DVD
REVIEW: SAFE HARBOUR
10/29/07
For those of us that are
fans of the internationally known, New York Times bestseller
Danielle Steel, here comes an adaptation of her book Safe
Harbour into DVD. Producer Daniel Grodnick was captivated by
the story from the beginning and envisioned it in a film,
Knowing Danielle Steel is one of the best romance writers,
who has 21 of her novels already adapted to the televison,
he got her permission to embark in this great project. With
script in hand he hired Bill Corcoran to direct the film due
to his great experience in film and television productions
and his storytelling skills. The rest is history.
What I love the most about this film is the team effort in
bringing out the mood of this story and in Safe Harbour it
was definitely needed. Being a story of love, lost, and
redemption the support team, from production designer (Nava)
to costume designer (Laura Angotti) did an excellent job in
bringing out the essence of this story. The sensitivity and
romance can be beautifully appreciated in non other than the
Northern California beaches.
The plot of this movie like any adaptation follows along the
same lines of the book, yet being a complex Danielle Steel
book it was difficult for Bill Corcoran to pick the scenes
that would encompass the entire story. In watching this
movie the story flows from scene to scene smoothly
portraying the most important dialogues and events that
makes the story whole. The flow of this film is so subtle,
the background is so calming and the characters so endearing
that it becomes a refreshing 110 minutes of entertainment.
This is the story of Ophelie Mackenzie (Melissa Gilbert) who
is a French widow that has suffered a huge tragedy, the
death of her husband and her son. Her daughter is eleven
years old Pip (Liana Liberato) is heartbroken having lost
part of her family and watching her mother suffer from
depression relapse. The two of them looking from a retreat
escape to a resort town, where Pip meets Matt Bowles (Brad
Johnson) who likes to paint next to the seashore. Matt is
also heartbroken about his wife leaving him for his friend
and not being able to relate to his daughter. These three
character intertwine in desperate need to heal their spirits
with much love and a light of hope. It is a story of true
friendship, unconditional love and a cautious trust. This is
a powerful story that has much sentiment and thoughtfulness
in it.
As expected from such a reputable personality that not only
has acted by also has been a director, Melissa Gilbert made
her come back in this long awaited production. With a
sensual French accent, and a down to earth characterization
of Ophelie, she interprets the feeling of a mother with
guilt, the loneliness of a wife still in love with her late
husband and the happiness of finding a true friend and
eventually love. This character develops right in front of
your eyes and it is easy to relate to her due to a natural
and down to earth performance by Gilber. Like mentioned
early the team work excels not only in support staff but
also in casting. There is no doubt there was a lot of
chemistry among the characters. Brad Johnson was Gilbert's
back bone enhancing the scenes with his sensitivity. This
"Marlboro man" is not only masculine, but sexy and has all
the humble qualities of a true Romeo. I was very impressed
by the characterization of Liana Liberato, her artistic
talent is great with still some need for redirection but
overall her role was of great importance and support for the
success of the movie.
There is only one backdrop to the movie and that is that at
times it seems that the camera stays stills focusing on an
actor's face for a few moments before it moves to next
scene. Being a DVD movie this was not necessary and takes
away from the standards of a film and adds more of a
television soap effect. Regardless of this, it was nice and
refreshing to see such an intense and complex story make the
cross over to DVD. I think even Danielle Steel would be
proud of the quality of this project.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1:78) Enhance for 16x9 TVs
AUDIO:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 and
English 2.0 Stereo Surround
English & Spanish subtitles
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Review
By Jen
jen@smartcine.com
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