It looks like a Nicholas Sparks movie. Has the silly, over dramatic premise of a Nicholas Sparks movie. Even the fashion model cast of a Nicholas Sparks movie. Yet The Vow is markedly better than any of Sparks' films since The Notebook, genuinely romantic and love affirming while only taking a step or two into cornball territory.
Based on a true story, Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams are Leo and Paige, two extremely artsy hipsters living in Chicago. They meet cute one day, go out on a date the same night, and quickly fall in love to live their bohemian lives in harmony. She's a sculptor of some apparent ability, while he owns a recording studio during a time when the music industry is dying. He knows it, but does it all for the honesty of the music, man. They like to do quirky things together, like skinnydipping into frigid Lake Michigan, spelling out messages to each other with their blueberry pancakes, and getting married in the middle of the Chicago Art Institute. As a pair, Paige and Leo are too sweet to be believed.
Then as they're driving home in a thick winter snow storm, their car is struck from behind by a plow. Both are knocked unconscious, but Paige is thrust through the windshield, sustaining major injuries. When she awakens in the hospital, her doctor and Leo ready to answer her every question, the only one she has is whether anyone else was hurt in the accident. Devastated, Leo discovers that she has no recollection of him or the last few years, including their marriage. She has no memory of the major life decisions she's made, her career, and in matters of the heart her only memory is of her ex-fiance, Jeremy(Scott Speedman).
Paige's amnesia plays right into the hands of her parents(Sam Neill and Jessica Lange). They never approved of the choices she made that led her to leave them five years earlier, and see this as a chance to get the daughter they love back in the way they remember her. As Leo watches on helplessly, his wife reverts back to the woman she was before she met him, a spoiled rich girl with shallow friends who hangs out at nightclubs and has no interest in art whatsoever. As she slips away from him, Leo's love for her never diminishes, ultimately coming to the conclusion that to win her back he'll have to make her fall for him all over again.
Whether he succeeds or not isn't really the point, as the story is really about how true love never wanes and takes many forms. Sometimes, it forces a wedge so deep that the only thing to do is let the other go in hopes that love will bring you together again. Directed and co-written by Michael Sucsy(Grey Gardens) and couple of others, there are plenty of romantic cliches at work here, especially when dealing with the cartoonishly evil father standing in the way of Paige and Leo's happiness. But what works is that the film takes their relationship and the situation seriously. It's not leaden with melodrama the way so many other Nicholas Sparks adaptations are, and there is a fair amount of humor to go along with the tragedy.
Channing Tatum isn't so believable in the film's rough opening moments. While he's certainly worked hard to grow as an actor to the point where someone like Steven Soderbergh keeps using him, playing a beatnik is not his strongest suit. He's more comfortable as the sensitive pursuer of McAdams' affections, and he has some genuinely powerful moments that make you feel for what he's going through. McAdams is as likable as ever, in a role that is a difficult one to get right. For the bulk of the film she does little but cause pain to others, although it's not totally her fault as she's only doing what is familiar. Still, you can see the reasons why Leo would fall in love with her, and put himself through such an emotional wringer to win her back.
The Vow isn't going to make many guys happy this weekend, but it's a nearly perfect date movie. And with it's message that love is always and forever a work in progress, it might have you leaving the theater feeling a little closer to the one you're with.
