The drama and romance filled movie, Safe Haven, takes you on a roller coaster ride of happiness and sadness. As viewers, you will get exposed to laughter and joy, and possibly the shedding of some tears. Personally, I think this movie is a great hit and deserves its high rating. This movie conveys the feeling of happiness, but also the reality of hurt that comes to life at times. It truly gives you an insight about the broad spectrum of feelings that life can hand to you.

It starts off on a cool, summer day when the dreamy shop owner, Alex (Josh Duhamel) catches eyes with a beautiful girl, Katie (Julianne Hough) who moved to the small town on the North Carolina coast. Katie keeps a low profile in the town and gets a job at the local diner. Starting a new life for herself, Alex slowly becomes a part of the picture. As a widower and parent to two kids, Lexie (Mimi Kirkland) and Josh (Noah Lomax) also become a part of the picture. Adjusting to life in the small town was hard at first because of her sheltered personality and lack of friends. Until one afternoon, Jo (Cobie Smulders) appeared in town and mentioned that she’s a neighbor of Katie. Jo is a sweet, quiet friend of Katie who is sparingly seen in the film, but has a huge impact for the end of the movie.

Learning to love and trust again is not an easy task for Katie (Julianne Hough). Her past leaves her with dark and sad emotions, but she is filled with warmth once finding this small, knit community. The feeling of seclusion and safety makes Katie comfortable with where she has ended up. As for Alex and the kids, it is a new chapter that includes time for change in their lives. The distractions from work, Alex and his kids, the community and working on her house leaves her mind at ease from time to time.

The acting ability of all of the characters is very effective. Julianne Hough (Katie) and Josh Duhamel (Alex) convey emotions really well which contributes to the feelings of the viewers. Facial expressions, tone of voice and actions are evident throughout the movie. Facial expressions of terror and happiness are portrayed, and scenes of action come from intense fighting and connections with one another. Also, the tone of voice is expressed with yelling, screaming, anger and joy. From the kids, Noah Lomax (Josh) and  Mimi Kirkland (Lexie), they have a well acting ability of portraying the attitudes of little kids and how they act. Josh shows a more sassy and independent personality, while Lexie shows a very mature and down to earth personality.

This film is designed for viewers who are lovers of drama, romance and thriller. Throughout the movie there are scenes of drama which includes fights between Alex and Katie when Alex pushes to become a part of Katie’s life and know more about her. Also, there are scenes of romance when Alex and Katie are together and fall in love. Lastly, there are intense scenes of thriller when unexpected people come into the picture and try to cause harm.

Overall, the movie Safe Haven includes scenes of various packed emotions.The film truly combines the aspects of romance and drama because  one second the scene could be happy and joyful, and then next it could be scary and or intriguing. Holding a box of tissues and a bowl of ice cream by your side may not be a bad idea. But at other times, the characters and scenes can bring a smile or laugh to your face when there are vacations at the beach and party events that are in town. The overall attention to detail and smooth, ongoing plot truly makes this film remarkable and leaves a high rating for many viewers. This film shows the dramatic and intense story of people searching for love and happiness while making sure they don’t lose everything in the process.