Title: The Vow

Starring: Channing Tatum, Rachel McAdams, Scott Speedman, Sam Neill and Jessica Lange

People often struggle their entire live to find their independence from their families, a job they’re passionate about and someone they can truly love and who understands them. But when their lives instantly change in a moment from an accident, taking away their memories and identities, people often don’t know how to move forward. Filmmaker Michael Sucsy, who directed and co-wrote the new romance drama ‘The Vow,’ realistically showcases the hurdles couples overcome when the life they knew suddenly and unexpectedly changes.

‘The Vow’ follows married couple Paige (played by Rachel McAdams) and Leo (portrayed by Channing Tatum), who are living their dreams in Chicago; Paige is working as a sculptor, while Leo has recently started his own business with a recording studio. However, after a car accident, Paige wakes up from a coma without any memory of the past four years, during which she started her relationship with Leo and became estranged from her family. In her mind, Paige is still engaged to her ex-fiancé, Jeremy (played by Scott Speedman), and is almost finished with law school.

While Leo fights to save his marriage and remind Paige of her life with him, she is pulled back into her old world by her mother, Rita (portrayed by Jessica Lange) and her father, Bill (played by Sam Neill). Paige struggles over whether she wants to retrieve her memories and rekindle her seemingly happy life with Leo, or forget her immediate past and enjoy her new-found bliss with her family.

Sucsy created an enduring story with his feature film directorial and writing debut. The filmmaker, who previously directed and co-wrote the acclaimed HBO movie ‘Grey Gardens,’ perfectly showcased the lengths anyone would go to in order to protect and save their marriage without giving up their dignity. ‘The Vow,’ which is inspired by the events of a woman who lost her memory of her husband but happily remained married, took a risk in keeping the same elements and having Leo fight for Paige. While it’s more commonplace for a woman to so soulfully express their desire to save their marriage, Leo is the perfect sympathetic protagonist. He’s willing to sacrifice his business and happiness in order to not only help Paige recover, but ensure she is content in her life and with her choices as well.

While Tatum has recently garnered attention for his roles in action films and comedies, including ‘Haywire’ and the upcoming ’21 Jump Street,’ he was perfectly cast as Leo in ‘The Vow.’ The character is reminiscent of one of his break-out characters, ‘Step Up’s Tyler Gage; both aren’t afraid to go after what they want, no matter what the consequences or what other people tell them to do. Leo was also humble and compassionate enough to realize that his continuous pushing to save his marriage might in fact be the one thing that was emotionally hurting Paige.

McAdams also showcased her diverse acting ability in her role of Paige in ‘The Vow.’ Unlike her somewhat self-serving and absorbed character Inez in last year’s hit comedy ‘Midnight in Paris,’ the actress portrays Paige as caring about the feelings of those around her. While Paige is continuously working to obtain the memories of her life with Leo back, she doesn’t want to disappoint Leo by not remembering their first four years together. McAdams also realistically showed that despite Leo’s objections over her becoming close to her family, Paige feels torn over abandoning them again. She wants to see the good in everyone, despite her confusion over who is really she, and how she changed so drastically since ending her engagement to Jeremy.

With ‘The Vow,’ Sucsy perfectly showcased the difficulties people face after losing their memories, as they have to continuously question who they are and everyone else’s motives. Leo stands out with Tatum’s memorable representation of a man so love in love with his wife that he’d sacrifice his own happiness for her own well-being. McAdams also gives an intriguing performance as Paige, showing that no matter what people go through in life, and what memories they retain, their true personality will always stand out.

Technical: B

Written by: Karen Benardello