The Vow (2012)

All Critics (126) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (88) | DVD (5)

The Vow is a welcome antidote to cynicism, and a bracing tonic that proves love hasn't disappeared from the film experience completely.

February 14, 2012 Full Review | Comments (2)

Rex Reed

New York Observer

Top Critic

The Vow makes the least of its concept, refusing to acknowledge that a love need not be perfect to merit holding on to.

February 10, 2012 Full Review | Comments (13)

Nick Pinkerton

Village Voice

Top Critic

The two stars look dewy and glossy and unexceptional, bound together less by chemistry than by the ministrations of a hard-working costume designer.

February 10, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

'The Vow' is inspired by a true and wonderful story, but that doesn't make the fictionalized version any less ridiculous.

February 10, 2012 Full Review | Comments (3)

Richard Roeper

Richard Roeper.com

Top Critic

Tatum is unusually expressive; Speedman, both hiss-worthy and sympathetic. But McAdams is the real draw.

February 10, 2012 Full Review

Joseph M. Amodio

Newsday

Top Critic

As usual, Channing Tatum looks sweet and dull and, in most scenes, slightly confused.

February 10, 2012 Full Review | Comments (16)

Stephen Whitty

Newark Star-Ledger

Top Critic

Like a less successful version of The Notebook, this works as an undemanding date movie; just don't expect much more from it.

March 4, 2013 Full Review

Catherine Bray

Film4

Ultimately the vision of love and marriage that is being presented here is a fairly routine, secular one, that it is love that binds us to a vow and not the other way around.

December 7, 2012 Full Review

Kenneth R. Morefield

Christianity Today

"The Vow" might have been a decent film had the filmmakers taken the time to allow the characters to develop, or perhaps even if a better actor was cast in the lead.

September 16, 2012 Full Review

Jeff Beck

Examiner.com

Thankfully The Vow spares us from all of that shakey-camera'd nonsense, but that's about all it spares us from.

September 15, 2012 Full Review

Kristal Cooper

We Got This Covered

The Vow presents some fascinating challenges for Leo and Paige, yet without fail the screenplay comes up short in allowing them to overcome the obstacles in their paths.

August 17, 2012 Full Review

Mark Pfeiffer

Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

The 2004 Adam-Sandler-Drew Barrymore comedy 50 First Dates played retrograde amnesia for laughs, but The Vow, loosely inspired by the experiences of real-life couple Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, aims strictly for the tear ducts.

July 17, 2012 Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

The film is almost awe-inspiring in its unabashed embrace of a love so all-encompassing that Paige even treasures Leo's flatulence. (Seriously -- she rolls up the car window so the smell won't escape.)

May 11, 2012 Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

So full of trite phrases, clichéd moments and uncool coolness (she has a tattoo on her back!), it's mind-wiping. I vow to forgive this movie, just to forget it faster.

May 10, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Brian Gibson

Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

Execution is what really matters in B-movies, and as silly as it sounds, The Vow is a remarkably restrained, sweet little movie that never tugs so hard it becomes annoying.

April 29, 2012 Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Neither particularly romantic nor comedic, nonetheless represents a middling love story that should suit most of its intended audience relying on the chemistry of its stars.

April 16, 2012 Full Review

Bruce Bennett

Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

Like a Nicholas Sparks novel with a dash of wit, a hint of edge and a smidgen less sap.

March 23, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Roger Moore

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

One of those 'inspired by a true story' things as concerns its premise, but in reality it feels more 'inspired by Nicholas Sparks.'

March 7, 2012 Full Review

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The story of how Paige and Leo met is riddled with clichés

March 1, 2012 Full Review

Sam Bathe

Fan The Fire

...eventually morphs into a seriously tedious little drama...

February 26, 2012 Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Oh, was there ever an opportunity here. But it's easier to go the traditional route, I guess, than make waves.

February 25, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Linda Cook

KWQC-TV (Iowa)

It gets bogged down in mopey melodrama and never quite recovers.

February 24, 2012 Full Review

Matt Brunson

Creative Loafing

It's been designed as a female fantasy, a delivery system for bare pecs and caring glances.

February 22, 2012 Full Review | Comments (2)

Margot Harrison

Seven Days

Sweetly syrupy, filled with slick, heart-tugging, tear-jerking sentiment.

February 21, 2012 Full Review

Susan Granger

SSG Syndicate

... slickly efficient, buoyed by excellent performances ...

February 20, 2012 Full Review | Comment (1)

Jim Lane

Sacramento News & Review

• 1. Paige: I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness, to have the patience that love demands, to speak when words are needed, and to share the silence when they are not, to agree to disagree about red velvet cake, to live within the warmth of your heart, and always call it home.
  – Submitted by Meghan S (12 months ago)
• 1. Leo: How do you look at the girl you love & tell yourself its time to walk away?
  – Submitted by Sofia A (12 months ago)
• 1. Paige: Are you trying to make me diabetic or just fat?
  – Submitted by Sofia A (12 months ago)
• 1. Leo: Can I at least give you an awkward hug?
  – Submitted by Peg W (13 months ago)
• 1. Leo: No matter what challenges that keeps us apart, we'll always find a way back to each other.
  – Submitted by Kaye E (13 months ago)
• 1. Leo: Sorry, I can do better. My lips are still numb.
  – Submitted by Jayathra L (14 months ago)

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