The Vow

What makes us love? It's not our heart but our memories is the conclusion 'The Vow' delivers with this love story which was inspired by true events. It is a tale which, while not as memorable and as powerful as the Notebook', still has the ability to pull at the heartstrings, trigger the tears and captivate you its romantic spell.

Set in Chicago, Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are a young married couple very much in love. Paige is an aspiring artist and Leo has put his passion for music into owning his own record company. They are a pair that seem to have everything they could ever need and want.

Their relationship is built on a foundation of happiness and trust but within a single moment, all of that is stripped away from the couple when they're involved in an accident which causes Paige to lose all her memories over the last several years, including everything to do with Leo. Suddenly Leo has a wife who doesn't know anything about her husband and finds everything about their life together strange and unfamiliar to what she used to remember.

Barely knowing herself, Paige slowly finds the urge to slip away from her life with the stranger that proclaims to be her husband and settle back into a life built on familiar memories with old friends and her family harder and harder to resist. Leo is left with no choice but to fight to keep his wife and try to make her fall in love with him all over again.

Rachel McAdams is great as Paige who struggles to come to terms with her memory loss but that shouldn't be a surprise; at a glance, she is the stronger name on the cast list and is a solid actress who consistently delivers an engaging performance in which every role she slips seamlessly into. However, her character in 'The Vow', despite the differences, still carries all the fundamental characteristics which she has portrayed before in 'The Notebook' and 'The Time Travellers Wife' so while you are engrossed by her efforts and forget that it's Rachel McAdams you are watching, you can't help but feel you've seen this woman suffer through a tragic love story before.

It's surprisingly Channing Tatum who should deservedly take the plaudits for his starring role in 'The Vow'. His portrayal as a man who once had everything he ever wanted but is now fighting to keep hold of his marriage while it continues to slip from his grasp no matter what he does is excellent. You find yourself feeling his heartache, wondering what he could do to win his wife over and praying that at some point his efforts will eventually trigger her memory and restore their love. More than just a pretty face, Channing has taken himself to a new level beyond what he reached in 'Dear John'.

All in all, 'The Vow' is a very good movie which is well-told and doesn't leave the audience feeling overwhelmed or underwhelmed and hits all the right notes.