This adventure-of-a-lifetime tale starts when an innocent girl thought she trusted someone and then they turned out to be her worst enemy. This story acts as both an adventure story and a love story for anyone that is willing to follow along the destiny of what happens to her next, after she breaks free of a marriage barrier to begin her own path.

Safe Haven, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, is inspired by the novel written by Nicholas Sparks. In the film, Katie, portrayed by Julianne Hough, goes on a journey that embodies love, dignity, pain and rejoice. After her husband, Tierney, played by actor David Lyons, abuses her, she flees to a small town and starts her life over with a clean slate. The only thing is, her husband is a crazy cop and never stops stalking her because he wants to lock her back up in their house. While the suspense builds in the movie, Katie attaches herself to a new man and his family. Alex, whom she falls for, is played by Josh Duhamel, and he acts as a safety net for her.

Hough’s complicated lead role was portrayed well. She is a character that has to seem both confident and innocent, strong and weak, careful and careless. In her new life she changes and becomes the girl the audience wishes to see–the strong independent woman who can stand up to her husband. Hough was the right actress for this role because her past experience allows her to be both confident and humble at the same time, which she has learned through her dancing career, her previous acting jobs and her overall persona. Her emotional range as an actress were exactly what her character needed.

Hough has also been seen in Dancing with the Stars, Footloose and Rock of Ages. She comes from a profession of American dancing and is becoming a country music singer and actress. This is what allows her to be yet graceful when her role forces to her to be tough.

Safe Haven has risen in popularity because Hough captivates the audience in her various ways of dealing with life’s circumstances. For example, in scenes where she has to hide from her husband, has to start a new life and has to make new friends. This allows the rest of the audience to believe that in anything can happen, and more importantly, to believe in Hough. She does this even more in the end when she finally makes her firm move towards a better life.

Duhamel, as the public eye might recognize, also played in his hit movie series Transformers. However, in this anticipated so-called “chick-flick”, his role is slightly different. Duhamel plays a character that is a strong role model for his kids. Also, Duhamel dramatically shows the hollowness kept inside his character’s heart through dealing with his wife’s death from cancer. It is hard for his character to get over the past. That is, until he finds Hough, who decides to stay in the small town, and together they create a tenderness that the audience will fall in love with.

Duhamel is at his best when he goes into a scene that forces him to have emotions about his deceased wife. He really shows what kinds of emotions a man going through in loss and love. He does this specifically in a scene where he goes up to an attic that still has all of the belongings of his deceased wife. He buries his hands and starts sobbing at some of the letters she has left for her family.

While this scene itself is captivating, the overall quality of his performance is rather average. Sometimes the relationship he is supposed to have with Hough, does not feel real and does not always convince the audience that they are actually in love. Especially in the scenes when he took both Hough and his kids to the beach, it is hard for him to act both as a dad and as someone that is interested in Hough.

Compared to the novel, Safe Haven differs in some ways. In the beginning, the film makes viewers believe that Hough committed murder, whereas in the book, it is clear how mistreated and abused she was. In the introduction of the novel, the reader gains perspective and feelings towards this young female role and sees that she is actually innocent and doing the right thing for herself by running away. Being that audience members of the movie did not know from the beginning that Hough was innocent in her actions, this led to misconceptions and both a positive and negative impact. For viewers who seek a little bit more of an action film, the movie twist makes sense, but it has a negative effect on those who want to see a true love story, where the heroine is not capable of doing any harm.

Compared to other movies inspired by Spark’s novels, like The Notebook and A Walk To Remember, Safe Haven is unique because it has an ending that the audience can be happy with, while also creating more suspense than any other. While watching, there is a constant dark presence of anticipation because of the mysterious story. The plot line is profound, with a twist of love and scare. Ultimate love is about doing the right thing for other. The director wants viewers to believe that with a little faith and a boost of confidence, anything can happen and that maybe, sometimes, the “good” does win.

In the end, the movie created a mood of thankfulness for the loved ones that people do have in their lives, because being in a safe haven is where we can feel the most happy with ourselves, the world and the ones we love. Although not overpowering, it makes for a flick that everyone can enjoy.