The Vow: Movie Review

“Life is all about moments of impact.”

“Life is all about moments of impact.”

The premise of The Vow is based on those seven words above. This romantic drama stars actors Channing Tatum (Dear John) and Rachel McAdams (The Notebook). The story in itself is very similar to both Dear John and The Notebook, and it does seem obvious that the casting directors knew exactly what they were doing when they roped in Tatum and McAdams for The Vow. The movie tells the story of a newly wed couple who meet with a tragedy in their lives with Paige (McAdams) waking up from her coma, not being able to remembering who Leo (Tatum) is.

This was the first moment of impact.

It sets off a chain of events with Leo desperately wanting his old life back and the couple getting into emotional clashes over Paige’s inability to remember their love and the things they used to enjoy together. They would look at old photographs together, visit the places they used to go, and listen to their favourite music together - but she would not remember.

Frustrated, the inevitable happens and the second moment of impact translates itself into reality.

Loving when it's hard

The underlying message in the movie is that life is going to be full of unexpected events and there usually is not one single thing that stays eternal except for love. The love portrayed in the movie is obviously fictional and secular, but does have similarities to God’s love for us.

In one particular scene, Leo attempts to jog Paige’s memory by playing the type of music he remembers her liking but is instead greeted by anger and frustration from Paige. She raises her voice angrily at Leo, leaving him extremely agitated because he had high hopes that she would finally remember their love.

It's easy to get frustrated when things go bad, and we can quickly forget to love in the midst of suffering. Thank God that Jesus didn't. I can only imagine his pain when He said, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do” in Luke 23. Jesus uttered those words whilst hanging on the cross, humiliated and brought down to the level of a criminal. He uttered those words after He had been beaten, made to carry the cross and crucified. To put Jesus’ patient love in perspective, how many of us start to curse the moment we forget our phones? Or when the bus fails to arrive? Or when we get cut off in traffic? Or when our friend turns up late?

Just like how Leo continued to love Paige in the movie, Jesus continues to love the object of His desire, you and me. Leo was ridiculed, rejected and forgotten but still he chose to love. Jesus too was ridiculed, rejected and forgotten, but he never stops loving.

A Final Note

The movie is classified PG in the US but do check the Australian classification closer to the date of release. There are a few scenes in the movie which might be uncomfortable for some, but on a whole, a PG-13 classification is probably something I would conservatively lean towards. There are some adult themes which pop up later in the movie that might require some explanation, depending on the level of maturity of the viewer.

All in all, a very captivating movie embedded with strong positive core values. Enjoy!