34
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangSafe Haven offers an unsurprising but not unsatisfying tour through recognizable Sparkville terrain.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliReading 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.
- 50Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsI 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.
- 50McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMcClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreHallestrom 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.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberThe Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberA 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.
- 40Arizona RepublicArizona RepublicSafe 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.
- 40New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsDuhamel is goofy and harmless, but unlike Ryan Gosling in “Notebook,” adds no texture or subtlety. Hough (“Footloose”), while photogenic, is similarly bland.
- 38Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesIf 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.
- 38Boston GlobeTom RussoBoston GlobeTom RussoA movie that passably ambles along in generic-melodrama mode before finally insulting audience intelligence one time too many.
- 12Slant MagazineSlant MagazineIt goes without saying that Safe Haven is the whitest thing offered up for public consumption in the three days since Mumford & Sons won the Grammy for Album of the Year.