Some specific challenges a filmmaker would have when turning the book Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks into a movie is casting the right people to play the characters. Without the right casting the emotions and tone of the whole movie would be off, and it would look almost awkward on screen. This is one problem that I saw in the movie, Julianne Hough, who plays Katie in the movie, was not the right casting choice in my opinion. Her seemingly joyful expression throughout the whole movie did not represent the true distress and scared feelings Katie expressed in the book.
One scene that should be kept in the book is the scene where Josh is out fishing on the boat and he slips into the water and starts to drown. Katie sees him fall and his dad, Alex, runs out to save him. Josh's little sister Kristen is left screaming and crying, hysterical about what is happening. While Alex is attending to Josh, Kaite comforts Kristen and gets her to calm down. Once Josh is breathing normally again Alex looks over at Katie and Katie looks back. This is an important moment in their relationship, when Alex realizes how much he really likes Katie and how good she would be for his family. Katie thinks the same thing too just for a second, but enough to show reader's how their relationship is going to change.
Another scene that definately has to be added is when Kevin, Katie's abusive husband who she ran away from, finds out she's now living in Southport and decides to drive down and kill her for running away. The filmakers need to include the moment he spots her at the carnival and how he stalks her throughout the day and night waiting for the right moment to kill them all. This is a very suspenseful moment, and the climax of the story, without this suspense the ending would be kindof shocking and too fast. This slow build up would really get the audience's attention and allow them to see the true character of Kevin. In the real movie this scene was not included, and the ending is very fast, making is almost too dramatic and nonrealistic. Also nobody gets seriously injured, while in the book Alex and Katie both were inujured pretty badly making the movie scene seem really fake.
The third scene that should be included is when Katie realizes her only girlfriend in Southport is really the ghost/ appariton of Alex's wife who passed away a few years back. This is a pivital moment in the book, and is a shocking realization for Katie as well as the reader's. During this realization she also reads the letter Alex's ex wife wrote for her before she died, telling her everything she expected from the new mother of her children. This is the end of the book and should be the end of the movie too because with Kevin dead and everybody healed, all the characters are content and happy. It leaves the reader feeling sad yet happy at the same time. Sad that Jo wasn't real and had died, but happy that Katie is finally free, and her and Alex will live together with the kids forever.
One part that would have to be cut out is the part inbetween when Katie is not sure wether or not she really wants to go head first into another relationship after dealing with Kevin her whole life. This inbetween part is pretty long, and it would be boring just listening to Katie contemplate with herself over a couple of weeks wether or not she should take the risk. This was included in the movie, but it was a very shortened version making it ok to add.
Another part that should not be included in the movie is the time Kaite spent in Philadelphia when she first ran away from Kevin. This part is almost completely uneventful and isn't that important to the overall story line, though it is interesting in the book, on the big screen it would be too slow and the audience would be bored.
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