The Vow broke its promises

With the all-star cast of seasoned "chick-flick" veterans Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, The Vow promised to be the ultimate romance. Unfortunately, it left much to be desired. Though McAdams and Tatum make one of the hottest on-screen couples that our generation has ever seen, the script left them little to work with and their acting fell flat.

The Vow begins with a tragic car accident where Paige (McAdams) is sent through the windshield and suffers a brain injury that causes her to lose all memory from the past five years. The film follows the damage that is done on Paige and her husband Leo's (Tatum) marriage, which she doesn't remember at all. It never seemed as if the plot progressed, more like the same thing kept happening and they used the same solution to solve it. I was constantly waiting for something more to happen. It's a much more melodramatic version of 50 First Dates, mixed with elements from every Nicholas Sparks' film ever made. I constantly felt as though I was watching The Notebook or Dear John, especially with the character parallel. At one point there was a quote that I'm pretty sure was even stolen from Dear John, which starred Tatum alongside Amanda Seyfriend in 2010.

The film is said to be based on the real-life story of couple Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. The Carpenter's wrote a book with the same title as the movie, which inspired the film. The book, though, is centered around the Christian values that got the couple through the tough time they experienced. They stayed together because of the vows they took under God. The film version of their story, though, steers clear of any mention of religion; the wedding ceremony didn't even occur in a church and wasn't officiated by anyone religious.

Part of the reason that this movie is such a letdown may be because it's so realistic. The true events don't provide a plot that's sappy enough to compete with movies such as The Notebook or Dear John. Since we've been so spoiled with movies of this caliber, it's hard for a non-Sparks' inspired movie to impress us.

Though there were women all around me in  the theatre audibly sobbing, I didn't really see much to be upset about, besides the movie itself. Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought this since the film only recieved a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you're looking for a sub-par chick flick with extremely attractive actors to see on your date this Friday night, then this film is definitely for you. If not, then I'm sure you can find something much better to see.