Safe Haven is a 2013 American romantic drama film featuring Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, and Cobie Smulders. The movie was the last film role for actor Red West. Directed by Lasse Hallström, it is based on Nicholas Sparks' 2010 novel. The film was originally planned to release on February 8, 2013, but it was released by Relativity Media on February 14, 2013. Critics gave the film poor reviews, and it earned $97.6 million in total revenue, despite having a production budget of $28 million.
Plot
A woman, barefoot and bleeding, runs to a neighbor's house for safety. She cuts and bleaches her hair before reaching a bus station. Police search for her, but she boards a bus and escapes.
In Southport, North Carolina, the woman, now named Katie Feldman, finds work as a waitress and rents a small house near the town. She befriends her neighbor, Jo, and meets Alex Wheatley, a shopkeeper who runs the local general store. Alex is a father of two children, Josh and Lexie, and Josh has a difficult relationship with him.
Katie begins a relationship with Alex and becomes a caring figure to Josh and Lexie. Meanwhile, Boston police detective Kevin Tierney creates wanted posters for a woman named "Erin," who is accused of first-degree murder. Alex sees the poster in a police station and notices the woman looks very similar to Katie. After an argument, Alex ends the relationship, and Katie prepares to leave town.
Before leaving, Alex stops Katie, asking her not to go and promising to protect her. Katie agrees to stay, though she worries about putting Alex’s family in danger. She explains she fled to escape her abusive and alcoholic husband.
Kevin is later suspended for making false wanted posters and for drinking on the job. It is revealed that Katie stabbed Kevin (her husband) with a knife when he attacked her in a drunken rage. Kevin finds the phone number to Katie’s restaurant in Boston by breaking into her former neighbor’s home.
Kevin arrives in Southport during the Fourth of July parade and sees Katie kissing Alex. That night, Katie dreams that Jo tells her, "He is here." Katie wakes up in a convenience store next to sleeping Lexie when Kevin appears and demands she return with him. She refuses, and Kevin pulls a gun, pours gasoline on the store, and threatens to burn it down.
To protect Lexie, who is upstairs, Katie pretends to agree to go with Kevin. When he relaxes, she pushes him into the water. A firework ignites the gasoline, causing a fire. Alex sees the burning store, crosses the harbor by boat, and saves Lexie. During the struggle, Katie shoots Kevin and kills him.
After the fire, Alex finds letters written by his late wife, Carly, which were prepared for important events like Josh’s eighteenth birthday and Lexie’s wedding. He reconciles with Josh.
Later, Jo tells Katie she will leave Southport soon. Katie thanks Jo for being a friend, and Jo says, "You deserve this, Katie. You belong here."
Alex gives Katie a letter addressed to her. The letter explains that Alex must be in love to write it and hopes she feels the same. Inside is a photo of Carly. Katie realizes Jo was the ghost of Carly, who had been watching over them.
Production
According to a 2012 Twitch Film article, Keira Knightley was in early discussions to play the character Katie but had to leave the project because of schedule conflicts with the 2013 film Begin Again.
The film’s main filming began on June 18, 2012, in Wilmington and Southport, North Carolina. Some parts of the movie were shot in Louisiana. The opening scene featuring Katie on the Coach America bus was filmed on the Linn Cove Viaduct along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina.
Reception
Safe Haven earned US$71,349,120 in North America and US$26,245,020 in other countries, totaling US$97,594,140 worldwide. During its opening weekend, the film earned US$21,401,594, placing it third at the box office behind A Good Day to Die Hard (US$24,834,845) and Identity Thief (US$23,674,295).
Critics gave Safe Haven low ratings. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received a score of 13% from 146 critics, with an average rating of 4.00/10. The review summary states, "Emotional, predictable, and overly dramatic, Safe Haven also includes an unbelievable plot twist, making it one of the weakest Nicholas Sparks adaptations." On Metacritic, it scored 34 out of 100 based on 33 reviews, showing "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a B+ rating.
British film magazine Empire rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, noting, "She’s Katie, a mysterious girl on the run who ends up in a small town with kind, attractive people like Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widower. Strong performances make this better than other recent Sparks films, but the story remains overly sentimental and filled with unrealistic events."
Richard Roeper called the film "Bat. Bleep. Crazy." He questioned whether the filmmakers or a character was "out of their mind" and expressed shock at the ending, calling the story "insane." He would have given the film 2.5 stars but ultimately rated it 1.5 out of 4. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film’s setting as "a overly sweet vision of small-town America that does not match reality." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film zero stars and wrote, "I hate Safe Haven. It's a terrible thing to do to your Valentine."
Safe Haven was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in the category Choice Movie: Romance. Mimi Kirkland was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Supporting Young Actress in a Feature Film.