There's a review on IMDb of The Vow that says the romance movie "keeps its distance from clichés and cheesiness," and it just made me wonder just what in the hell this person saw that I didn't. The Vow is the story of Leo (Channing Tatum) and Paige (Rachel McAdams), a married couple that is very much in love. One evening, they get into a terrible car accident and Paige loses her recent memory meaning she doesn't remember the love of her life or their relationship. She basically still has a thing for her ex-fiancé Jeremy (Scott Speedman) and doesn't understand why she doesn't have her family in her life. Leo does everything in his power to try and remind Paige of the love they once shared, but Paige is showing no signs of recovery.
The one good thing The Vow has going for it is that there is decent chemistry between Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. There's at least a mild connection between the two and the scenes when they're alone are perhaps the most powerful this romance has to offer. That isn't saying much though since a good portion of their on-screen time together is devoted to them looking longingly at one another, laughing endlessly, or acting like Beaky Buzzard from Looney Tunes. Then when they do open their mouth, the most inane excuse of flattery comes oozing from their lips. You'll debate on punching yourself in the face in hopes of knocking yourself out to prevent seeing the rest of this monstrosity.
Why is it that every time there's a movie like this revolving around a brain injury NOBODY knows anything about it? They all play ignorant or gullible and basically have no clue as to what they have to deal with. You'd think that they would've seen the dozen or so romance films they borrowed from before actually setting out and ripping them off. Rachel McAdams has pretty much been trying to make The Notebook again ever since 2004. There have been some exceptions like Red Eye, Wedding Crashers, and Sherlock Holmes, but everything in between has been along the same lines. It's as if The Vow recycles every Rachel McAdams movie you've ever seen and tries to combine them with the concept from The Lookout or Vanilla Sky, but it feels so regurgitated and so familiar that it comes off feeling like it heavily borrowed from The Number 23 which is the furthest thing from a compliment any movie could ask for. Is there honestly much of a difference between The Vow and The Time Traveler's Wife?
In the meantime, you'll be groaning over every decision Paige makes after the accident. It's not as if Channing Tatum isn't to blame as well as his words and actions are just as mushy as the ones Rachel McAdams makes, but it's the way Paige saying she has to make decisions for herself only to wind right back where she started is what makes the entire concept, the actor's performances, and the entire movie totally and completely pointless. Channing Tatum plays guitar in one sequence that'll just make you hope and pray he doesn't break into song. Just because you have brain damage doesn't mean you have to be stupid. Is that a concept that's so hard to grasp? Leave it to a movie labeling itself as a romance being capable of triggering feelings of disgust, frustration, and hatred for fictional characters you probably haven't ever felt this strongly before.
The Vow IS extremely cliché and cheesy. Emotions are forced, sappy scenes go on way too long, and the movie is nothing but a string of stupid decisions. The Vow illustrates that nothing stands in the way of fate and even if you had the chance to do things over again that you'd follow the exact same path even if it wasn't your intention. This point is idiotic. Given the opportunity, why would you want an important event in your life to go down exactly the same way? The entire movie comes off as a complete waste of time. The Vow is the prime example of regression, moving backwards in life, or perhaps standing still for entirely too long. The Vow is typical and forcefully romantic trite that will make you wish you get into a car accident on the way home in hopes of getting your own form of brain damage to keep you from remembering this God awful excuse of a movie.
Sources: imdb.com, johnkstuff.blogspot.com
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