The Vow (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2012)

"The Vow" 2012 is a romantic drama with some comedic moments thrown in. Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum play a young married couple whose lives take a tragic fate when they suffer a car accident.

McAdams's character, Paige, isn't horribly disfigured or anything like that, but she suffers brain trauma which has blocked all memory of Tatum's character Leo.

Leo tries to get regain her memory by trying to have her fall in love with him again.

That's the movie. These romantic dramas get manufactured every year, and I have seen hundreds of them. However, I really liked the movie.

It's true that these types of movies aren't original, but that doesn't bother me too much as long as the product is good. Like I said, I liked it primarily because Rachel and Channing were very good in the leads.

It's true that perhaps the "brain trauma" aspect of the plot could have been worked a bit more, I mean Paige remembers a lot of things that you wouldn't expect someone whose had brain trauma to remember, so this part of the movie could come out as implausible to some people.

However, most people who have enjoyed the film don't care about that. This is a love story first and foremost, so it's more about seeing the characters going through the motions and trying to get those magic feelings for each other again

The performances are excellent. Channing and Rachel have great chemistry. The acting is never forced and the characters are believable.

Once we learn about Paige's past, we kind of understand why it's hard for her to remember Leo or at least not embrace it: Part of her life has been burdened by her overbearing father (played by Sam Neil) who doesn't quite respect her decisions, an ex-boyfriend Jeremy (Scott Speedman) who can't quite let her go, and other personal issues.

Rachel McAdams plays her character well. She is pretty, nice personality, but a little unsure of herself.

Tatum is good as the guy next door whose willing to put up with a lot all in the name of love. In fact, small parts of the movie are actually narrated by Leo as he tries to tell the audience what love really is. It's a nice addition to make the movie stand out a bit more from just being another movie. I liked his discussion of "moments of impact" in the film

All in all it's just a nice romantic movie. Some might find some issues with the science part of the movie or say it's predictable, but it's a movie that you see to make you laugh and feel good at the end.

After reading the book i expected a reasonable movie version. Instead I got Paige the brat. Paige the entitled. Paige the bully. It was all about Paige and very little about her husband. He was going through ton of stress and agony that never got expressed on the screen just a nice guy gentleness and one punch. He was truly the perfect gentleman. He even learned to love the cat. Great for a superficial story but not a great movie. I would have liked him to have had more voice to express anger even at her for lets face it ruining his life and not trusting him. Instead its all about Paige and her rotten family that were trying to rewrite history. How many more secrets did they keep? So not a great movie. If you like date movies its good but don't expect any realism in the story.

Buy The Vow (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2012) Now

You probably won't ever see Channing Tatum ferociously chewing the scenery, but you must give him props for earnestness. In THE VOW he handles the voiceover narration, and you could feel him trying. But when he launches into his clunky theory on "moments of impact," it's hard for me to buy it as credible insight. Maybe I'm biased. Probably I've pigeonholed Channing Tatum. Perhaps I was expecting him to bust an ill dance move or join a fight club. Me, I liked this film okay. And for the film's starry-eyed target audience, no amount of dis will sway them. Still, somewhere, even the staff writers at Hallmark are rolling their eyes.

In wintry Chicago, Leo (Tatum) and Paige (Rachel McAdams) are a young married couple still very much in love with each other. After all, they wrote their wedding vows on the menus of their favorite restaurant, and that right there probably qualifies what they have as some sort of legendary love affair. But then a runaway truck smashes into their car, and there's Paige catapulting thru the windshield. Leo, who had his seatbelt on, is relatively fine. When Paige awakens from her coma, she discovers that she's suffering from selective amnesia. She can't remember the last five years of her life. She can't imagine being this in demand sculptor and living in the city and married to Leo, this sudden stranger.

I'm sure them womenfolk are swooning all over Channing Tatum (who also bares his behind in one scene, so, uh, yay). Tatum is rendered ridiculously sympathetic by his romantic gestures and by virtue of what he's put thru by the amnesiac Paige. Leo remains the sweet devoted spouse, desperately striving to win his estranged wife all over again. But it's tough, really tough. Once a free-spirited creature, Paige now seems like an entirely different person. One of Leo and Paige's mutual friends voices our concern: "I'm just worried if she doesn't remember you, how's she supposed to remember she's in love with you?" Somewhere, Nicholas Sparks is kicking himself for not thinking up this plot.

Not that Paige is purposely mean or thoughtless. She's experiencing her own bits of turmoil. And, me, what I found really interesting are those moments which focus on Paige and the scary stuff she's going thru. Rachel McAdams is quite good at conveying that sense of desolation and confusion and helplessness one must feel when stricken with deep memory loss.

From Paige's perspective, it's like this: She's never had a falling out with her rich, conservative parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange). She's still in law school and engaged to her old sweetheart Jeremy (Scott Speedman). Today, Paige can't comprehend what would compel her to move to the city or give up law study or not be on speaking terms with her parents. What made her break up with Jeremy? I remember getting mad at myself in the theater for getting suckered in by these concerns. But I found myself wanting to know what made Paige turn her back on her old life five years ago.

Watching the love of your life just slip away from you, no matter how hard you try to hold on what's a more irresistible premise, especially on Valentine's Day? Channing Tatum's got a long road to go before he achieves real actor status. He still tends to be stiff and awkward. Except that, for this film, his awkwardness works in his favor. It makes him even more of an underdog, especially when pitted against the urbane Speedman and those old acting hands Sam Neill and Jesicca Lange. It's a shame, by the way, that Jessica Lange only gets that one scene in which to strut her stuff.

There are romantic beats in THE VOW that, for all their predictability and heavyhandedness, are still worth waiting for. And that's because McAdams and Tatum do create some sparks in their scenes together. Despite her newfound attraction to Jeremy, Paige gradually, cautiously becomes open to Leo's advances. She remarks: "I married him. It must've been for some reason." This then leads to probably my favorite sequence, which is their "first date." Since I'm a manly man, I won't swoon or have vapors. But I liked that sequence.

THE VOW is based on the real-life story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Apparently, Krickitt never did recover from her amnesia, and yet they're happily married with two kids. Not that I'm saying that's what happens in this movie. In fact, surprisingly, THE VOW veers away from giving us a grand romantic gesture in the finale. I like that the resolution unfolds unexpectedly and messily and almost in anticlimactic fashion. But the way the last 20 or so minutes unfold feels more believable. I was glad there wasn't a mad dash thru the airport or a dramatic "Stop the Wedding!" moment at the twelfth hour. The cliché police are overtaxed as it is.

Read Best Reviews of The Vow (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2012) Here

I wanted to like this movie, I really did. The acting was decent, although there was no chemistry between the lead characters. I think it was the writing.

*SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS*

The thing that bothered me the most is the letdown as to why she:

Completely cut off communication with her entire family.

Broke off her engagement.

Became a vegetarian.

Moved "to the city"

Dropped out of law school to become an artist.

Because her father had an affair with her friend? Really? I mean, cut him off if you want but it seems like a tad bit of an overreaction to me. Her mom and sister were probably like WTF did we do? She was a total brat throughout the whole movie. Her character was unlikable and he was a wuss. I hated it. I'm glad I Netflixed it rather than paying to see it.

Want The Vow (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) (2012) Discount?

To the script writers of the movie "The Vow":

Way to take an epic, real-life story of heroic Christ-like love and strip the heart and soul out of it.

I know you Hollywood types are chronically incapable of comprehending anything remotely resembling true, unconditional commitment that never gives up for any reason, but just because you can't understand it doesn't give you license to pull it down to your level. This movie proves that Hollywood really can't tell true love when it's staring them right in the face in the form of the real-life couple that this movie is (barely) based on.

In summary: Deeply disappointed.

If you want to know the REAL story, Amazon.com sells the book authored by the real couple that actually went through these events AND chose to stay true to their vows, regardless of how difficult it was. Kim and Krickitt Carpenter had a very rough beginning to their marriage, but Kim (the husband) never divorced Krickitt, there was no pressure from her father to do so, and there was no schism between her and her family. This movie takes the real-life drama of a painful and difficult situation and replaces it with artificial made-for-Hollywood drama that was far less interesting. And worst of all, they stripped out the very faith in God that is the core of their love for one another and which made it possible for them to work through their tragedy.

The Vow: The True Events that Inspired the Movie

Save 26% Off