Every Valentine's Day needs a proper Valentine's Day date movie to bring love alive on the big screen. This year's movie was "The Vow," starring Rachel McAdams as Paige Collins and Channing Tatum as her husband, Leo Collins.
The movie begins with Paige and Leo exiting a movie theater, hold ing hands as snow falls down around them. They proceed to drive home, stopping at a stop sign. Paige undoes her seatbelt, leaning over to kiss Leo, and it is in that moment a large truck rear-ends them, sending Paige out of the dash window and onto the hood of the car.
The movie largely circulates around moments that define a person, a life and the future. It also includes moments that devastate, wipe clean and destroy. The car accident is a little bit of both. Leo and Paige wake up in the hospital, Paige having been put in a medically induced coma. Leo sustains very little in juries, but Paige awakes discovering the last five years of her life have been completely erased.
From there it is revealed that Paige's relationship with her parents is shaky at best and that five years prior she was studying to be a law yer, engaged and defined by her parents' wealth. Paige went through a fierce five year rebellion, leaving her parents to move into the city, dropping her law degree to pursue her passion for art and breaking her engagement to marry Leo. The only problem is that she doesn't remember any parts of this rebellion and is now stuck right back in the mind-set she had before meeting him. Now Leo is forced with the task of helping Paige not only recall her love for him but also her en tire being that she has created, all the while Paige's parents are trying to "win" her back while they still can.
Tatum gives a convincing performance, playing both the victim and savior as [McAdams'] Paige explains to him how she can't know him or love him, that he is nothing more than a stranger to her. He has dramatic moments, but they are well earned as his life turns upside down.
McAdams finds her true calling in being both charming and distant, pulling at the heart strings with her tragic accident while at the same time alienating the audience through her harsh treatment of her lov ing husband. Like any good love story, there are some weak points in the plot, but "The Vow" did a phenomenal job in keeping with the emotions that a plot line such as this one's required. Instead of focusing on the actual timeline, "The Vow" meshed moments of Leo and Paige's life together seamlessly, creating an even more tragic and permanent break as she pulls away from all she's ever known after the accident.
Their performance together is well-done and consistent, despite the drastic change in dynamics and emotions throughout the scenes. They show their love through laughter, just as easily as they do through tears. As far as chemistry goes, they have it.
McAdams revealed on "Oprah" that the story is actually based off a real life couple, Kim and Krickitt Carpenter.
Overall, the movie had its moments, bringing tears to the eyes and stirring sympathy, while at the same time pulling the audience to gether in their wish for Paige to regain her memory. If you're looking for a good, romantic movie, "The Vow" is sure to not disappoint, and as far as attractive couples go, you can't beat Tatum and McAdams.
Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams attempt to rekindle forgotten love in "The Vow."
