Title: The Vow
Studio: Sony Pictures
Director: Michael Sucsy
Cast: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Jessica Lange, Sam Neill
Release Date: February 10, 2012

By Yyonne Liu

Ever since I saw the trailer for The Vow about a month ago, I have been really excited for it to finally hit theatres. I bought my tickets in advance just so I could catch it on Valentine’s Day with my somewhat reluctant boyfriend. I am a huge fan of both Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, so my mindset going into this movie may have been a little biased- that and not to mention I was intrigued by the fact that the movie was inspired by true events!

The story begins with a carefree couple, he is the owner of a recording studio, and she is an artist who moved to the big city after a falling out with her parents and calling off an engagement with her (ex) fiancé, Jeremy. After getting rear ended by a truck on a snowy night, Paige (Rachel McAdams) wakes up from a coma with no recollection of the past 5 years of her life and ultimately no memory of Leo (Channing Tatum) and their life together.

Paige has a hard time coming to terms with her new self- what had happened to her law degree she was pursuing, or her engagement to Jeremy?  After finding it hard to adjust to her new life and her marriage to someone as familiar to her as a complete stranger, Paige moves back in with her parents and ultimately falls back into the pattern of her old, suburban life. Determined to keep to their vows they had written for each other during their spontaneous wedding in a museum, Leo sets his mind to making his wife fall in love with him again. However, his patience runs its course after he realizes that she isn’t willing to leave her old life behind to rediscover the one she has been living in for the past five years. The story continues with Paige discovering a secret of her family’s past, and she has to decide whether she wants to stay within the comforts of what she is familiar with, or to step out of that comfort zone and figure out who her new, unfamiliar self truly is and how she got there.

As most of these Nicholas Sparks inspired movies go, the plot from beginning to end can pretty much be predicted just from watching the trailer.  I was surprised that the reason Paige left her upper class family behind, along with her fiancé Jeremy, was never fully revealed. Sure, we find out that her parent’s marriage isn’t all it is set out to be, but the past Paige remembers was never explained in detail beyond that discovery. The storyline was very much focused on the relationship between Leo and Paige, but because Paige’s past became such a big part of her life after her accident, more explanations may have been required for the audience to follow her thoughts and emotions.

Considering it was based on a true story, the movie itself was much too glamorized to be reflected as a real life romance. A lot more could have been done with the plot to make it more heart wrenching and dramatic, but instead it worked too hard at pleasing the audience it was trying to target. However, the chemistry between Tatum and McAdams made their onscreen romance very easy to watch; as unrealistic as their love may have been, both characters encompass charm and wit well beyond the capacity of the simplistic plot.

As I mentioned earlier, I am a big fan of both the lead actors in this movie, however the plot did not live up to the hype surrounding the fact that it was inspired by true events. It would have been interesting to see the story narrated from Paige’s point of view- how a person goes through life after experiencing memory loss and the prospect of regaining one’s memories would have made for a creative and evocative onscreen affair to complement the love story between Paige and Leo.

Written by :

yvonne