Caleb FrischknechtEnglish 2010 T 10:00Briggs

The Vow.. A Husband’s Fight for his True Love

This love crazy chick-flick takes place in

Chicago. The story is about a young couple who

are still madly in love even after 5 or so years of

marriage until one fateful night when a bad car

accident causes Paige (Rachel McAdams) to lose

her memory not only of her husband but of all

her time with him as well. Remembering her past

life and fiancé, it’s hard for her to accept Leo as

her husband. The rest of the movie is about how

Leo (Channing Tatum) tries to get her to fall in love with him again.

This is a very touching movie for both men and women. It came out just a

few days before Valentine’s day which made it the #1 movie in the box office that

weekend. There were moments when I would look at my wife and see that she had

tears in her eyes and other moments when I would have to pinch myself and

remind myself that men don’t cry. Considering it was based on a true story it

really hit home to the audience so much more. Despite other roles in the past,

Channing Tatum really pulled through with his character, really plucking the heart

strings of the audience as a hopeful husband who just wants his wife back. The

chemistry between Tatum and McAdams was very realistic and believable and had

the audience wanting her to remember her life with him the whole time.

Being married I can’t imagine anything harder than having my wife forget

who I am and that she loves me. That would be a very tough situation to be put in.

Not only do you have to accept that your wife doesn’t remember who you are or

anything about your life together, but now you have to decide if you want to fight

to get her love back. What makes the situation even harder is that Paige was

engaged before Leo, and she still remembers her engagement with Jeremy (Scott

Speedman) and regains old feelings for him again. The fight is on and Leo feels up

to the challenge. He stands by his vow to Paige when he said “I vow to fiercely

love you in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a

once in a lifetime love.”

Now switching dilemmas and putting on Paige’s shoes, how would it feel

to wake up in a hospital with some stranger standing there saying that he is your

husband? Not only would this freak me out but I can’t imagine how overwhelming

it would be to try and jump back into a life that I don’t remember at all. The

doctor’s tell them that Paige should try to go about her old lifestyle and see if it

helps trigger her memory, but upon returning home there are tons of people

waiting to celebrate Paige’s return. Obviously it’s a lot for her and she has a

nervous breakdown and says to Leo “I don't know you, I barely even know who I

am. Coming home to a life I don't know, that's a lot to take in.”

Being so involved in something, in this case a marriage, and having

everything reset and having to start all over again is a bitter-sweet idea. On one

hand you can make things better and make new memories, but on the other hand

you lose all the previous memories and times spent together. Paige’s parents don’t

like the idea of her and Leo being together and even try to talk Leo into getting a

divorce in which he replies “How do you look at the girl you love and tell yourself

its time to walk away?”

Throughout the whole movie, Tatum talks about moments of impact that

can change our lives forever, both for good and for bad. And it’s in those moments

that you really have to pay attention, because what if one day you could no longer

remember them? The movie The Vow is a great one to take a date to go see. It will

touch even the toughest of men.

Works Cited

The Vow, Directed by Michael Sucsy

Quotes taken from http://www.lovequotestoday.com/2012/01/the-vow-quotes.html

Photos taken from http://speakeasymag.com/entertainment/the-vow-cute-but-

forgettable-amnesia-style/ and

http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/847527/the-vow-see-the-trailer-

and-exclusive-new-image