Photo by: allmoviephoto.com
As Channing Tatum tells us, “life is a series of moments that define who we are.” Take those away, and what are you left with? “The Vow,” heavier than most Valentine’s Day fare, yet just as mushy, does its best to tackle the question: If you were given a second chance at love, would you make all the same choices?
Leo (Tatum, surprisingly sweet) and Paige (the effervescent Rachel McAdams) are a hip Chicago couple, both pursuing creative careers; he’s a musician, she’s a sculptor. The couple is driving home from a movie when a speeding pick-up truck rear-ends them.
Leo emerges from the accident unscathed, but Paige remains in a medically induced coma to reduce the brain swelling she suffered as a result of the crash. The doctor warns she may experience memory loss, but Leo doesn’t realize just how extensive the damage is. When Paige does come to, she is unable to recall the events of the past five years (which, conveniently enough for the plot, include her time with Leo).
At her doctor’s urging, Paige decides to move back in with Leo in the hopes that following her daily routine will jog her memory. She is surprised to learn that she gave up her law degree to pursue sculpture, and the fact that she had a falling-out with her parents.
It turns out Paige feels more comfortable surrounded by people from her preppy past rather than her own husband, so her estranged parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange) spring on the opportunity to rewrite history. McAdams plays Paige with just enough innocence and suspicion that we can’t help but feel she’s being taken advantage of when Mom and Dad suggest she move back in with them.
Leo is thrown for a loop when his bohemian bride starts wearing cardigans, sipping blueberry mojitos and making puppy-dog eyes at ex-fiancé Jeremy (the wily Scott Speedman), who we love to hate. Leo does the best he can to cater to post-coma Paige, even asking her out on a second first date, but with parts of the sum missing, the couple can’t quite be whole.
The strength of “The Vow” comes from Rachel McAdams; she could probably star opposite a paper bag and still have chemistry with it. Tatum is not without his moments, though; in one particularly poignant scene, he loses it when Paige yells he should turn off the music she used to blare for inspiration. For an actor who seems to have only one facial expression, this is a pretty bold display.
What director Michael Sucsy does well is that he makes us invest in Leo and Paige’s relationship. He only shows their lives as a couple for the first ten minutes, yet it’s so intimate and at the same time so mundane that we completely buy it as real.
Critics have derided “The Vow” as average, forgettable V-Day fare, and on some level, it is. But “The Vow” isn’t looking to redefine cinema. It’s really just about our desire to find someone, that maybe, just maybe, we can share our life with.
