The Vow (2012)

Overrated and overhyped

Just perfect...

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The Vow definitely tugs at your heartstrings, but it also tugs at your eye-rolling strings. There are a number of cliches and sappy moments that are sure to annoy some viewers. Nevertheless, Rachel McAdams does a great job, as usual, and Channing Tatum is surprisingly emotive. The movie kind of falls apart near the end, but The Vow is a harmless chick flick and the story it's based on is quite interesting.

Other than the facts that this almost newly-wed couple was in a serious car accident that nearly killed her and did take away her memory of the marriage, this story is nothing like the true story. There is one other similarity, but it is near the end and still not quite like the true story. I guess for Hollywood, you have to have villains, which reality had none of in this case. Personally, I think the differences make it a completely different story. However, the real life characters, according to their book, are not as disappointed. For the inaccuracies, I take away 4 stars. Make it more like the book and it is an extremely touching story. 8 stars. I always like Rachel McAdams (except maybe Mean Girls and you were supposed to hate her). In this movie, she was a woman you could root for, but she either didn't, or wasn't allowed to, play the wife's confusion strongly enough. (Maybe time compression was the factor in that.) Paige was also not as committed to the vow as in real life. Channing Tatum did a good job of maintaining Leo's integrity and faithfulness.

Rachel McAdams is a class act, able to mix Comedy and Drama effortlessly, so this film is good because it allows her to be able to show off both sides.This isn't the best film she's ever made, it falls into too many cliché's but it is an engaging story with a lot of heart behind it.Her chemistry with Channing Tatum is a pleasant surprise and he himself shows that he is able to show much more emotion than I had seen previous.There are lots of 'friend' characters who don't add much but when McAdams and Tatum are in scenes together this becomes better than the run of the mill rom-com.

I give this film 6 out of 10 stars. I found it to be so so sad. I wanted to see more of Paige and Leo's life together before the accident. I wanted to see it how it came to be in the beginning, rather than through her eyes again. I was so depressed watching this movie, but I did it because I am a fan of McAdams and Tatum. I wish I could come up with more positive things to say, but I do find myself wondering why we are presented this story. Is it meant to give us hope that if we lose ourselves we can eventually find ourselves again? That love is eternal? Perhaps if the story was culled out more to where I could fully connect to Paige and Leo's beginning I could appreciate where they ended here.