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Haven (R)





Release Date: September 15th, 2006 by Yari Film Group.
The Cast: Bill Paxton, Orlando Bloom, Stephen Dillane, Zoe Saldana, Razaaq Adoti, Agnes Bruckner, Victor Rasuk, Lee Ingleby, Anthony Mackie, Joy Bryant, Bobby Cannavale.
Directed by Frank E. Flowers.

BASIC PREMISE: Carl (Paxton), a businessman, flees to the Cayman Islands to avoid prosecution while Shy (Bloom), a British native, gets into trouble for sleeping with a local girl, Andrea (Saldana).

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: Haven has all the right ingredients for a sexy, picturesque dramatic thriller, but only manages to be sexy and picturesque. Two overlapping plots unfold non-linearly. Carl and his business partner (Dillane) run away to the Cayman Islands because of some criminal activity they must be involved with. The particularities of their crime aren’t quite clear, so, therefore, the conflict seems a bit contrived. Meanwhile, Shy flirts and sleeps around with a beautiful local girl named Andrea which upsets her father and her brother (Mackie). Then there’s Carl’s daughter, Pippa (Bruckner) who hooks up with a local guy on the island. Despite decent performances, what truly diminishes Haven’s entertainment value is the weak, unfocused script, by screenwriter Frank E. Flowers, which leads too much headache-inducing confusion. None of the characters are developed enough to actually care about what happens to them; they seem too dull. Even though the plot does get complex and has a few action scenes, it’s all too contrived to be as suspenseful and thrilling as it tries to be. On a positive note, the beautiful locations and sexy young stars provide for some eye-candy, but that doesn’t help to keep you fully engaged.

SPIRITUAL VALUE: None is required or desired.

INSULT TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE: A muddled, contrived plot with dull characters.

NUMBER OF TIMES I CHECKED MY WATCH: 8

IN A NUTSHELL: Beautiful scenery and sexy stars don’t compensate for a confusing and contrived plot with dull characters and no suspense.

RECOMMENDED WAY TO WATCH: TV


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