The Vow (2012)
Certified: 12
Duration: 104 minutes
Directed by: Michael Sucsy
Starring: Channing Tatum, Rachel McAdams, Scott Speedman, Sam Neill, Jessica Lange, Dillon Casey, Rachel Skarsten
KRS release

Hopelessly romantic and overtly sweet, the film is inspired by a true story.

The film has an appealing leading duo, a too-good-to-be-true storyline and has enough drama to keep one interested even if romance movies are not one’s thing.

Fans of The Notebook will find a lot to like in The Vow.

The combination of Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams is a winning one and the two display quite an amount of on screen chemistry which keeps the film chugging along through all the pot holes.

Leo and Page (Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams) are a happy couple living in the city and are surrounded by cool friends.

He has his own recording studio where he nurses young aspiring artists while she has her workshop where she does modern sculptures.

Life is simply perfect….That is until they are involved in a car crash. Leo escapes unhurt Paige has a memory loss where she cannot remember one single thing that happened in the last five years. This means she has no idea of her husband, her friends, her home and her recent work. The last thing she remembers is living at her parents’ and studying law.

For Leo this is quite traumatic especially as he has to get into a sort of tug-of-war with Paige’s parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange) who want her to go back to live with them.

Leo tries to find some way to bring back Paige’s memories and rekindle her love for him.

This will mean treating Paige as if they were meeting for the first time, going for a first date, first kiss, etc…

Mr Tatum once again turns in a very likable performance. The production knows that the predominant audience for the film is female and thus never skips a chance to show off Tatum’s biceps…and more. Ms McAdams is sweet as Paige, but not as the uptight lawyer-in-waiting girl the character becomes.

While I found the story interesting and a nice twist for a romantic comedy, the plot needed some more thought.

At one point Paige seems to want proof that Leo is actually her husband and that they were in love.

After some time he remembers a voice mail message that he had and shows it to her.

He simply forgets about their wedding video complete with romantic declaration of vows.

This besides the photos, Facebook status and the gazillion other things which the audience picks up and that show that the two were living together and in love.

Sam Neill plays the part of the overly serious parent with honed skill while Jessica Lange shares a revelatory scene with Ms McAdams that has quite a nice emotional zing to it.

Sucsy’s direction is perfunctory at best and he is aware that the film always needs to have Tatum at its focus to succeed.

The Vow takes the wise move not to stray into romantic comedy territory and prefers to play the film as a straight romance.

The result is a film that while weak in plenty of areas works out for a Valentine’s Day date.