“Safe Haven” is a perfect date movie
Movie reviews by the Lariat staff (Illustration by Anibal Santos/ Lariat)
While it’s not the biggest disappointment since “The Vow”, “Safe Haven” is still not the next greatest love story since “The Notebook.”
After watching many trailers, the movie drags every girl into theaters, wanting to see the next romance movie and makes every guy in America wish their significant other were not dragging them to it. Fortunately, for the guys, this movie is not the typical romance movie you will find and definitely not something you would expect coming from Nicholas Sparks.
As the biggest romance movie buff, I have seen them all, but there was a knot in my stomach from the start of the movie. This knot emanated after the first five minutes of the movie, because I had no idea what I was watching.
“Safe Haven” is about Katie (Julianne Hough) running away from the police after what the audience thinks is a night that has gone all wrong, to a bus station taking her to Atlanta. At one of the bus stops, a little town she has landed in named Southport, North Carolina, Katie decides to stay.
After being helped and befriended by the general store owner, Alex (Josh Duhamel), who is a widower with two children and a new neighbor, Jo (Cobie Smulders), she ends up creating a relationship with the two, even though she tried to keep a low profile in town when she first arrived.
The film switches off from a police investigation, run by Detective Tierney (David Lyons), to Katie’s new life in the town. After developing a romantic relationship with Alex, her life turns upside down when Alex discovers the secret that she’s running from.
The movie developed very slowly and the knot in my stomach kept me from wanting to eat my M&M’s. I was wondering how much longer till the movie was over.
At first I was disappointed, because the romance was somewhat corny and I was frustrated with not knowing what was going on, but once the movie picked up during the second half, it kept me off my seat, wanting to know what will happen next.
“Safe Haven” is more of a suspense thriller than a romance movie, making it a great date movie, which is why it was released on Valentine’s Day.
Not only is this movie a great date movie, it will leave you with the biggest jaw dropping moment at the end of the movie, making you want to talk about it for the rest of the night.
I give “Safe Haven” 3 out of 5 stars, due to the corniness and lack of development in the movie, but I ranked it a little higher for the biggest turn around in a movie during the second half. Lastly, I like the jaw-dropping scene at the end of the movie.
This film will make a great addition to your Netflix and Redbox selections in the future.
For movie times and movie tickets, please visit http://www.fandango.com/safehaven_145314/movieoverview
For the “Safe Haven” official movie trailer, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj6i_Z1Srsw
For the “Safe Haven” Facebook page, please visit http://www.facebook.com/safehavenmovie