Ever see a movie that is progressing well and you're getting into it until… wham... crazy, silliness at the end? Sure, we all have. It's how I felt watching "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." It is always greatly disappointing.
I recently had this experience with a movie I was reluctant to watch in the first place. I sat down to watch Safe Haven because, well, I had nothing else to do. I recently re-upped my Netflix and the movie was just sitting there, staring me in the eye. It seems like one of those sappy, too much cooing for me stories, but I thought I would give it a try. I was into the movie, even enjoying it. There was a mix of a little bit of everything, mystery, romance, violence, hope, etc. Then at the end there was a ghost. Really?!!! Come on! Way to ruin a perfectly fine, albeit mindless movie. The dead mother actually being the best friend added nothing to the movie other than an element of craziness. I didn't think that it was sweet (which was probably the intended emotion). I thought it was weird. There were other ways the ending could have gone and it would have maintained the movie's integrity. Nope, blew it!
SPOILER ALERT (for anyone still planning to see this movie: The letters to the children written by their mother who was dying of cancer is a nice touch. She wanted to feel like she was there for the important moments in their lives, graduation, marriage, etc. The note to her husband's future love is poetic. It is a great way to show dead mother accepts new woman into her family's life. However, revealing that dead mother is actually Jo, the friend who comforted and kept Katie company is ridiculous. So, are we to think that Katie is hallucinating and a bit off kilter because she sees people? Perhaps she sadly has a brain tumor like the one that killed the mother, causing her to see Jo and think she is interacting with her instead of just talking to herself. The movie would have been better and perhaps a few minutes shorter if it just ended with Katie reading the letter and hugging her new family on the docks. Nothing else needed to be resolved!
Now, I need to watch a good movie to restore my faith in the film industry!
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