Clare Henney: May 2013

Finally, after a very long wait, I was able to watch the movie Safe Haven! I know I said that I wanted to watch it in the cinema when I first heard about the movie but I wasn’t able to (due to health issues and all the things that came along with it). Now that the DVD is out, I was finally about to see the film in the comfort of my own home.

To be honest, I think the movie was better than I expected. I remember talking to a friend about how the book would translate into a movie because of the “slight cheese factor” at the end but they managed to pull it off well enough to have me teary-eyed as it was revealed. Even the part of why “Erin” moved to Safe Haven was interpreted in a way that was better than the book. You would not figure out Katie’s exact back story in the film until it’s near the end unlike the book where you knew from the beginning what kind of life she came from.

I think this is my favorite Nicholas Sparks book-turned-into-film now. My ultimate favorite for a long time has been A Walk to Remember followed by The Notebook but now this movie is #1 for me. I’m happy with the cast. I heard that Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby) and Kiera Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) were initially considered for the female lead but after watching the film, I’m very happy with Julianne Hough as Erin/Katie. I wasn’t sure about her at first but she pulled off the role for me to the point where I can’t imagine Mulligan or Knightley being the lead.