Synopsis
A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
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Cast
- Julianne HoughKatie Feldman
- Josh DuhamelAlex Wheatley
- Cobie SmuldersJo
- David LyonsKevin Tierney
- Mimi KirklandLexie
- Noah LomaxJosh
- Irene ZieglerMrs. Feldman
- Robin MullinsMaddie
- Red WestRoger
- Juan PiedrahitaJr. Detective Ramirez
- 60
Variety
Safe Haven offers an unsurprising but not unsatisfying tour through recognizable Sparkville terrain. - 50
ReelViews
Reading a Sparks novel allows one's imagination to enter the equation. Watching one of his stories adapted on screen has exactly the opposite effect: it neuters the imagination. This is soap opera, pure and simple. - 50
Chicago Tribune
I like Duhamel, and in her first straight-up dramatic role Hough does well enough, though her singing and/dancing career thus far has trained her to oversell, as opposed to sell, as opposed to act naturally. - 50
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Hallestrom and his screenwriters may be stuck with Sparks’ formula, but they take advantage of the geography, the leads and a couple of homespun supporting players – Robin Mullens is a wonderfully folksy owner of the seaside seafood shack. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
A thriller element that has not been present in earlier Sparks movies is designed to draw reluctant male viewers to see the picture, but they won’t respond with the same enthusiasm as his core audience of woozy romantics. - 40
Arizona Republic
Safe Haven plays out less like a love story than it does a two-hour audition tape Julianne Hough commissioned to land a lucrative lip-gloss-modeling contract. - 40
New York Daily News
Duhamel is goofy and harmless, but unlike Ryan Gosling in “Notebook,” adds no texture or subtlety. Hough (“Footloose”), while photogenic, is similarly bland. - 38
Chicago Sun-Times
If it can be said movies have personalities, I give you three words to sum up the basic core identity of Safe Haven: Bat. Bleep. Crazy.