MOVIE REVIEW

Every year teenage girls ask their boyfriends for the typical gifts of flowers, jewelry or even chocolates, but this Valentine's Day, I am sure girls wanted tickets to see if actor Channing Tatum can charm the actress Rachel McAdams to fall back in love with him.

The highly anticipated romantic drama "The Vow" came to theaters Feb. 10 and had such an incredible amount of hype behind what appeared to me to be just another PG-13, predictable love story.

Because of this, I had to go investigate the film, which is based on real-life events, for myself. The movie opens with Leo (Tatum) and his wife Paige (McAdams) in a serious car accident. Paige experiences severe head trauma and for the first 15 minutes of the film is in a coma. Leo, who only received mild injuries from the crash, spends his time in the hospital flashing back to happy memories with his wife, such as the Greek cafe where they shared pastries.

When Paige is stable again and awakens from her coma, she remembers who she is, where she was born, but not a single thing of her past five years, not even her marriage to Leo.

This, of course, causes major complications. Paige forgets that she has been estranged from her family and immediately crawls back into the old life she remembers filled with preppy polo shirts, fruity frilly drinks and her ex fiancé, Jeremey.

Leo vows to Paige and her family that he will stay with her and win back her love, even if she never regains her memory.

This is the point in the movie when the predictable elements begin to rear their anticipated heads. However, the film was not the complete bust that I had foreseen.

Although I did sit through the 105-minute film alone, I did not leave the theater feeling disheartened.

"The Vow" and its inevitable plot have something that will warm the spirits of most viewers. Maybe this is because sometimes, when it comes to a love story, we want — and possibly even need — a little bit of predictability to reassure us that if we ever are stricken with amnesia, there are still boys out there who will stay by our sides.

"The Vow" is rated PG-13 and is showing at Regal Cinemas, Penn Cinemas and MoviE-town.