The Vow: Review By Corey

The Vow is one of those calm, tender dramas that aren't as heavy on the emotional side as the advertisements may lead you to believe. While the storyline for The Vow may set some up for a tear-jerking romance, its actually never sad or worth crying for in any way, shape, or form. Even though the film doesn't extend to this level of emotion, its still a nice, quality picture that brings out the best in the two leads. For that, it must be worth seeing, right?

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and girls are buttering themselves up and looking for a date. I can almost guarantee any guy out there that if they offer to bring a girl to this movie (and when I say offer, I mean you have to be the one to mention this movie first) they'll one-hundred percent be getting laid that night. The Vow is the first film in a while that attracts every eye in the female mind and because of this some men are going to have to take the hit and see it. If they do, they'll certainly not regret their decision. Not only will their loved one be extremely happy with them, but this movie is actually one built for the guys to enjoy too.

Romantic-dramas have always been a favorite genre of mine. Screw science-fiction epics and comic-book adaptations! If there is any kind of movie out there trying to reach into someone's soul its most likely going to be from a romantic-drama. These kind of films are the ones that tell a story through the heart, and honestly, a movie just can't get anymore beautiful than that. Action is action. That's something we can see almost everyday, and while still become thrilled by it, not really care too long afterwards. But a romance, man I love a good romance, those can just stick with you for days, even months after seeing them...because they speak to a man or a woman through their heart and their soul. To me, that's exactly what movies are all about!

The Vow isn't exactly the perfect example of what I'm trying to get across. The storyline of the film displays this. Romances nowadays don't seem to carry the same weight of desired emotion that they once did a few years ago. Even though this film isn't nearly close to perfect, it still introduces the audience to characters worth thinking about and actually caring for.

Leo and Paige are without a doubt a strong example of the perfect couple. They're helplessly in love and complete each other in the small lives that they have. When a horrible car accident sends Paige into a coma, she wakes up with a strong injury to the brain and cannot remember he husband at all. After a few rough days, then months of trying to understand the large gap in her life, Leo struggles to find ways to make Paige remember who he is. When he looses all hope, he realizes that the only way he'll ever be with his wife again is to start over new and make her fall in love with him all over again. When Paige's old life gets in the way of the life she doesn't remember, Leo worries that his time with Paige may just be coming to an end.

These are the type of romance films where you completely root for the character's and hope the best for them in the end. Channing Tatum plays Leo, and because of his performance you actually care for his character from start to finish and hope to God the whole time that he figures out a way to make things work with his wife. Paige is played quite well by Rachel McAdams, practically the new queen of the romance genre. Tatum and McAdams share a fine chemistry with each other that certainly grasps the realistic feeling of their relationship marvelously. Channing Tatum is growing as an actor and is only getting better by the performance. I've always liked him as an actor, however, but he's never actually led a film this well before. The Vow is in fact a well-acted drama filled with deep, enriching dialogue and one for the men and woman of the world searching and fighting for love.

The only downside to the film is that it is sometimes modeled with those repetitive cliches that we always see in romances like this. The film was inspired by true events of an actual real-life couple, but obviously the writers of the film boggled around a bunch of key plots just to get something steamy rolling. With that rolling, on the down side, there were a few times where The Vow was just a tad bit on the corny side. Some of the dialogue would feel awkward and out of place, and for that a couple of scenes would lose its romantic touch because of it.

Even so, the movie carries its baggage all the way to the end and does hold up greater than expected. The Vow is extremely well-made and a Valentine's Day romance worth checking out, especially due to two great performances by Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. It's fair to say that these two are becoming the faces of the romance genre so seeing the two together here was certainly one worth remembering. The film faces a couple tidbits here and there, but the climax is satisfying and the romance is something to root for! See it, as long as you're bringing a date along for the journey.

Thanks for the read!

-Written by Corey Wood