Who knew that finding “the courage to love again” could be so damn boring? Safe Harbour, a tepid romantic drama based on a bestselling Danielle Steel novel, never shuts up about how damaged its characters are, revealing their world of hurt and pain via a lot of stolid moping and declarations that so-and-so is “going to lie down for a while.” Get the smelling salts... por moi. Melissa Gilbert puts on a terrible French accent as Ophelia, an expatriate living in Northern California, who is mourning the loss of her husband and teenage son (both recently killed in an accident), while neglecting her surviving 11-year-old daughter Pip (Liana Liberato). Despite being ignored, Pip nevertheless finds mom a perfect new man: lonely artist Matt (Brad Johnson), who is handsome, gentle, and suffering from his own heartbreak that requires mending. But even Matt's ridiculous flawlessness—more than enough to label this direct-to-DVD movie as sentimental twaddle—is bested by not one, not two, but three absurdly melodramatic turns in the final act. I don't know about the courage to love, but I had no difficulties working up the courage to groan. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include both widescreen and full screen versions of the film, as well as an introduction by Steele. Bottom line: an unexceptional extras package for an unexceptional film.] (M. Johanson)
Safe Harbour
New Line, 110 min., PG-13, DVD: $19.98, Oct. 30 Volume 22, Issue 6
Safe Harbour
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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