The Vow

I read an article a while ago asking the question as to why Hollywood can’t produce decent romantic comedies anymore. Who knows the answer to that one, but it’s still churning out romantic dramas on a fairly regular basis and though they’re all pretty formulaic, they haven’t quite hit the wall like the aforementioned genre. The Vow is a case in point. I can sum the story up in short sentences. Married couple in car. Car goes crash. Wife has amnesia. Husband attempts to “win her back”. The End. Need anything more be said? OK, wife and husband are played by Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams, respectively. The acting isn’t great from either of them, but Tatum is better than his usual wooden self and actually warrants some sympathy from the audience as his character founders in his attempts to re-kindle the romance with his “wife”. Director Michael Sucsy is known for his well-received TV movie of the life of Edith Beale, so perhaps it’s not a surprise that he manages to wring some decent emotion out of quite a mawkish script. This is still a signpost job though and each scene comes across as Acts in a play as opposed to having the linear feel of a straight story. Minus points also for the stereotypical group of friends that they have and Sam Neill and Jessica Lange as McAdams’ overbearing parents are a cliché too far. In the end though, this is what it is. It’s as standard as they come, but if you like this kind of thing you shouldn’t be too disappointed.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Actually better than it looks, but no more than that. Rating: 6/10.