NSFW: Not Safe For Wisepeople (Film Review: Safe Haven)

I despise Nicholas Sparks and his novels, but truthfully, I kind of like some of his movie adaptations. I always say the best actors can mold something from the cheesiest script - if they can make you *believe,* then three cheers. (A lot of people consider 'The Notebook' to be a modern romantic classic, for example) Without Julianne Hough as the star of "safe Haven," the movie is dead on arrival. She is quite possibly the worst young actress I have seen - she's dead behind the eyes, has dialogue delivery of an acting class flunkie, and range for her means crinkling her nose. For a character who is dark and troubled, she seems to be relentlessly cheery, and always reaching for that cutesy angle. (Julianne, start clearing your mantle for your Razzie)  Josh Duhamel is fine enough, he works hard to flesh out his cardboard character, but ultimately he's not good enough to save this catastrophe.(He does fill his Diesel Jeans pretty well, though )  The plot is ludicrous, and the direction is by-the numbers. Billed as a romance thriller, you can tell which genre is being mined by listening to the musical score. Once the ominous music starts playing, you know you're getting to the "thrill" part. And you can't say that director, Lasse Halstrom, is a hack. He directed "Chocolat," and last year's very charming "Salmon Fishing in Yemen." (The latter is one of my Top 10 favorite films of 2012)  There's this "twist" at the end which is laughable if it wasn't scary (and no, not in a thrilling way)  I hope guys didn't take their girlfriends to see this movie on Valentine's Day, because if they did, I am sure they ended up empty-handed by the end of the night. It's only February,  but this would be hard to beat as the worst film of 2012.