In an age where marriages end faster
than a mid-afternoon nap, its nice that a movie comes along that
extolls the virtues of not only the romance of marriage but the
underlying commitment at the heart of the relationship. And that's
the best compliment I can give this movie. It's nice that it exists.
In principle.
The movie centers around a married
couple, Paige and Leo (played by Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum).
The movie is told mostly from Leo's perspective and he narrates to
the us the story of their love. They are young hipsters, who look
like they are living inside of an Urban Outfitter's catalogue, living
in idyllic squalor in downtown Chicago. They have little as they
pursue their artistic pursuits but they have each other so they are
happy. But one day a chance accident causes Paige brain damage, thus
removing her entire memory of her married life. Her estranged
parents arrive (played by Sam Neil and Jessica Lange) to try to take
her away from Leo. The problem is that Paige is two people. In her
mind she is a law school student who is close to her wealthy family
and engaged to the successful Jeremy (Scott Speedman). But in
reality she is someone who has broken off with her parents and Jeremy
and is making her living as an artist with her too cool for school
husband. As if to underline this point, there is a scene where Leo
describes the musicians he likes with great enthusiasm, and the
coolness gap between he and Paige's parents is so large that they
stare at him as if antlers just grew out of his temples.
And this scene underlines the essential
problem with the film. All of the characters are one dimensional
There is no real dramatic tension, because the film makers make it
clear that Paige's parents are bad for her and Leo is good for her.
Jeremy is so smarmy that he presents no emotional obstacle for the
audience. None of the characters given enough depth so that we can
empathize with them, even if we don't agree with them. This makes
for a very flat, uninteresting story because we are supposed to feel,
without a doubt, that Paige and Leo belong with each other.
But this also is problematic because
neither character shows a lot of moral courage. Granted that Paige
is going through a trauma, but she treats Leo with such suspicious
hostility that it makes it difficult to watch sometimes. She acts
oblivious to how difficult it must be to love someone who doesn't
remember you. I don't blame McAdams for this, since she is actually
a very fine actress. She does the most with what she's given in the
script, but even she can't make it fly. Tatum is not a bad actor,
but he also doesn't show us anything special either. He whines all
the time and keeps trying to get her to snap out of her amnesia. He
keeps telling her to behave the way she did before the accident, like
staying away from meat, even though her amnesic self is not a
vegetarian. When he does say that he wants to take her out on a
“first date” to get to know the new Paige, he takes her to all of
their old hang out spots. How is this respecting the fact that SHE
CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT YOU? After awhile, I found myself
caring less and less if they got together because when they were
together they grated against each other like nails and a chalkboard.
Director Michael Sucksy does what he
can, but the story lacks anything that can pull you in. I am loathe
to do this, but I am going to put forth a way to make the movie much
more interesting: Tell the story from Paige's perspective. After
the accident in the opening of the film, Leo tells us how he and
Paige met. Thus, our understanding of Paige's identity is framed
around her relationship to Leo.
But what if instead, started the movie
with Paige: in law school, with her family, happily engaged. And
then out of nowhere, her life skips ahead five years. She wakes up
in a hospital and is told that not only is she out of law school,
estranged from her parents, and no longer with Jeremy, she is married
to seemingly nice total stranger. This would put us, the audience,
in a real emotional conundrum. We see her happy with Jeremy, but we
know she has made a commitment to this new guy Leo. Which way will
she go? Does she follow how she feels at this moment or honor a
commitment she no longer remembers by exploring a relationship with
her husband? That is a much more interesting movie, but sadly one
that was not made.
The Vow has a few unforeseen
turns, but it cannot make up for the fact that while the subject
matter of marriage is deep, the movie is shallow.
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