The Vow (2012)

For a story that seems tailor-made to be a tug at your heartstrings, tearjerker kind of movie (and it's inspired by an actual story of a woman who loses her memory of her husband after a car crash and falls in love with him all over again, so how could this miss?) it is surprisingly weak in the emotion department. The problems begin with the lack of any discernible chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum (who play Paige and Leo - the fictional couple who go through that nightmare scenario) and it continues with weak acting and a bunch of important characters who are just totally unlikable. The only part of the movie that came across to me as raw with emotion was when Leo slugged Jeremy in the face. I'd have done the same thing under the circumstances. But it made me wonder why this movie had to be populated with such imbecilic characters.

Sam Neill as Paige's father and Jessica Lange as her mother are nothing short of manipulative as they try to turn their daughter's horrible accident and memory loss to their own advantage, actively trying to cut Leo out of their daughter's life, and Jeremy (Scott Speedman) is no less manipulative. The downright ugliness of those characters certainly raises up in the viewer a desire for things to work out for Leo and Paige, but they don't make the movie enjoyable. McAdams struck me as lost through most of this - her portrayal of Paige and her situation just not coming across as believable, and Tatum didn't especially impress me either.

The basic concept has been seen before. Think "50 First Dates" (although this is more serious than that) or "Regarding Henry" (although this is less serious than that.) What this should have going for it is the "inspired by true events" angle, but frankly that gets done so much now that I don't think anyone takes it all that seriously. I'm glad it worked out for the real life couple whose story did inspire this. I just wish this movie had itself been a bit more inspiring. (2/10)