Getting to Know You
Paige (Rachel McAdams - The Time Traveller's Wife) disappointed her parents when she dropped out of law school and moved to the city to go to art school. They were even more disappointed when she met and married Leo (Channing Tatum - The Eagle) as he was not like her well to do former boyfriend Jeremy (Scott Speedman). It is why following a serious car crash which initially leaves Paige in a coma that they are happy as when she comes around she can't remember ever even meeting Leo let alone marrying him, thinking she still lives with her well to do parents. But for Leo the love they had was too perfect to even imagine giving up so convinces Paige to return home with him where he patiently works to try and help her remember their past.
"The Vow" is actually inspired by a true story yet I doubt for a minute that the real life couple are anything like Paige and Leo. Why? Well this is Hollywood giving us that absolutely perfect picture of love, two good looking people with a memorable meet cute and who do the sort of romantic things for each other than no real people do. Heck they give Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze a run for their money when it comes to perfect on screen couples and yes Paige is an artist as well who works with clay. Now for some the perfect ness of this couple, which is pushed to the limit by having Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum as the couple, will be romantic heaven but for others it becomes a fairytale distraction because as I said this sort of romance is not real and puts the focus on the couple rather than the trials and tribulations of memory loss.
Now there is some drama, we have Paige's parents looking at the amnesia as a chance to get their daughter back who has been estranged for years and who have not even met Leo. But that a long with a few other things such as Jeremy are just minor dramas in a movie which as I said ends up all about the fairytale romance rather than the realism.
So as to the actors well there is no denying Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum look good, they sell the cuteness of their romance, the loving touches, the messages spelt out in food and did I mention the constant loving touching. But in a way that is the problem with "The Vow" as it delivers the picture of life which isn't real, the good looking couple who live in a city apartment which is massive and even when one has memory loss look cute in the room together. If only those making the movie had toned down the cuteness and made it just a tad more realistic and "The Vow" would have been engaging rather than dangerously sugar coated.
What this all boils down to is that "The Vow" is for you if you like Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum and dream of living in that large apartment in the city where you spend weekends hanging around with friends and having a partner who leaves you messages spelt out in your food. But if that all sounds like a diabetics worst nightmare then avoid this like the plague.
