Along the Way

this movie took you on a journey--and you absolutely can't stop thinking about it when it's over. you want the four of them to find their way and stay friends forever. the music is one of the most amazing aspects of this movie. it is beautifully written and perfectly coincides with the story so much that sometimes you don't even notice that it is the notes of the music that carry you from one scene to the next. i recommend this film to anyone looking to watch a story that affects you long after the movie is over. thank you for such a great effort towards making a quality film about the things that are the most important parts of life: friendship and loyalty

I caught a screening of this film last night at a small film festival, The First Anual Desert Reel Festival in Odessa, TX, and was absolutely blown away. This film should not be reduced to scraping around at festivals trying to pick up attention. This film should be number one at the box office. Understand that this remark comes from a guy who is generally very hard on dramatic films. The emotions are usually overblown and the conclusions often ring false or forced. Not in THE HAVEN. All of the characters were well developed and completely believable. I haven't cried in a film since I was 7 or 8 years old watching ET, but let me tell you, there were several scenes in this one that nearly got me. I can't say enough about what a fabulous film this is, or even about the accessibility of those who made it. I met the writer/director, the editor, the producer and one of the stars at the festival and found them all to be really great guys. I wish them, and THE HAVEN all the luck in the world with this excellent film. And I urge any studio with any credibility at all to pick up this movie at the first opportunity. Stars or no, this is the best drama I've seen in years. Possibly ever.

Most people know talented actor and comedian Andrew Bowen from his short time on FOX-TV's sketch TV show, "Mad TV." Unfortunately they more than likely have not learned about him as the producer/director and head writer of a self-produced film from 2000 called "The Haven." "The Haven" is a loving and poignant story of four friends and the the trials and tribulations of what their "circle of life" has meted them from their chance meeting in grade school, the carefree days through high school and college, and that awkward time between late adolescence and the beginning of "the rest of their lives." The story also honestly depicts the not-so-fun underbelly of the realities of life and relationships when maturing personalities clash. While "The Haven" has many moments most audience members can relate to, the script has its moments of implausibility from a storytelling standpoint, and moments of way-over-the-top overracting especially as it relates to the four boys' relationships and conflicts to their outside world (parents, girlfriends, etc.). These moments unfortunately distract from the intent of the main storyline and are compounded by what some may view as totally unmotivated gratuitous violence and possibly mar what could have been a "great" movie into a "good" movie. Despite this, "The Haven" is an a notable artistic achievement from Andrew Bowen and one can only hope he will be able to capitalize on this milestone of a project in his future endeavors on his obvious talents as an actor "and" producer/director/writer.

I am writing this for anyone who has not yet seen, or is questioning, The Haven.

I went to see this movie in a little bar in Park City, Utah, during Sundance. My best friend and I walked in about 20 minutes into it. and what I seen of it was totally gripping. They done another showing promptly after the first, so my buddy and I decided to stick around and see what we missed. We had full intensions on leaving after we seen what we had missed, but we were so ingulfed in it that we opted to finish the movie a second time.

The actors and writing were great, I could relate to each of the roles personally. I found this movie to be an amazingly powerful film. I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but it's one of those movies that after you see it, you feel different, and you can't stop thinking about it.

I would strongly suggest anyone see this movie, and if you get the chance to talk to John (the writer) take the chance he is an extrememly down to earth guy. We were in Park City, with literally 1000's of people, we went back to see it again the second night, and John seen us, and remembered us by name. I find that pretty outstanding. After the film he asked us to give hime a testamony on film, which we were more than happy to do, for a film that contained such raw power and charisma. I'm no movie critic, but I would definately give this film 10 stars, on a 5 star rating system.

It's amazing, check it out.

My expectations were incredibly low when I started watching this film for the first time. It came as a super-low-budget one-pound DVD that had horrible picture and sound quality, even for VHS standards, and absolutely no extras. Just the title, "The Haven", sounded naff to me.

It starts out as a rather unoriginal film, portraying the growing-up of four friends, and it tends to be rather superficial for the first quarter, but then... it really engulfs you.

25 minutes into the film, you have been introduced to the characters and you find yourself completely addicted to see how they solve their building conflict between eachother, their conflict with people around them and how they face the real world. You get so involved into the story and the characters that you eventually experience an emotional rollercoaster until the film ends. Despite being a tough, allegedly non-sensitive guy, it had me shedding a few tears and reflecting silently upon life a few minutes when the film had ended. The film just did not leave me. I still keep thinking about it now, months afterwards.

The most fascinating fact is that it boasts a group of terrific actors, and yet they are all more or less unknown. In my opinion, the strongest actor without doubt is Andrew Bowen, who portrays Jocko. His performance is simply brilliant, and gives the character a depth that I couldn't think possible. The other three actors are marvelous as well, but it was Bowen that captured my attention. When I then found out that Bowen also was the director and writer of the film, I gasped. Quite an undiscovered talent that deserves more recognition.

The most unbelievable thing about the film is that it seems so professionally construed yet has no decent DVD or video release anywhere. To later find out that it has not even reached the major cinemas and has no major distributor is shocking. As far as I'm concerned, the film could easily compete for Oscar or Academy Awards among the top films from major Hollywood studios.

Today, "the Haven" is one of my all-time favourite films. I recommend it to everyone, but they simply cannot get hold of it, which is a shame. I really hope a decent DVD studio gives it a proper worldwide release some day.

In any way, if you get the chance to see "The Haven", please do. It is truly rewarding and will in one way or another affect you - more than you think.