Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough star in this spellbinding romantic drama based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook). After a mysterious woman moves to a small town and falls in love with a handsome widower, a dark secret from her past threatens their happiness.
I’ll admit it, I’m a pretty big Nicholas Sparks fan. When a new book comes out, I text my best friend to see if she’s reading it right away too. When a new movie comes out based on the book, it’s like instant date night! It could be because I live in North Carolina and so many of his stories are based in real, small local towns or because I’m just a big ball of mush. Either way, Safe Haven is not a disappointment!
The story starts out with an intense scene with our heroine covered in blood and on the run from the cops. Hough changes her look and hops on a bus in an attempt to escape the crime she has just committed. Even with what some could consider a justifiable crime, fleeing from an abusive husband, she leaves Boston and randomly chooses the small town of South Port in North Carolina to lie low in.
Alex (Duhamel) is a widower with two children, who runs a local corner store. It is here where the two meet for the first time and an infatuation starts to bloom. Although Katie (Hough) attempts to keep to herself, the couple keep finding themselves drawn towards each other and she finds herself not only falling for Duhamel’s character, but also for his children. Deciding to stay, Katie rents a run down cabin in the woods, where she has a lone neighbor named Jo. Asides from Alex, Jo is the only person Katie lets her guard down with.
The story reminds me a lot of The Notebook, but with a great twist. An alcoholic, slightly neurotic cop is on Katie’s trail, slowly but surely finding out where she has gone. The more trusting our heroine gets, the closer it is to having her secret revealed. Will Alex be able to love Katie once he knows her secret? Will the cop track down Katie and make her pay for her crime? And who exactly is Jo?
Safe Haven is PG-13 and runs for 116 minutes. The Blu-Ray contains bonus features:
- Igniting the Romance in Safe Haven
- Josh Duhamel’s Lessons in Crabbing
- Set Tour
- Alternate Ending
- Deleted & Extended Scenes
Unlike other romantic movies, Safe Haven has a great depth of drama and edge of your seat suspense. It’s the perfect date movie or even for a night in with the girls. If you’ve read the book, be prepared for a few difference between the stories. Personally, I love both and the movie takes nothing away from the book.
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You can purchase Safe Haven on Blu-Ray from Fox Connect for $25.99
