Safe Haven... Yes, I saw a chick flick, but it was great!

For my Valentines day, my girlfriend and I went to dinner and a movie, and of course we ended up at a chick flick called, Safe Haven.


The movie started with the main character, Katie (Julianne Hough) fleeing from a house because of something that the audience has yet to discover. She skips town and arrives in a small-town in North Carolina, looking for clean slate after her horrible past in Boston. She finds a job at a local restaurant,  and rents a small, secluded home buried in the woods, hoping to avoid the tight-knit community. Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widowed store owner with two children, tries to welcome Katie to the neighborhood, but she denies him, not wanting a relationship with anyone.

Soon after the denial of friendship, Katie’s new friend in town Jo (Cobie Smulders), encourages her to become friends with Alex and to give their friendship a chance.  The art of Nicholas Sparks strikes again, after a date on the beach, a romantic canoeing trip, and a cute dinner date with dancing and laughing, Katie and Alex fall head over heels for each other.

 But, what's unique about this film over other Sparks films is that there is a good majority of suspense and surprisingly thrilling scenes all the throughout the movie. In an earlier scene Katie is running from the law, but we are unsure of the details. With a unique mix of excellent cinematography in the screenplay the audience is able to revisit Katie’s past in Boston through perspective of a drunken police detective Kevin (David Lyons), who is intensively trying to track her down.

Director Lasse Hallström excellently incorporates the beautiful scenery of North Carolina to benefit the plot, and the creative cinematography of particular scenes is just captivating.

 I will not give away the last few minutes of the film, but the twist was very uniquely placed in the storyline. The average viewer view it as cheesy, desperate and maybe a little strange, but I really thought it brought the whole emotional circle together. 

Even though the film doesn't truly live up to the other Sparks films like The Notebook or A Walk to Remember, the addition of cool cinematography and suspense creates a great new twist to his orginals. The Valentine’s Day release date will definitely play a huge roll in the popularity of this film.

Any couples out there, I suggest you go see!