*This review was done by Claire Osborne (my beautiful fiance). Enjoy.
The Vow (2012)
Of
Memories Once Lost
Reviewed: 14 March 2012
Claire Osborne
What
would you do if you forgot a chunk of your past, a month or a year? Do you take
this as an opportunity to have a fresh start, a clean slate, to start over? Do
you continue like nothing was lost? Or do you try anything and everything to
get those memories back? What if that part of you never comes back?
These
are the thoughts I was left with upon leaving the cinema having just watched
Michael Sucsy’s The Vow (2012). The
story goes a little something like this: Following a horrific car accident
Paige (Rachel McAdams) loses the memories of the past five years, including the
memories of her marriage. Her husband Leo (Channing Tatum) tries to help her
reclaim those memories and maintain their relationship. Of course, the road to
recovery is difficult and wrought with many challenges, Paige’s family history
for one, yet Leo is determined to help his wife through the better or worse
parts of their circumstance.
 |
| A Memory Lost |
This
is not an uncommon occurrence, however. Today couples face the difficulties of
maintaining a relationship, or what they once had, especially in the case of
those suffering dementia. This was my thought anyway. According to Alzheimer’s
Australia, there are over 321,600 Australians living with dementia and an
estimated 1.2 million Australians who are caring for someone with dementia.
Having a sister who has worked in aged-care I’ve heard a great number of
stories about the disillusionment and confusion brought on by the decaying of
the mind. How can, say a husband, sit by and watch his wife potter away in the
kitchen, only to have her one moment later turn and scream because she doesn’t
know who he is? Imagine if they’d been together for fifty years or more, and
she didn’t even recognise him! Leo was lucky in a way that they’d only lost the
five years.
But
even then, having lost something like five years or fifty years worth of
memories, it’s still something lost. And memory is a lofty thing as it is.
What
would you do if you had lost a memory? Would you try and recreate it?
Recreating the atmosphere, sound, touch and look of something to try and
trigger an awakening? Would you try to relive the memory all over again?
Knowing that although the memory wouldn’t be precisely the same, but still a
simulacrum of a memory? Or would you create new memories?
 |
| Piecing the memories together… |
Paige
has to try and rediscover herself and who she is, having forgotten a major
turning point in her life, and important changes she had previously gone
through. Almost to relive them again, but this time knowing that it’s happened
already! Confusing or what?!
It
also made me think then, how do others cope? Through the surrounding
characters, not just Leo, but Paige’s parents, friends and ex-fiancé the
different responses and approaches to coping with memory loss becomes apparent.
Leo tries to recreate the past, hoping to spark a flare in Paige’s mind and
have her recover her memories of them. With no other family Leo is reluctant to
lose his wife. He remains positive and optimistic that his wife’s memory will
return, and they will go back to how things were.
“Her life with me is our natural routine."
Paige’s
family try to ignore what has happened in the past, to reassert themselves into
her life. Secrets are hidden, the past now literally forgotten; they lie about
it and continue as if nothing had happened. Admittedly I found the script to be
clunky and a little cheesy, however some parts were done excellently, for
example when Paige confronts her mother after finding out about their lies.
Jessica Lange plays Paige’s mother, Rita Thornton, as a woman seeking nothing
but to have her daughter close regardless of past occurrences.
“I chose to stay with him for
all the things he's done right; not the one thing he's done wrong. I chose to
forgive him.”
Each
person around Paige has some sort of input as to how Paige should remember
them… Clean the slate and let’s start again.
Would
that be a good thing? In some cases I suppose yes, but I guess that depends on
whether or not you take past decisions, experiences and learning to bear on
current and future situations? When Paige’s memories don’t seem to be coming
back, Leo battles with the notion that things will not be the same as it once
was.
 |
“How do you look at the girl you love
& tell yourself it’s time to walk away?”
|
The Vow, a love story revolving around
memory loss, much like The Notebook
(2004), is based off the true events of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. Channing Tatum plays
Kim well as the husband still deeply in love with his wife, even though she
sees him as a stranger after the accident.
The
boyfriend may not enjoy this films predictable plot line, but the girlfriend
most likely will. A film about “moments of impact”, The Vow is a well acted romance, one which will not fade from
memory, or at least not from the DVD shelf for a while.
7.5/10
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