by Evan Goodrich.
As always, with the month of February comes an onslaught of marketing aimed towards pleasing people’s sweethearts. The feature film market is no exception to this tradition, and “The Vow” is a product of such brilliant marketing and does little to surpass being more than a movie to take your honey to see.
I will admit, I have never had much enjoyment, or even tolerance, towards romance movies, despite being quite the romantic at heart. However, I made my best attempt at approaching the movie from an unbiased standpoint.
“The Vow” (rated PG-13) tells the story of a young married couple in their prime, making the best of their lives, but as anyone who has seen the trailers or countless previews would know, tragedy strikes when they get into a car wreck. Leo (played competently enough by Channing Tatum) receives relatively minor injuries, but his wife Paige (played by the charming Rachel McAdams) suffers severe brain damage and enters a coma.
When she finally awakens, we discover that she has amnesia and cannot remember her husband. Her last memories, conveniently enough for our protagonist Leo, are of law school and being engaged to her past love interest Jeremy (played by Scott Speedman).
The movie begins with a cute flashback sequence where we learn more about the couple’s history, including how they met, several “awww”-inducing romantic scenes, one rather strange scene involving Leo passing gas and Paige’s unorthodox reaction to it, and their inevitable marriage.
And yet, despite the tragedy that hits them, the mood doesn’t move very far away from the initial sweet mood.
Yes, there are tears; yes, there is frustration; yes, there are fights. But it’s all far too painless. One would imagine that a situation like that would be involve so much more desperation, so much more agony. This only makes its purpose as a Valentine’s Day flick all the more apparent.
The movie is predictable, as most romance movies are, so don’t expect too many shocks. There is, however, charming chemistry between the lead characters and the flashback scenes and their initial awkwardness when Paige comes home from the hospital are rather convincing.
Though very, very far from a cinematic masterpiece, or even a classic romance movie, “The Vow” serves its purpose as a date movie well enough. However, like its lead character’s marriage, the movie is forgettable.
RATING: C –
