Safe Haven

Films, as with many things in life, are often predictable. Walk into a cinema showing Justin Bieber; Never Say Never and you'd expect the foyer to be heaving with throngs of teenage girls (and the occasional dutiful boyfriend). Even before watching the opening credits of a Michael Bay film, you'll know that the nutritional information on the back of a pot noodle offers a better narrative and is more prosaic than the impending 154 minutes of robots hitting each other over the head. And no one sits down to watch Mulholland Drive expecting to understand it.

Then again, predictability is not necessarily a bad thing. A film based upon the books of Nicholas Sparks should tell you three things. One, there'll be a romance which starts in the most unlikely of situations. Two, a female character with a troubled past will need a man who is similarly displaced to achieve redemption. Three, both of these characters will live impossibly comfortable lives and will be ridiculously good looking. Safe Haven, the latest Sparks adaptation is no different...

I have to admit that things didn't get off to a brilliant start. Safe Haven opens with Katie (Julianne Hough) frantically boarding a coach to Atlanta, apparently being chased by the police. The last time I saw Julianne Hough boarding a coach and pensively staring out of the window was in Rock of Ages – one of my worst films of last year. Things weren't looking good. Katie eventually reaches the small fishing town of Southport, North Carolina and strikes up a friendship with Alex, the local store keeper (Josh Duhamel). Katie soon becomes close to Alex, who is a widower with two young children, but in doing so, is forced to confront her dark past. You know the score.

The film plays itself out as you'd expect, with the exception of a rather ridiculous plot twist at the end which left me rather confused and feeling slightly cheated. Without wanting to give plot spoilers, lets just say I would have respected the film more if it had played its narrative straight down-the-line. There are some amusing and – at times – touching moments, especially in the scenes with Alex's two children. Suspend disbelief and all will be well. Performance wise, Hough and Duhamel do make for a good couple, if only for their compatible looks (as my friend remarked during a rather steamy scene, “their children would be so good looking!”). Even so, Hough seems too far-removed from reality to be a credible character but, nevertheless, I was mostly won over by the end of the film (I promise it was nothing to do with how attractive she is...well, only a bit).

The issue of reality, however, wasn't confined to Hough's performance. The location used in most of the film only exists on a postcard and the characters' immaculate houses, with exposed sanded-down wood only served to make the whole film rather unbelievable. If there's an actual town where policemen's highest priority is organising a firework display, then I'll be more than happy to praise the film for its realism. The cinematography was the inoffensive and easy-on-the-eye sort which shot the town of Southport as if it were an advert for the North Carolina tourist board. Watch Katy Perry's Teenage Dream music video and you'll be close to the delicately washed-out aesthetic which ran through much of the film. But maybe this is missing the point. No-one goes to see a Nicholas Sparks film expecting realism and actuality. These films (Dear John, The Lucky One and The Notebook are all Sparks adaptations) exist to be sanguine and done well, that's no bad thing.

Safe Haven is nothing remarkable, nothing innovative and exists in its own idealistic world. It does have an emotional heart and is pure escapism, plain and simple. But it is inoffensive, well-made escapism and for that, I can't criticise. 

Clapperboard Rating: * *