“The Vow” gives up feel-good romance

   In the spirit of Valentine's Day, "The Vow" seemed to be the perfect reminder of the flawless love my life lacks. It was undoubtedly a depressing reminder that wasn't worth the $10 ticket.

   I went into the film not knowing what to expect. The bar was set high, given the two main roles, played by classic tearjerkers Rachel McAdams ("The Notebook") and Channing Tatum ("Dear John").

   An artsy, easygoing couple, Leo (Tatum) and Paige (McAdams), meet, fall in love in two weeks and have a romantically intimate wedding. They spend the next few years of their lives in a perfect marriage until a not-so-unexpected tragedy occurs. While the couple is driving in a Chicago blizzard, they choose to stop at an intersection for a quick make-out session.

   Seconds into their kiss, a massive snow plow truck rear-ends the tiny car, launching Paige head first through the front windshield. The accident leaves Paige in a coma. When she awakes, she can't recall the last five years – or Leo.

   As she opens her eyes, she's reintroduced to her impeccable and chiseled husband to whom she's terrified to find out she's married. Although an unimaginable situation to endure, I wouldn't be as mortified to wake up next to Tatum as my husband.

   The next hour and a half of the movie is filled with flashbacks of their prior relationship and Leo doing everything in his power to revive his wife's memory. Every step he makes is a depressing struggle to watch, constantly filled with rejection. I sat in my seat anxiously awaiting something, anything, to happen, but it never would. The plot lacked substantial events and progressed slowly, making it feel more like three hours long instead of an hour and 45 minutes.

   The film, based on a true story, left me rather unsatisfied. The acting met my expectations given Tatum and McAdam's reputations and they certainly fit their roles. However, what the film lacked was entertainment. Rarely did it bring a smile to my face. There was more failure and depression than the typical Valentine's Day box-office smash.

   On the contrary, the true story that inspired the film shed a light of reality. There was no constant swoony and perfect romance that I usually find myself craving by the end of a romance film.

   "The Vow" is a reminder that every love fights battles – some big and some small, some conquerable and others unbearable.

   When it ended, I gracefully exited the theater with wet eyes, taking a spill down the stairs and landing on all fours, a physical reminder of the hurt love can encounter. The realism of "The Vow" left me scared to love – scared of the potential pain and energy-sucking battles.

   Nonetheless, it left me hopeful for a relationship like Paige and Leo's, one that never gives up and faces every challenge, fully suited for battle. Life's events will always remain out of our control, but if we have partners beside us, the most unbearable pain will be nothing more than a paper cut.