THE VOW – The Review

Several recent films ( in particular horror/ thrillers ) have thrown about the nebulous phrase ” inspired by true events ” in their advertising . Now, a movie from an unlikely genre has adapted it. THE VOW is an old-fashioned, hearts and flowers romantic weeper that is indeed based on a true incident. If you stick around for the final fade out , you’ll see these real folks in a black and white photo. Now that ” inspired ” allows for a lot of creative liberties, so the movie can’t be judged as a ” docudrama’ ( primarily the domain of Lifetime and other cable TV channels ). So, without this ” true ” gimmick how does it play as a big screen romance populated with gorgeous movie stars?

Well, let’s start with this somewhat ” gimmicky ” set-up that we’ve seen in all the trailers and commercials. Paige ( Rachel McAdams ) and Leo ( Channing Tatum ) are a sweet, young , incredible photogenic, married Chicago couple whose lives are turned upside down when a truck plows into their parked car on snowy night. Leo recovers quickly from his injuries, but Paige is not so lucky. When she finally awakes she has no memory of her marriage, Leo or the last few years really. Well, love conquers all obstacles, right? Not so fast. As Leo is slowly working with his bride, Paige’s estranged parents arrive at the hospital ( Sam Neill and Jessica Lange ). They’ve never met Leo and believe that Paige can better recover at their plush Lake Forest home ( she can help with kid sister Gwen’s upcoming nuptials ). The brain-injured young woman is the prize in a tug-of-war between the two camps. Soon Paige has gone back several chapters in her life story ( she’s even eating bacon! ). Her smarmy, former fiance’ Jeremy ( Scott Speedman ) jumps back into her life. Will Paige ever regain her memory or will Leo have to win the heart of this completely different person that his wife has become? Hmm, do you really wonder?

So, yeah this movie goes right after the old tear ducts. Relentlessly. So, it all depends on how we relate to this challenged couple. After the accident, we get to see how they meet cute ( really, really cute ) several years ago ( that hat!! Yechh! ). They’re Chicago North Side Bohemians. She’s makes twisted sculptures, he’s got a recording studio! We spend a whole lotta’ time with his hipster pals ( of course they’re all in a band ). We even get to see their ” out-there” wedding ceremony ( so edgy! ). And there’s the ” uptights” on her side of the family. If he’s had a mustache, Dad would’ve been curling it with glee in Paige’s hospital room ( ” she’ll be back with us, where she belongs! MwaaHaa! ” ). When Leo talks about his studio at the family dinner, they almost roll their eyes! It all depends on whether the actors can break through the cliches in the script. McAdams is no stranger to movie weepers ( THE NOTEBOOK may be a touch stone for the genre ) and is able to make the two Paiges fairly believable. Tatum has a more difficult time of it as he tries to make Leo a sweet, sensitive, puppy. We even get to see him strumming a guitar while alone in his studio ( poor soul ). After several heavy actions flix , it’s tough to accept him as this guy watching his gal as he stands soaking in the rain ( Oookay! ). Neill and Speedman have little to do besides tormenting Leo and be humorless tools. Lange brings some dignity to the Mother role, but I kept wondering why she would take on such a small role ( I’d read how reluctant she was to work on ” American Horror Story ” ). She deserves better. The gorgeous Chicago locations are a big plus for the film-we get to see the city during all four seasons. The film becomes mired in legal matters toward the end which helps dilute the impact of the final sequences. Young fans should be pleased see two of their favorite stars, but most other film goers will be bored with the predictable proceedings. Wonder if I could lose just a specific two hours of memory?

Overall Rating: Two Out of Five Stars