views of the coast, Safe Haven had some redeeming moments, but obtuse minor characters ruin whatever charm this film had—a weakness we must ultimately, yet regrettably, attribute to Nicholas Sparks’ flawed storytelling.

Safe Haven
Directed by Lasse Hallström
Written by Gage Lansky and Dana Stevens, based on Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks
With Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons, and Cobie Smulders
Running time 115 minutes
Rated PG-13
Now playing in theaters nationwide