Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Safe Haven’ On Netflix, The Nicholas Sparks Romance Where A Woman On The Run Teaches A Widower To Love Again

Oh, Nicholas Sparks. The melodramatic mind behind such classics as The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, and… other books-turned-movies like Dear John, The Last Song, The Lucky One, and a handful of others. Among these is Safe Haven, a romantic drama with a few thriller aspects that was released back in 2013. Starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel, the flick is now streaming on Netflix.

SAFE HAVEN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: When we first meet Erin (Julianne Hough), she’s terrified, fleeing through suburban Boston streets barefoot. She hops a bus down south, narrowly evading the police officer pursuing her. When we next see her, she’s in an idyllic North Carolina beach town and going by Katie, her long brunette hair replaced by a short blonde bob. She gets a job at a local restaurant, finds a sweet little fixer-upper of a home, and forms a connection with widower dad Alex (Josh Duhamel), who runs a local general store. While she makes a life for herself, the police officer continues to hunt her down, going door-to-door and distributing wanted posters.

Despite this violent, alcoholic cop on her tail, Katie continues to build a little life in this town – and a sparky romance with Alex. They fall hard for each other, and she becomes something of a mother figure to his children. But if we know anything about romances like this, the honeymoon phase can’t last long. Katie/Erin’s secret could be exposed at any minute, and this safe haven could lose its, well, safety. Can this great love story overcome the odds? Will secrets come to light? You’ll have to watch Safe Haven to find out.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Safe Haven is, like, the gold standard for all those soapy Nicholas Sparks (and the like) romances you know and love; The Best of Me, The Lucky One, The Choice, The Lost Husband, you name it. And yes, it definitely pulls a few tricks out of The Notebook‘s bag, though nothing is touching that one.

Performance Worth Watching: Gotta give this one to Cobie Smulders, who takes on a totally thankless role as the “neighbor” who lives down the street from Katie (I won’t spoil this one for you, but it takes this movie to a whole new level of corny). Jo operates more as Katie’s conscience than anything else, so she doesn’t have that much of a character, but she happens to pop in at juuust the right moments. It’s silly. But Cobie is always good.

Memorable Dialogue: Dialogue isn’t really Safe Haven‘s strong suit, but I’ll admit my heartstrings were tugged on a bit by “To the woman my husband loves…” in a letter we hear in the end.

Sex and Skin: There’s some tender, montage-y, relatively modest sex between the two leads (as is to be expected with flicks like this). That’s about it.

Our Take: Here’s the thing about movies like Safe Haven; if you keep your expectations low, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This isn’t going to be Casablanca. It’s no The Notebook. But if you are queuing up Safe Haven, you probably already know that Safe Haven is going to be up your alley. You’re probably a fan of mid-tier love stories like others from the mind of Nicholas Sparks and Lifetime and Hallmark flicks so saccharine you might feel a cavity coming on by the end. But isn’t that the fun of it? Knowing there’s a soapy, sappy formula that’s going to give you the feeling you’re looking for? I’m not saying Safe Haven is a work of art, but it’s certainly not the worst the Sparks genre has to offer.

I saw Safe Haven when it was released some eight years ago, and my reaction watching it in the Year of Our Lord 2021 wasn’t much different than it was then: this is so cheesy. But I can’t look away. Based on the novel by the romance king himself, Nicholas Sparks, Safe Haven is one of the poster children for the B-romance genre, and it checks pretty much every box. We’ve got a woman with a mysterious past moving to a small town, a smoldering hot, handy widower with two kids (one of whom is looking for a mother figure, the other totally against a new one. Drama!), a dreamy beach town setting, a nondescript acoustic guitar score, and a picturesque canoe date interrupted by rain. You can’t really ask for more.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Is Safe Haven corny as hell? Yes. Are there better romances out there? Sure. But Josh Duhamel is smokin’ hot, the love story is sweet, and it’s all undeniably watchable. You could certainly do worse if you’re in the mood for a B-romance.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

Watch Safe Haven on Netflix