The Vow - #7 of 2012

To be completely honest, The Vow wasn’t too bad.  It could have been better… but it could have been a LOT worse.  That said, I don’t really know if it’s the fault of the movie or the genre.  Let’s face it… romance movies are cheesy.  Incredibly cheesy… and most of them stink like limburger.  Every once in a blue moon you’ll get a romance as enjoyable as a nice Havarti… but that is rare.  Watchable romances like Serendipity, Before Sunrise, Love Actually, Notting Hill, Spanglish, Dan in Real Life, and even The Holiday and Wimbledon are few and far between.

The Vow is certainly cheesy… and to run this cheese analogy into the ground, The Vow is certainly not a nice high quality aged cheese… however, it is a nice sun—dried tomato cheddar… when paired with crackers… it’s hard to stop eating.   

Fine… I’m sappy…. but I enjoyed this movie for what it was.  A finely told love story about trials and commitment.

Although, VERY loosely based on a true story, it tries to tell the story of a real couple dealing with the aftermath of an accident leaving the wife with a traumatic brain injury, resulting in no recollection of her husband, nor the relationship they had shared for five years.  And how they leaned to trust again, rebuild their life together, and form new memories.

Like I said… cheesy.

However, this story IS based on a true story.  This really happened… kind of.

Sure, the film itself is very Hollywood and the context of the film is completely different than the true story it was based on, however, the emotions and sentiment is very real… at least to me.  Just knowing the film was about a couple who actually went through something (somewhat) like this was enough to rope me in and enjoy it for what it is.

A love story.

Channing Tatum, who I also praised for his work in this year’s 21 Jump Street, was believable as the loving husband who would do anything for his ailing wife.  And Rachel McAdams, who I first caught my eye is the amazing Canadian series Slings & Arrows is very strong in this story about trust and love.

Now, this movie may be ranked as #7 on my list… however, being overseas, it has become very difficult for me to seem movies at the pace I normally watch.  And in no way do I believe The Vow will remain at such a strong ranking.  It is destine to be a middle of the road movie for 2012 on my dynamic list.  But that said, I think it’s a good story.  And I would recommend it as a date night flick.

an aging actor oh so furious