Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty
“Was anyone else hurt, doctor?” “Paige, you know who I am, right?” “Yeah…you’re my doctor,” and so begins Leo’s (Channing Tatum) daunting task of trying to get his wife, Paige (Rachel McAdams), to remember him and their life together after a terrible car accident has erased part of her memory in the romantic film The Vow.
It seems the trauma from the accident has erased the last five years of Paige’s memory, which includes meeting, falling in love, and marrying Leo. Struggling and hoping her memories will come back, Leo convinces Paige to come back to their home and tells her the two of them will work through this together.
There are difficult obstacles in Leo’s way, however, including Paige’s parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange) who never approved of her life in the city as an artist, which she chose over law school, and they see this reboot of her mind as an opportunity to swoop in and change her life the way they want it to be. Another big problem for poor suffering Leo is Paige has renewed feelings for her old boyfriend, Jeremy (Scott Speedman), whom she was once engaged to. Remember, to Paige in her current state of mind it’s as though she has woken up five years ago – before the fall-out with her parents and the dumping of Jeremy.
Desperate to win the love of his life back and make her fall in love with him all over again, Leo decides to take her on an official date and recreate the special, wonderful moments that caused her to fall for him in the first place.
Sweet, sentimental and sappy, The Vow is a romantic date film that has a mediocre script which is saved and elevated by the performance of its two leads. Rachel McAdams delivers a strong performance as Paige, the young woman whose life has been derailed as she struggles to remember her husband and her old life but keeps falling back to the comforts of what is familiar. The scene where she watches their wedding video and doesn’t even recognize the strong, independent, and hopelessly in love woman she had become is extremely effective.
Channing Tatum gives a solid performance as Leo, the devoted and loving husband who only wants his soulmate back and will do anything – except be a punching bag both physically and emotionally to Paige – to make it happen. Both McAdams and Tatum have nice chemistry, especially in the flashback scenes where it’s revealed how they met and started falling for each other hard.
Unfortunately, Sam Neill and Jessica Lange are given very little to do in the film except look uncomfortable whenever Leo comes calling to see Paige after she’s moved back home to help with her sister’s wedding. It’s a true waste of two very talented actors who could and should have added much more to the drama of the two separated lovers.
Another problem with the film is the intrusive soundtrack that is used to supposedly enhance some of the romantic scenes in the film, such as Leo and Paige’s wedding in an art museum and their subsequent running from security. The audience will find themselves straining to hear the dialogue over the loud and inappropriate songs.
Ultimately, The Vow is saved from being nothing more than a forgettable romantic fluff film by the chemistry and performance of its two stars.
GRADE: C+
The Vow hits theaters on February 10, 2012 and is rated PG-13 for an accident scene, sexual content, partial nudity and some language.
