I'm reviewing the movie Safe Haven not the book. I haven't read the book. I can only read so many Nicholas Sparks books. Not because he's not a good writer, but someone always dies at the end and he's not above killing off one of the two main love interests and I prefer a happily ever after ending. (What can I say? I'm a Cinderella girl.)
The movie is exactly what you expect. Boy and girl meet with complicated pasts, still dragging baggage around both physical and emotional that they must overcome in order to be together. Oh, and someone will end up dead. No spoilers here.
I liked the setting and characters. No issues with the acting. I thought both Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough turned in nice performances as did Cobie Smulders. The guy playing the villain was totally psychotic. If he ever shows up at your door. Run.
Warnings: This one is cleaner in terms of kisses than The Lucky One. Domestic violence, hand to hand combat, gun play, a deceased spouse and a fire.
I mention this last one because recently a family in our town lost two young children when their house went up in flames. They were all asleep in the home when it happened. The parents and two other children made it out, barely. So, this is my plug to remind you to test your alarms regularly and have a plan for escape from everywhere.
My one issue has to do with the story itself. When the hero finds out the heroine didn't tell him about her past, he tells her to leave but then runs after her to tell her to stay and that he loves her. The I love you's came to early in the relationship for me and I felt like the hero should be bothered by the fact that she's still married.
Recommendation: Catch it on Redbox.
For all you Sparks fans out there, what's your favorite book by him?
Mine is The Wedding.
I quit reading Nicholas Sparks after the first couple, but The Wedding is my favorite, too! I don't remember anyone dying in that??? Maybe that's why I liked it.
ReplyDeleteI loved this movie and thought it was a keeper.
ReplyDeleteI gave up reading Nicholas Sparks when I was so disappointed that the book of A Walk to Remember didn't hold a candle to the movie (and his Bible quotes in the book came from one of those new agey, "easier to understand" Bible, even though the book takes place in the fifties.... yeah, I verified with my mother that those things were not around), then gave up on his movies after seeing The Notebook (I find nothing romantic about an emotionally-manipulative alcoholic with dramatic tendencies, and in no way believed he could have grown up to be sweet James Garner). I just have no patience for Nicholas Sparks. I don't get the appeal.
ReplyDeleteI liked 'The Last Song' the book better than the movie. Maybe because Miley Cyrus had the lead. As with a lot of movies, there was just too much information from the book they couldn't add and the movie had less depth for me.
ReplyDeleteValerie, That's because no one dies in the book. Ally is already dead at the beginning remember? That's why it's my favorite.
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