It was something I had written on my calendar for months. It was something I planned a date night around. And it was something I expected to be excellent, starring arguably the two most notable romance actors—Channing Tatum (Leo) and Rachel McAdams (Paige).
The Vow turned out to be mediocre, in my opinion, and not exactly the husband-pining-over-winning-back-the-love-of-his-life movie we were all promised.
If you were looking for a heart wrenching romance involving the best fight for love you’ve ever seen, The Vow doesn’t exactly fit that puzzle piece exactly.
The movie opens with Paige and Leo’s car accident, leaving Paige with several years of memory loss; when she awakes from an induced coma, she has no recollection of why she abandoned law school, an old fiancé and family, and married a passionate musical artist.
I was quickly disappointed by what seemed to me like a predicable plot line of the non-approving family and rebellious boy. Then, the movie throws into the mix the ex-fiancé who in Paige’s mind is her current fiancé, and sets the “fight for Paige” into motion.
Only, I didn’t really feel like there was a fight for her love. The fight I saw was within Paige herself; The Vow was more focused on Paige rediscovering her destiny in life, and of course, she ends up on the same exact path as before her accident.
As the movie credits rolled across the screen after the happy ending closing of the film, I felt cheated. The movie campaign promised a heart-swelling fight for love, and instead I got an overview of how brain damage can lead to an unfortunate hiccup in a marriage.
Even if I wasn’t completely pleased with the film, I do think it’s worth seeing. Even if it’s just for Channing Tatum’s nude backside.