Memorable, crazy movie

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is another domestic violence movie, where the punching bag woman (Julianne Hough) is on the lam for murder. She meets a hunk who looks like Josh Duhamel with two kids. They hit it off. She must face her past. He confesses his undying love for her (see poster picture for that plot spoiler), etc. etc. Doesn't anybody get tired of this stuff?The acting was good, but I kept waiting for something to happen. And when it did happen, I couldn't wait for it to be over. It reminded me more of a dentist trip. I hurled chunks during most of the film. If your man claims he liked the film, he is lying. But remember he is lying more for you than to you. Do him a favor and don't make him watch this film with you.Parental Guide: No f-bombs or nudity. Chick flick love scene.

It is what it is. It's somewhat entertaining, very idyllic, picturesque and relaxing, but the story does not have any meat on it.The idea of Robin Scherbatsky wanting her husband and children to spend his life with a woman who hallucinates, sees and talks to dead people is a strange thought.The idea that a cop can put out a nation-wide APB for a murder suspect without filling in the details of who the murder victim was (spoiler: there is no murder victim) is insane. We see him filling in the form on the computer. Who is the murder victim? When did this crime happen? What is the file number for this crime? Who is the lead detective on this case?The copper even got other coppers to chase his wife at the bus stop, sirens and checking buses and all. He gets every police station (in the state? country?) to put out wanted photos of his wife.The wife runs away for no reason. She didn't actually do anything. She runs away from police officers in another state. Why? The only crime she committed is star in this film, and that's a misdemeanor at best.It makes no sense.Her husband switches from nice guy to alcoholic abuser for no reason. Instead of examining what caused this transformation (brain injury? tumor?) she dyes her hair and runs away. Whatever happened to his brain could happen to her too. She's talking to dead people, so clearly she's not doing better than he is. Maybe he saw some messed up ghost stuff too and maybe that turned him into drinking. Did anyone even consider that?This film had almost all the ingredients to becoming a great film if only it had a better script.

The reason I enjoyed the book of Safe Haven so much was because it wasn't just a romance. It was a thriller. It avoided the usual clichés and tediousness of Sparks' novels (in my opinion, they are mostly boring and cheesy), and while it obviously did have some of that (it wouldn't be Sparks if it didn't) it was definitely a better book because of the added thriller aspect. Likewise, the movie was a better movie because it wasn't just your typical chick flick. For my particular tastes, it was thus a better film. It had so much more; it was exciting, it was emotional, it was painful, but it was beautiful. And I mean that in the most heart-breaking, heart-absorbing sense. It was beautiful. The cinematography was decent and the scenery idyllic. The sun sprinkled beach and boats, the homely restaurant, and the roaming forests could be picturesque one minute and frighteningly chilling the next. The atmosphere could change in a flash, and yet the entire setting of the story was swept with a very down-to-earth, storybook- like breath of fresh air. As an additional note, I thought there was also one scene that got very close to copying The Notebook: when Katie and Alex were on the lake in the boat and the flowers were floating around them......so Noah & Allie. The similarity became inevitably obvious when it even started to rain! and I half expected them to kiss....... Still, it was a lovely scene :) The script was lovely. The dialogue was beautiful, although nothing incredibly profound, and the action started immediately from the beginning. My heart was racing the entire time; it was brilliant and never boring. The film added and altered a lot of details from the book, but I thought most of the changes were natural and, actually, a big improvement on the book's version (with one exception: the film's climax was too short and I didn't like how they cut a lot of the action - although admittedly, it is understandable because it's a film not a book). The dazzles of humour made me smile frequently, and the certain additional scenes that weren't in the book were perfectly included to form shots of beauty and passion that were just amazing and natural and so wholesome. I particularly loved this additional scene where Alex and Kate were in his store at night and they started dancing. They start to kiss and hold each other, and honestly that scene has got to be one of my favourites in the film. It was so beautiful. The acting was decent all round. The exceptions were the kids - the girl, especially, was one of the most infuriating child actors I have ever seen. The boy wasn't much better. Cobie Smulders and David Lyons were good in their supporting roles (Smulders was Katie's friend, Jo). Lyons was chilling and violently frantic as Katie's abusive husband, and he dove headfirst into the panic and cruelty of his character with strong results. Julianne Hough I feel a bit...'hmm' about. She wasn't how I pictured Katie when I read the book, and somehow, although she was lovely most of the time, she didn't quite show the reactions and personality that I expected from Katie after reading the book. But having said that, she did win me over through her chemistry with Josh Duhamel...... WHOA. 'Dat chemistry tho'. Hough and Duhamel were on fire; it's the kind of chemistry that can bring tears to your eyes because it's so raw, so honest, so beautiful, and so intense. At least, it brought tears to my easy-to-make-cry eyes (what can I say, true love moves me). They were a gentle, gorgeous couple; heartbreaking and affirming. When Alex ran after Katie to convince her to stay, my heart literally burned. That moment was so beautiful. Hough and Duhamel weren't Ryan & Rachel's Noah and Allie, but their chemistry was certainly on point - rain or no rain ;) The story was a gut-wrenching one. The conflict tore at my heart, as does anything that hurts women or sees them in abusive situations. But Alex and Katie's romance was beautiful among the shadows, and it shone, radiantly and triumphantly, to show hope and strength.

The basic plot revolves around an attractive young woman running away from her own murderous past, or so it seems at first. There are deeper subplots, but let us not ruin potential viewers' potential suspense by explicating them. Let us just say that she settles in a small town and tries to rebuild her life from scratch, but the ghost of Christmas past comes back to haunt her.That is the basic plot. The basal genre of the movie is romance (considering that it is based on a Nicholas Sparks' novel it is only natural for it to be a romantic movie) with mild hints of thriller and drama. One could best label it as a romantic thriller.Julianne Hough plays the lead woman and Josh Duhamel the leading man. Their performances are nothing praise-worthy, but they are not bad either. However, they do lack on-screen chemistry as I have felt no electricity, no Sparks (get it?) between them. Moreover, that says a lot about the movie as it lasts for nearly two hours, which means that it took its time developing the story that led to nothing. The one weak link in the cast is David Lyons whose performance is ridiculously exaggerated. It just ruins the character.The story is a two hour rundown of the most common clichés found in movies with two notable efforts to produce the much needed twist. One works rather well, the other one leaves you wondering why. Nevertheless, between those two, there is not much to work with. Therefore, the story is awful, it develops slowly (that is, it is boring at times), and the script is no deeper than the safe romantic shallow waters this movie treads. It just might be the worst movie based on one of Sparks' books (but to be fair it is not much to begin with).Another low point of notice is music. It is probably one of the most cringe- and puke-worthy soundtracks I have ever heard. However, I do not believe that I am the target audience so some people might find it OK. I found it laughably horrible and someone ought to have lost his or her job over it (I am looking at you Deborah Lurie).There you have it. This movie boils down to an overly long, overly cheesy and mellow romantic movie, with a subtext of thriller in it, which unfortunately leads to nowhere. At times boring, at times cringe-worthy in the acting department, most of the time puke-worthy in the music department, with characters you could not care less about, with twists that work only half the time and you could not care less about, it is an emotionless, forgettable romance.Visit HatedCritic blog for more reviews.