Yes, I saw The Vow.
You know, sometimes I'm a sucker for romantic movies, but only when
they're done well. But really, I saw this movie for two reasons:
One, I wanted to review something new. I still feel like I'm play
December catch up with a lot of the movies that are out, but I'd like
to see what stuff is currently topping the box office and share my
thoughts on that. Two, I love me some Rachel McAdams. She is some
home grown Canadian talent that I can really support. The fact that
she's easy on the eyes, so to speak, isn't even really all of it.
She is just naturally charming and steals whatever scene she's in...
most of the time anyway. I guess I was also mildly interested in The
Vow's story as well. It's a loose retelling of a real couple's
story where after a car accident Paige (Rachel McAdams) loses the
memory of the last few years, including the memory of her husband Leo
(Channing Tatum). He is still devoted to her and wants to win her
love back, but the last thing she remembers is being engaged to her
now ex-fiance Jeremy (Scott Speedman). Plus her family is stepping
in to reconnect with her after a falling out that they had that she
can't remember and they're being decidedly silent about. And none of
these parties really want to give Leo, the outsider, his chance.
It actually isn't a bad
idea for a romantic movie. It's an unusual obstacle that a couple
would face and lends itself well to uncertainty and tension, which is
what a movie should have. Also, you can see why a studio would back
such a story because there is a market for these kinds of movies,
particularly after the success of The Notebook in 2004, which
also starred McAdams interestingly enough. I don't imagine that's a
coincidence. Plus, they released the movie out just before Valentines
Day so of course, it was a hit.
But was it actually
good? Well, if you talk to its target audience, which of course is
primarily women, the answer is yes. I'll say this, it knows its
market and it gives them the product they desire. Me? Well, I've
seen worse. It seems to be made well enough and the performances are
pretty good; even Channing Tatum isn't that bad. I just didn't
really feel like the movie was emotionally eventful as the story
demanded out of it. Perhaps they felt that it would be too risky to
let the film be uncomfortable? But the situation is uncomfortable!
She doesn't know who her husband is and she has to rediscover her
life. That should be heartbreaking and we only get glimpses of that
struggle. It's not the actors fault, the script didn't demand it.
My issue is that
everyone is just too well intentioned, so much so that I never really
had a doubt of how it was going to turn out. The characters talk
about how the problem is such a big deal, but I rarely felt like it
really was. I know that maybe it wouldn't have been as marketable,
but it probably should have been a little more gritty. As it is,
everyone is just trying their best to be understanding and forgiving
and it just doesn't seem very real. Relationships under the best of
circumstances are complex and difficult and often people say and do
things that really hurt the other person. All in all, Leo and Paige
are pretty squeaky clean. They're cute, but they're not people. The
exception is a surprisingly slimy Sam Neil who plays Paige's father.
And even then, I don't think that they used the character and the
talented actor behind him to their fullest.
McAdams works well and
is probably underused. She gets a few moments to really act, but for
the most part she just seems to coast through the movie, but that's
not really her fault. She does the best she can with a script and
direction that allow her to be confused or surprised, but never as
overwhelmed as I imagine she should have been. I think I preferred
her nastier turn that she took in Midnight In Paris last year.
That was a good opportunity for her to do something different because
we already knew that she had 'likeable' all figured out. Channing
Tatum is not amazing, though I don't necessarily dislike him as an
actor. He's easy to pick on because he's very pretty and a lot of
female movie goers seem to appreciate him solely for this. I do know
that he can act well when he is given the right material. He does a
good enough job in this movie, but you can tell that he was selected
for the role primarily to be the eye candy for the ladies in the
audience.
I don't think that The
Vow is a horrible film, as I said, but it could have been a lot
more than it is. On the upside though, they play The Cure's “Pictures
of You” in the end credits so that puts it a little higher in my
books. I imagine that the actual story between the real life couple
is more interesting than this movie. It says on the poster that it
is “inspired by true events” which could mean anything. I would
doubt it if the real situation looked like anything you see on
screen. After all, real life is a lot more dirty than this movie
lets itself get.
2 Stars
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