The Vow Pure Schlock

Movie reviews: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum can't save amnesia romance
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2012 11:33 AM CST

In The Vow, Rachel McAdams plays a woman who must learn to love her husband again after amnesia wipes her memory. It's no surprise it was released ahead of Valentine's Day: It's pure mushiness, critics say.

  • In the New York Daily News, Elizabeth Weitzman calls the film a "down-the-middle, by-the-numbers fantasy, in which no one is too quirky or interesting or challenging in any way." Still, "there’s no shortage of viewers ready to embrace an old-fashioned, guilty-pleasure romance."

  • Claudia Puig agrees in USA Today, saying The Vow "may appeal to the most rabid fans of tearjerk romances like The Notebook, but it's a hard-to-swallow, maudlin tale. Nearly every move feels calculated to wring tears or dopey grins."
  • AO Scott is even less forgiving, slamming the film's "threadbare setting and the paper-thin plot" in the New York Times. "Is this a romance about neurological impairment or a neurologically impaired romance?"
  • But McAdams "does a fine job in a tricky role," writes Chris Knight in the Vancouver Sun. She's forced to "tie a knot of believable chemistry with her co-star and then undo it again."
(More Rachel McAdams stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X