Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are a happily married couple. On a snowy night, their car gets hit and she loses all memories of her husband. They have a difficult time, and she finds herself fallen back with her overbearing parents. She fits more with her former shallow life, and she can't remember why she abandoned that life.

It takes its time to built the drama. The story goes generally as expected. She doesn't remember him. They separate. She discovers herself. They get back together. It's pretty standard fare. The best thing is the two likable leads. I want them to stay together. It's the foundation for this melodrama. They make this watchable.

While reading up on "The Vow", I learned that professional reviewers didn't particularly care for this film. The same can be said for many of the IMDb reviews. While I would disagree, since I really enjoyed the film, I can certainly understand some of the dislike. For folks wanting a traditional romantic film, "The Vow" isn't exactly a date movie. A traditional date film has a formula--including a happy ending. And, oddly, the film ends on a hopeful but vague note--disappointing those needing the happy finale.

In addition to reading up on the reviews, I also looked into the story of Kimand Krickitt Carpenter--the couple whose real life story inspired this film. I say inspires because so much of the film is fictional and the religious faith of the Carpenters was omitted in "The Vow". It's sad, as although you don't want a preachy film, it's odd how in films today there is NO reference to God or almost none and this might have been an interesting addition to the movie.

Now on to the film. The story, if you don't know, is about a newly married couple who are in a terrible traffic accident. Leo (Channing Tatum) is okay but his wife, Paige (Rachel McAdams) is left in a coma. Oddly, when she awakens, she has a strange sort of amnesia where the most recent portion of her life is missing. This means she has no idea who her husband is and their time together is, naturally, quite uncomfortable and awkward. At the same time, Paige's no longer existent relationship with her parents is suddenly given a second chance and they work hard to recapture her love and make her the girl she used to be. What will become of poor Leo?

The two leads, McAdams and Tatum were quite good in the film and easy to watch. The script rather clever and enjoyable. And, overall I have very little negative to say about the film. Well worth seeing--just be forewarned that although there is a lot of romance in the film, it is not at all traditional or what you might expect from such a movie.

This movie was essentially like a mediocre version of a Nicholas Sparks book-to-film movie. The acting was great but the execution just wasn't there. Rachel McAdams' character seemed pretty stupid and, given that it's a true story, it just makes it seem even more dumb. There have got to be 1000 such stories with "smarter" people involved or better endings. The fact that this movie was based on one with a moronic character and a mediocre ending shows just how masochist viewers are. The movie is slow, not emotional enough given the subject matter, and just in general not all that good. The only emotional part of the movie was the scene with Paige (McAdams' character) interacting with her mom near the end of the movie. For a film about a girl who loses her memory and therefore the memory of the love of her life, this movie was pretty blah. The movie wasn't terrible but it definitely doesn't reach the elite chick-flick level.