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The Vow (Film)

Newlyweds Leo (Channing Tatum) and Paige (Rachel McAdams) are involved in a car accident and end up in hospital. Leo suffers only minor injuries, but when his wife wakes from a coma, she has no recollection of the past five years.

Paige can't remember her husband, why she dropped out of university, why she's estranged from her parents or why she broke off her engagement to Jeremy (Scott Speedman). So Leo has to make her fall in love with him again.

Based on a true story, The Vow makes statements about life and love that have no real 'impact' on the viewer. For instance, Leo, in one of many unnecessary voiceovers, says: 'Life is all about moments of impact and how they change our lives.' His reference to the accident and two people crossing paths lacks any emotional punch and seems unnatural.

The film follows in the tradition of Adam Sandler's 50First Dates - both amnesia-themed rom-coms, where the men try their best to salvage their relationships. But Sandler's film is funnier and sadder; The Vow plays it safe, barely straying from the 'rom' department.

The notion of amnesia giving you the chance to rework your life is intriguing. But Paige only skims the surface. That said, we're supposed to accept the fact that her life with Leo is one she would gladly choose again and again.

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