MOVIE REVIEW - The Vow

The Vow. Just in time for Valentines Day. Right up front, there will be a sector of the movie going public that will think this is the greatest movie ever!

But of course, it's not. But The Vow, which is based on a true story is, in it's most raw form - a really interesting story. In fact, you even get to see the actual couple at the end and they give you resolution. Which to me, was pretty compelling stuff. But as a movie, this is a whole lot of syrup on a small stack of pancakes.

The Vow is about this young, and crazy in love young couple that get married and live in Chicago. He owns a recording studio and she is a freelance artist. One night while out, they are involved in a terrible car accident with a snow plow. She, Paige (Rachel McAdams) is terribly injured and wakes up in the hospital only to have no recollection of her husband, Leo (Channing Tatum.)

So Leo goes on a personal crusade to help her remember the last years of her life. Paige seems to remember being engaged to another man years before she met Leo. This is the story of their struggle. Will they be able to reconnect? And will they be able to fall in love again? That is The Vow.

The Vow seems to go way out of it's way to be really sugary sweet. There's a whole lot of fluff, especially at the outset. But if you can fight through all of the "awww" intended moments you start to get down to a pretty good story. Trouble is, this real interesting plot is watered down with some bad acting from Tatum, and a real effort to make McAdams cute and lovely in every shot. The story begins to be minimized, and that's a shame.

I have always liked McAdams and she pulls off here exactly what they asked her to. She is lovely. But maybe a bit too lovely. I don't know, after being in the hospital for an extended period, in a medically induced coma it's tough for me to think any woman would emerge looking like a supermodel on the way home. But she does here. And there are a bunch of other silly ends like that here. And that's bad movie making. If you're going to make a true story, then let's get it right. Let's not water it down so much that every single scene is for 17 year old girls to go, "awwww."

Tatum who is getting a ton of work these days, is average at best in this role. To me this deserved someone with a little more heart. Tatum comes off at times a bit too "dudey." His character in this movie at times shows flashes of really being deep, and moving, and that's just not him. I really liked him in Dear John a couple years ago, and thought he was cast well. Here, not so much. But don't panic, there are plenty of shots of him with no shirt on here, and tight fitting clothes too. And of course the mandatory "naked behind" scene.

It's a shame that they didn't take this story at bit more seriously and make a movie that showcased the strange series of events first, and the cutesy factor second. But, that's Hollywood. It's a money making enterprise, and this kind of stuff sells big. And they will be ringing the cha-ching bell hard this run.

The Vow. Better actual story than this movie.