The Vow - Film Review

The Vow - Film Review

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Posted 2012-02-08 by Sarah Hanfollow

Thu 09 Feb 2012



The Vow opens in cinemas just in time for Valentine's Day. Well-played. Blubbery teens will lap it up.

Another Notebook type movie, also featuring Rachel McAdams, The Vow is a sappy romance based on true events. Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are a married couple that have to fall in love all over again after a car accident causes Paige to lose her memory.

As expected, there's a lot of mushy, lovey-dovey stuff to placate all the hopeless romantics. I went with my friend MC who also isn't a major fan of soppy romantic dramas, but we both walked out of the movie feeling like it kept us entertained.

Squish together Dear John and The Notebook, and you get a Rachel McAdams-Channing Tatum love child in The Vow.

Cynics won't be impressed by this film. It's not as weepy as some other romantic dramas, but I'd still expect a tearfest from numerous audience members.

I do appreciate the accident scene which hooks you in at the beginning. Instead of a long-winded, arduous set up, we're offered a short exposition, which leads to quite a striking car accident. Flashbacks then reveal the memories that Paige lost due to her head injury.

There are moments that pull at your heart strings – even my cold, icy heart melts a little. On the other hand, the film is also interspersed with cringe-worthy and somewhat contrived dialogue, which makes me want to rewrite the script.



The biggest surprise for me is that McAdams isn't all that likeable in this performance. Tatum plays the forlorn, heartbroken husband quite well – I felt bad for the guy for the entire duration of the film. Granted, I have a soft spot for Tatum because of his history as a dancer in Step Up (and previously as a stripper).

There's just something endearing about Leo, especially the way he so intensely longs for Paige to love him again. It's not often that I find myself on the male protagonist's side, but during these 104 minutes I find myself rooting for Leo.

And of course it's a bit strange that she doesn't just succumb to him immediately – I mean, have you seen Channing Tatum's abs? If you haven't, there's a bit of footage of him topless. So get to it, girlfriend.

The film is based on the book The Vow: The Kim & Krickitt Carpenter Story. The decision to change Kim and Krickitt's names to Leo and Paige was probably a good move, but it does make me wonder how much of the film (or the book for that matter) is true.

This Valentine's Day The Vow will give you the option of an anti-Valentine Channing Tatum perve, bawling your eyes out or taking your partner on an emotional rollercoaster.

Director: Michael Sucsy
Duration: 104 min
Rating: PG-13

Note: I attended the media screening as a guest of the production.



#cinema
#movie_reviews
!date 09/02/2012 -- 09/02/2012
%wnsydney
115700 - 2023-06-12 18:41:24

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