The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureCinemaMovie reviews

The Vow

The Vow | Movie review
9 February 2012
Richard Taverner
Avatar
Richard Taverner
9 February 2012

Your vows which are said during the consummation of marriage are meant to be the most important words uttered to your loved one. The Vow, which is inspired from a true story, illustrates just how important the love between two people can be and – as said by Tatum in the film – what if all those memories were just suddenly erased and your wife had forgotten even marrying you?

Taken from the real lives of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, The Vow is a romantic drama recounting the life of Leo (Channing Tatum) who – after a car accident erases the memory of his wife Paige (Rachel McAdams) so she doesn’t remember their marriage – sets out to try and help his wife get back the memories of their relationship.

As well as Paige now beginning to fall back in love with her ex Jeremy (Scott Speedman), her parents Rita and Bill Thornton, portrayed exquisitely by veterans Sam Neill and Jessica Lange, will stop at nothing to have their daughter back in their lives again, even if it means holding back a dark secret.

Props to new director Michael Sucsy whose first major motion picture is pulled off with relative ease and a story that is told in a simple manner with little room for confusion. However, the same cannot be said for the two leading parts. Having witnessed one of the performances of the year so far from Jones and Yelchin in Like Crazy, I badly wanted to the chemistry between Leo and Paige to either match or be stronger, but I was sadly disappointed.

Channing Tatum has shown he can lead a film with relative ease in previous works such as ‘The Eagle’ and ‘Dear John’ where interactions with the supporting cast is kept to a minimum and sultry poses to the camera are all that’s needed for the girls to swoon and the money to come back. But when asked to show real emotion and spurts of anger, Tatum spectacularly fails. Along with a monotonic voice-over explaining his inner thoughts, in some scenes where Leo got frustrated I found myself having to forcibly hold back a laugh.

Apart from these minor niggles which don’t overbear the film in a general sense, there are plenty of fluffy romantic dramas that are distinctly worse but then again, this certainly will not be the best of its genre in the coming year.

The Vow is best described as a middle-of-the-road type romance film, which has a strong screenplay to keep the audience engaged in the struggles which both protagonists endure.

The last quarter of the film is surprising and is probably one of the best parts. It could only be described as a breath of fresh air to a genre which frequently dishes up very predictable endings. In my book, The Vow is the perfect Valentine’s Day movie to take someone special to.

★★★★★

Richard Taverner

The Vow is released nationwide on 10th February 2012.

Watch the trailer for The Vow here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

Imperial Blue

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

MLK/FBI

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Sing Me a Song

★★★★★
Abbie Grundy
Read More

A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Wonder Woman 1984

★★★★★
Jake Cudsi
Read More

Come Away

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More

Murder Me, Monster

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

David Byrne’s American Utopia

★★★★★
Rosamund Kelby
Read More

Dreamland

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Female filmmakers lead nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards
    Cinema
  • An interview with Ifrah Ismael: Tales from the Front Line and other stories
    Theatre
  • Jeremiah Fraites – Piano Piano
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Persian Lessons
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Lonely the Brave – The Hope List
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • 23 Walks
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Live Lab at The Yard Theatre: An interview with associate director Cheryl Gallagher
    Theatre
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • We Ask These Questions of Everybody: An interview with Amble Skuse and Toria Banks
    Theatre
  • Identifying Features
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • We Still Fax at ANTS Theatre Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • WandaVision: Marvel’s charming sitcom proves an astounding success
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • The Queen’s Gambit: A chess story that’s not about the moves but the motives
    ★★★★★
    Cinema
  • Undercover at Morpheus Show Online
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Discover Tom Williams and the Boat
Chrysta Bell brings Lynch’s world to Bush Hall | Live review