A romantic but heart quenching plot line, ideal role fitting actors, a charming urban setting, and a true story. All these elements combined make for a modern day classic love story that teenage girls can not help but to swoon over and wish it was them experiencing the passion.

The protagonist of the film is Channing Tatum, who plays the role of the charming and loyal  husband Leo to leading lady Rachel McAdams. McAdams plays Paige, the sweet, young wife who suffers from severe brain damage and memory loss.

No time is wasted getting to the main point, since well within a couple of minutes after the opening credits are rolled, Tatum and McAdams are shown behaving as a deeply in love couple. Bonding over some terrible, yet adorable singing by Tatum, they begin driving down an unplowed street in Chicago, the setting of the film.

Less then 10 minutes into the movie, that sappy scene displaying the couple’s earnest love for each other is transformed into a slow-mo of McAdams gruesomely thrusting headfirst through the windshield of their car after high beam headlights are seen creeping up at  high speed behind their stopped vehicle.

After the horrific and impressive visual of the car accident, Tatum’s love wrenching pain can be cued after he describes his “theory,” the essence of the film itself:

“Life is all about a moment of impact and how they change our lives forever. But, what if one day we can no longer remember any of them?”

In other, more “poetic” words, Tatum condenses the tone of the whole film after a whirlwind set of events occur. Throughout the film, McAdams loses all of her memories about her last lifestyle including her relationship with Tatum, her talent as an artist, her latest friends, and her life in the city, overall.

McAdam’s character only remembers a lifestyle she chose to leave behind as a young adult leading her to relive a past she chose to forget.

The film equally portrays both McAdams and Tatum’s struggle caused by the accident. McAdams is lost trying to find out who she truly is since her past conflicts with who she last was. While Tatum desperately struggles to help her gain back the memory of who she was with him.

She finds herself repairing old wounds with her disconnected family and regaining old friendships and love interests, while Tatum finds himself loosing her.

All throughout the film, Tatum struggles to make his wife fall in love with him for a second time. In the process, adorable moments are displayed between both characters, while at the same time McAdam’s rejection to Tatum’s love leaves you with a burning emotion of loss inside and feeling of sympathy for Tatum.

But throughout all the scenes, whether they brought a cheesy smile to my face or caused me to face palm myself, my eyes stayed glued to the screen.

With both leading actors having past experience in the romantic film genre, Channing Tatum in Dear John and Rachel McAdams in The Notebook, their acting is not far off the grid from what is usually seen in romance films.

Mostly because of the numerous amount of steamy scenes and some amount of passionate lines, “The Vow” was barely different than all other chick flicks filed under the “romance section.”

Perhaps, it was the fact that this movie was actually based off of true events that it left me with the comforting feeling that such strong devoted love still exists and is not just fabricated in a Hollywood studio. But besides the fuzzy feeling, it did not break the norm of romance cliches.