Motompa
Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.
Paynbob
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Ryu_Darkwood
The thing with Haven is that it doesn't quite chooses which genre it wants to be. Is it an amusing gangster-flick in the line of Reservoir Dogs or Snatch? Or is it a panoramic view on people's lives like Magnolia or Crash? In both genres it fails to be overly convincing. For a gangster-flick it needs more action; for drama the characters are too superficial and uninteresting.I still enjoyed the mellow atmosphere of the Cayman-islands, created by the typical soundtrack and the atmospheric shots of turtles, domino playing old folks, water skiing youth, etc. The story unfolds itself on a funny and unpredictable way. The camera-work feels a bit amateuristic with annoying coloring and shaky shots.Overall, it's a nice movie to watch, though not very memorable.
Panterken
First let me explain my rating-system. I consider a 5 a movie that's somewhat watchable, a 6 is already a good movie. I gave Haven a 3 because the soundtrack was good and the acting wasn't horrible. Now over to the bad stuff...I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone. Usually in my reviews I try to say something like: 'this movie isn't recommended for people who don't like slow-developing plots' or 'it's not for people who want the plot wrapped up neatly in the end'. But I can honestly and objectively say this movie was just one of poor quality. The biggest problem is the plot itself. The storyline is multi-linear, characters are being followed and they're all supposed to be connected in one way or another through an event or multiple events. Examples of brilliant use of this method is seen in Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Crash and Magnolia. In these films the story lines have similar prominent themes and the characters are all connected physically. Every character adds more elements to the story until we have a complex web of story lines, constantly crossing paths and having effects on one another. I know this sounds confusing but watch Amores Perros and Crash and you'll know exactly what I mean. Haven makes one fruitless attempt after another to be clever until all we end up with is an unsorted mess of scenes thrown together in a wanna-be movie. That's the best way to describe Haven: it wants to be a lot of things but ends up being rubbish.The thing that irritated me even more then the gimmick mentioned above was the chronologically scattered framework that was used. I feel like they realized the plot and characters of their attempted intelligent film were overly simple, and they tried to jazz it up with a chronologically scattered framework to fool people into thinking they're watching something clever. I heard the story was chronological at the premiere of the Toronto film festival and then they re-edited the whole film to create the flashbacks. That's not the way to write a story with a scrambled up chronology. You have to actually write the script like that (with chronology switching from the start of your story) or the storyline will be a mess. The storyline has to flow naturally, even if you use chronology like that. A prime example a brilliantly written script that uses the same technique is Memento. The technique used actually adds something to the suspense of the story.Nope, don't waste your time on this. I usually only write IMDb reviews for films I like but this film was just too dreadful for words, I felt it was my duty to stop another human being from seeing it. I don't see why anyone should see this movie. It's certainly not to be entertained and I hardly think anyone would be enlightened after seeing a film like this.3/10 and I'm being generous.
Shoequeen1377
I decided to rent this movie to see if Orlando Bloom had any talent with being someone other than an action hero with a sword. I was surprised when his performance in Haven was pretty good. I actually felt for his character. The story line was impressive and it was nice to watch a small film with a good story that wasn't filled with tons of big name actors. At times it was hard to follow what was going on within the time frame. Some of the film was four months prior to the two key days in the film. There were some points in which the story was predictable but hardly, and there are some characters in which I couldn't figure out their actions. But Frank E. Flowers did a great job for such a young man, and Orlando Bloom deserves a well earned hats off for his performance.
rowmorg
The director somehow forgot to TELL A STORY, and he overlooked to DEVELOP CHARACTERS. Incredibly, the action got all mixed up in the editing suite and no one was straight enough to sort it out. That's my guess. What else happens when a bunch of stoned young men get together to make a movie on Grand Cayman? The leading lady was set up to have turned sixteen that very day, when Orlando Mister-Twickenham Bloom pops over to make love with her. Trouble is, she looks about twenty-five. Bloom gets acid thrown in his face by her charming brother, and oh-so-luckily his face is wrinkled up, but both his eyes survive perfectly! The movie started like an international James-Bond-type suspenser, but later turned into a lackadaisical picaresque tale about an ordinary boat-polisher and his burning passion. Yawn. Couldn't be bothered to find out what happened, there was no end for it to happen in.
