The Vow (2012)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Good movie but grossly overrated

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A Masterpiece!

A married couple suffer a horrible car accident from which she ends up with a serious case of amnesia, not being able to remember anything from the past few years. Unfortunately, that is exactly the period in which they married and she alienated herself from her family. Thus, he is forced to win her heart once again before her family (which have a huge advantage in her loss memory) is able to get rid of him. She will prove to be very stubborn and hard to convince but he is determined to do whatever he can to win back what he once had.Although it is a very good idea which should be able to bring a lot of drama, love and tension, it actually shows how not to make a movie of its type. It is filled with plot holes, awkward events and head scratching decisions. Her character is determined to avoid every bit of logic and act strictly linear, regardless of his honest efforts of convincing her of the truth. If you manage to forget about the fact that the main intrigue of the film is caused by a ridiculous and highly implausible accident, you'll soon find out that the movie has a tendency of basing its main events on basic coincidences, thus resulting in huge alterations of the plot. To make matters even worse, its finale is inconclusive, to say the least, which is simply unacceptable in such a movie.It has a good idea and a couple of very good actors which have played similar roles with success in their career so there isn't much excuse for what this movie turned out to be. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece but this is far less than the good movie it should have been.

Other than the facts that this almost newly-wed couple was in a serious car accident that nearly killed her and did take away her memory of the marriage, this story is nothing like the true story. There is one other similarity, but it is near the end and still not quite like the true story. I guess for Hollywood, you have to have villains, which reality had none of in this case. Personally, I think the differences make it a completely different story. However, the real life characters, according to their book, are not as disappointed. For the inaccuracies, I take away 4 stars. Make it more like the book and it is an extremely touching story. 8 stars. I always like Rachel McAdams (except maybe Mean Girls and you were supposed to hate her). In this movie, she was a woman you could root for, but she either didn't, or wasn't allowed to, play the wife's confusion strongly enough. (Maybe time compression was the factor in that.) Paige was also not as committed to the vow as in real life. Channing Tatum did a good job of maintaining Leo's integrity and faithfulness.

Rachel McAdams is a class act, able to mix Comedy and Drama effortlessly, so this film is good because it allows her to be able to show off both sides.This isn't the best film she's ever made, it falls into too many cliché's but it is an engaging story with a lot of heart behind it.Her chemistry with Channing Tatum is a pleasant surprise and he himself shows that he is able to show much more emotion than I had seen previous.There are lots of 'friend' characters who don't add much but when McAdams and Tatum are in scenes together this becomes better than the run of the mill rom-com.

Based on a (no doubt heavily modified) true story, "The Vow" suffers from the typical Hollywood romance flaws: everyone is way too good looking to be believable, the protagonists are flawless and perfect human beings, and the ending can be seen coming from miles away.The interesting premise still makes for an above-average movie though, the main actors serve well as eye-candy, and the movie does not possess any unnecessary lengths.Above average, but if you want to see a really good movie about memories, forgetting, and love, try "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" instead.