Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Review: The Vow

Channing Tatum has a nice butt. Don't believe me? Check out The Vow and see for yourself.

"I am still trying to figure out why he was cast in that role," said my friend as we left the theater. On the one hand, I saw his point. Tatum's gym-sculpted, razor-smoothed, stony-faced self is entirely wrong for a Chicago hipster who praises the virtues of live recording studios vs. feeding tracks into your laptop. And his narrow, steely eyes are ill-suited for expressing the near-constant hurt and frustration involved in having your wife wake up from a coma with no memory of you and no real interest in the life you once shared. Tatum can register pain, but when he does, it looks less like a wounded puppy in need of love and more like a dog who's been smacked on the nose for jumping on the couch. And while he works hard at the vocal cadences of his character's nice-guy humor and empathy, he mostly just winds up sounding like John Krasinski from The Office.

In fact, Krasinski would have been a much better choice for the lead opposite the impossibly cute Rachel McAdams, except...well, see above. In the end (ha ha!), Tatum's backside was a more important marketing tool than Krasinski's charm. And this movie is a fine piece of marketing. What wife wouldn't love the idea of being courted all over again, of a husband who was once more thrilled just to get to first base? To borrow from the film, who wouldn't want the re-live experience of reading their favorite book for the first time? How sweet!

Unfortunately, all that sweetness comes at the expense of something vital. Is it crude to say that I would have found it hilarious (and icky) if the newly chilly McAdams had caught her husband watching an old sex tape of the two of them? Yes it is. But it's the sort of thing that would have helped to make things pop. As would a treatment of the Vow in question as a promise made to love and endure no matter what, instead of an incantation that may work to warm the sentimental heart. By the end, I found myself moved more by Jessica Lange (as McAdams' long-suffering mother) than by anyone else. I'm not sure that was the film's intention.

One star.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished

Channing Tatum has a nice butt. Don't believe me? Check out The Vow and see for yourself.

"I am still trying to figure out why he was cast in that role," said my friend as we left the theater. On the one hand, I saw his point. Tatum's gym-sculpted, razor-smoothed, stony-faced self is entirely wrong for a Chicago hipster who praises the virtues of live recording studios vs. feeding tracks into your laptop. And his narrow, steely eyes are ill-suited for expressing the near-constant hurt and frustration involved in having your wife wake up from a coma with no memory of you and no real interest in the life you once shared. Tatum can register pain, but when he does, it looks less like a wounded puppy in need of love and more like a dog who's been smacked on the nose for jumping on the couch. And while he works hard at the vocal cadences of his character's nice-guy humor and empathy, he mostly just winds up sounding like John Krasinski from The Office.

In fact, Krasinski would have been a much better choice for the lead opposite the impossibly cute Rachel McAdams, except...well, see above. In the end (ha ha!), Tatum's backside was a more important marketing tool than Krasinski's charm. And this movie is a fine piece of marketing. What wife wouldn't love the idea of being courted all over again, of a husband who was once more thrilled just to get to first base? To borrow from the film, who wouldn't want the re-live experience of reading their favorite book for the first time? How sweet!

Unfortunately, all that sweetness comes at the expense of something vital. Is it crude to say that I would have found it hilarious (and icky) if the newly chilly McAdams had caught her husband watching an old sex tape of the two of them? Yes it is. But it's the sort of thing that would have helped to make things pop. As would a treatment of the Vow in question as a promise made to love and endure no matter what, instead of an incantation that may work to warm the sentimental heart. By the end, I found myself moved more by Jessica Lange (as McAdams' long-suffering mother) than by anyone else. I'm not sure that was the film's intention.

One star.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

There's Always Hope for Tonight's Live Oscar-Blog

Next Article

Men will rise to the level women demand of them

A father prepares for a son.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.