Safe Haven

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, Safe Haven begins with a distraught young woman (Julianne Hough) fleeing from a violent suburban crime scene, cutting her long brunette hair, and bleaching it blonde before she surreptitiously boards a bus. Impulsively, she gets off in Southport, a small, sleepy community on the picturesque North Carolina coastline. Determined to bury her past, she introduces herself as Katie, rents an isolated cabin in the woods, and lands a job working as a waitress. Katie is befriended by a neighbor (Cobie Smulders) and she catches the eye of the proprietor of the general store (Josh Duhamel), the latter a recent widower raising his sullen, sensitive, pre-teen son (Noah Lomax) and disarmingly spunky, 8-year-old daughter (Mimi Kirkland). Meanwhile, back in Boston, a crazed, vodka-swilling detective (David Lyons) is determined to track Katie down. Director Lasse Hallström's sappy, tear-stained, blandly cast film tries to mix elements of suspense with a touch of the supernatural, but this is really just sentimental schmaltz. Optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted and extended scenes (5 min.), an alternate ending (4 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are the behind-the-scenes segment “Igniting the Romance” (9 min.), “Josh Duhamel's Lessons in Crabbing” with the costar (3 min.), a set tour (2 min.), and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an unremarkable film.] (S. Granger)