Movies: ‘The Vow’ and films for hopeless romantics
By Jessi Virtusio jvirtusio@southtownstar.com February 22, 2012 4:36PM
The romantic drama "The Vow," starring Channing Tatum (left) and Rachel McAdams, topped the box office in its opening weekend. | Columbia Pictures/Sony photo
‘THE VOW’
Director: Michael Sucsy
Stars: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum and Sam Neill
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rated: PG-13 for an accident scene, sexual content, partial nudity and some language
Running time: 1 hour and 29 minutes
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Updated: March 25, 2012 8:05AM
This Elaborating on Entertainment article originally appeared as “Movies: ‘The Vow’ and films for hopeless romantics” at blogs.southtownstar.com/entertainment, where you can share your take on this subject.
“That movie was soooooo good!” That’s exactly what I exclaimed after going to see “The Vow,” which topped the box office in its opening weekend.
Yes, I realize that the romantic drama, which is set in Chicago and inspired by true events, is not a critics’ favorite.
But I loved Rachel McAdams in 2004’s “The Notebook,” one of my favorite flicks, and Channing Tatum in 2006’s “Step Up.”
Plus, I’m a longtime hopeless romantic who’s a sucker for films like 1998’s “City of Angels,” 2001’s “Serendipity” and 1993’s “Sleepless in Seattle,” which all have been on cable recently.
As you might have seen in Feb. 16’s Southland Entertainment pages or in SouthtownStar.com’s Entertainment section, the AP’s Christy Lemire only gave “The Vow” 1 1/2 stars.
RottenTomatoes.com’s Tomatometer for this movie features a critics’ ranking of 29 percent as of this writing.
But “The Vow” is a movie that is perfect for HRs.
It’s also something to make you stop and think about moments of impact, as the trailer talks about, and what you might do if you were faced with not remembering a large part of your life.
Although the bulk of the movie was filmed in Toronto, which has long been a cinematic and TV stand-in for Chicago, it was great to see some familiar exteriors from the Music Box Theatre to Millennium Park including “Cloud Gate” aka the Bean.
Tatum’s Leo is the kind of guy whom every woman dreams of — someone who is patient, loving, kind and certainly easy on the eyes.
Meanwhile, McAdams’ Paige — at least the version Leo’s trying to get her back to — seems so fun, vibrant and full of light.
While “The Vow” likely added drama for effect, I’d still love to know more about the couple who inspired the movie. They really embody true love.
And I’d love to hear from my fellow HRs about what they thought of “The Vow” and also what movies you’d rank as some of your favorites when it comes to romance.
There are so many great movie couples from Ethan Hawke’s Jesse and Julie Delpy’s Celine in 1995’s “Before Sunrise” and 2004’s “Before Sunset” to Evanston-born John Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler and Ione Skye’s Diane Court in 1989’s “Say Anything...”
Whenever I come across an HR movie on cable, I have to stop and watch it.
A look at Shashwat Gangwar’s “The Ultimate Romantic Movies List (1990+)” article on the Internet Movie Database reminds me of so many great flicks such as:
◆ 1998’s “Sliding Doors.”
◆ 1990’s “Ghost.”
◆ 2003’s “Love Actually.”
◆ 1999’s “10 Things I Hate About You.”
◆ 2006’s “The Lake House.”
◆ 1991’s “Frankie and Johnny.”
◆ 1995’s Chicago-set “While You Were Sleeping.”
◆ 1998’s “You’ve Got Mail.”
◆ 1999’s “Notting Hill.”
◆ 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love.”
And that’s only looking at the last two decades of romance on film!
One of the films that top my list is 1997’s “Titanic,” which features Kate Winslet’s Rose DeWitt Bukater and Leonard DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson.
And I love, love, love Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” from the movie’s soundtrack.
“Titanic” is one of the only flicks I’ve seen multiple times on the big screen.
Even though I’m not a fan of the oversaturation of 3-D in the multiplex, I must admit that I’m excited at the chance to experience “Titanic” like never before beginning April 4.
