Valentine’s Day. The time when all us chicks drag our poor, unsuspecting fellas to the multiplex so we can bond over a sappy love story. Or rather, the time of year when gals drag their guys to the multiplex for a sappy love story on pain of not being able to watch March Madness in peace, let alone get a little Barry White time, knowwhatI’msayin? I tend to be the weird chick that would rather head off to a slasher flick than subject myself to boo-hooey romance — except for Notting Hill and The Holiday, because they’re awesome and stop looking at me like that — so it was with great trepidation that I headed into the theater for The Vow. I like Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls and Midnight in Paris are two favorite films of mine), I like Channing Tatum (uh, hello; Step Up is old school fun). I like movies based on real events. And I like The Vow.
It’s amazing that a movie based on a real-life couple’s struggle to find their way back to each other didn’t end up a complete schmoopfest. Don’t get me wrong, this movie is firmly in the romance genre, and it may even be considered a graduate-level romance flick for die-hard romantics only. But it’s also a well-crafted, beautifully acted piece of filmmaking that stands out in the pre-Summer Blockbuster wasteland of late Winter movie releases. The Vow could have easily been a Lifetime Original Movie in multiplex form, something producers threw money at in the hopes people watching the film in theaters wouldn’t notice they could see the same exact movie at home for free. Instead, The Vow has a layered storyline that goes beyond it’s one-note beginnings and does something many romance movies forget to do; it entertains.
