This is topic The Vow in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 02-18-2012, 05:45 PM:
 
A film about a guy, Leo (Channing Tatum), trying to make his amnesiac wife, Paige (Rachel McAdams), fall in love with him again after a horrific car accident has "weepie" written all over it. This is perfect warm, fuzzy Valentines Day fare and why it wasn't released on Valentines Day alongside (or indeed instead of) This Means War remains a mystery. But it should be so much more affecting than it is given the subject matter. It is the single biggest judgement against this film that it failed to make me cry - and I am a movie crier!

It's core problem is its stereotypical characters and there is none more so than that played by Tatum. Leo is a "mere male" who falls into all the traps a textbook, unthinking stereotypical male would, despite the pitfalls being obvious to anyone with half a brain and the slightest sense of empathy. Who, for instance, would bring their amnesiac wife, who doesn't even remember them, home from the hospital to a noisy party of forgotten friends? That is seriously the dumbest, most insensitive idea in the history of dumb, insensitive ideas. Not a great way to rekindle your marriage! And such episodes become tiresome and excruciating to watch. Admittedly he does belatedly learn from his mistakes. It also doesn't help that Tatum has more chemistry with his workmate (Tatiana Maslany) than he does with Rachel McAdams who is supposed to be his besotted soul mate.

It is, however, a nice performance from McAdams (she oh-so-nearly made me cry); she's effectively playing two parts and she keeps her two characters nicely and succinctly separate. Of course, she only has to smile sweetly with those puppy dog eyes and I go to jelly.

It's not an entirely horrible film but it largely falls wide of the sentimental marks that would have you bawling by the end.

6.5 out of 10
 
Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-16-2012, 12:11 PM:
 
We watched this last night and I've heard so many people say it was "awesome" that I was ready for it to be really good, even though I'm not a huge fan of "romantic dramas" because they're so predictable. But this wasn't very good.

I agree that the whole party scene was beyond stupid. But even worse, for me, was the fact that after it became obvious that she didn't remember him, they did almost nothing to spark her memory. Why not show her the wedding video immediately, for example, instead of waiting weeks (or months? the movie is vague about the passage of time) and making her dig around the apartment for clues?

I also didn't quite get the whole
Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
It just didn't seem plausible, and also the fact that Leo chose not to tell her that one thing when he was trying to tell her everything else. I guess it falls into the same trap that a lot of movies fall into: It would just take the lead character sharing one fact with the other character, and the movie would be over....but since there's still 70 minutes to go, the critical fact must remain shrouded in mystery for a while.

Then there's the whole obligatory love scene segment. OK, so they go on a date, they click just like they did the first time they met, they make love, all should be well...right? NO! She's still having doubts the next day!
Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
So all this does is give you the impression that she's not really this wonderful person, she's just a tart who is easy to coax into bed on the first date.

It was OK but not worth seeing twice, that's for sure...and not nearly as marvelous as all the uber-fans made it out to be. Rachel McAdams was nice to look at and I agree about the chemistry between Tatum and his co-worker at the studio. (By the way, that studio didn't look very realistic either.)

2.5 stars.
 
Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-16-2012, 12:37 PM:
 
So it isn't just me, then. I, too, watched this last night and expected something pretty spectacular after having so many people asking when it's coming and so on.

Meh.

As I recall, the last romantic movie that I played here was Crazy Stupid Love and that's head and shoulders above The Vow.

I kept wondering why he doesn't just hook up with the girl at the studio. Problem solved, especially after she tells him that Mr. Pointy Shoes is out of the rotation.

"Here's proof," he says, and plays a somewhat ambiguous voicemail message. Isn't the wedding video the first thing you'd be dragging out, not an old voicemail from who-knows-when?
 
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-16-2012, 04:40 PM:
 
I thought the same thing too when I saw the movie, Mark.

Because I was not expecting very much from seeing this movie, I thought it was entertaining and I enjoyed it.

-Claude
 
Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 03-17-2012, 12:26 AM:
 
I agree Crazy Stupid Love was better, Frank. Even better, though, was One Day. Oh how I cried in that one. [Big Grin]
 




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