Thus far Nicholas Sparks has reaped the benefits of half-decent adapted screenplays bringing his fanciful Chic-lit to the big screen. Alas, the attempts to match the success of the first film The Notebook have not been met; however it is debatable whether the bond that myself, and all other female viewers formed with newly famous Ryan Gosling could ever be trumped.The newest instalment Safe Haven is the worst of the bunch; a romance that fails to pull on any heartstrings.
The plot focuses on Katie (Julianne Hough) and her move from Boston to a small town off the coast of North Carolina. We are given a glimpse of her ‘dark past’ at the beginning of the film and it is revealed that she is living under a false name to hide from her abusive husband. The spark between Alex (Josh Duhamel) and Katie is relatively non-existent from the onset and their attempt to form an attraction results in overacting on both their parts. The caring widowed father of two makes the gesture of taking her canoeing, where it starts to downpour. Though this scene is virtually identical to one in The Notebook, they are dissimilar in the sense that Katie and Alex lack any passion.
Then to add insult to injury, the plot twists at the end of the film are so outlandish that it makes the whole film laughable. Any part of me wishing that Katie and Alex would live happily ever after vanished. Largely there is something comforting about the romance genre; the audience want the hero and heroine to end up together, and normally they do. Safe Haven for me was the exception- I wasn’t really that bothered.
Verdict: 3/10