The Vow

"A full-bodied lunge for the heartstrings."

"A full-bodied lunge for the heartstrings."

"Unabashedly sentimental but resists the cloying impulse to manufacture tragedy for easy tears."

"Promises tried-and-true rom-com formula and delivers, treading in sappy, cliché-ridden turf."

"For all its clunky scripting there’s an essential sweetness at work here, thanks partly to McAdams and partly to an unusually chaste love story that ultimately keeps melodrama at bay."

"The movie's commitment to the blandest possible presentation of its central problem starts to seem perverse after a while."

"Channing Tatum is terribly miscast as an arty husband."

"A painfully humourless affair."

"It's pleasant enough as a date movie, but that's all."

"Works within the trappings of a typical cheesy romance but finds realism in the details and the banter."

"McAdams is a beautiful blank. There's not a single moment when her character feels real, or as if she genuinely has anything at stake."

"This is a movie that leaves you wanting more. To care more, to cry more, to love more."

"All too ready to fall back on tired movie clichés."

"Earnest hokum of this nature has become increasingly rare. And for a reason."

"Makes for a wonderful - if a bit teary - romance that is brilliantly acted."

"Not everything in it works, but the lack of reliance on easy answers earns it enough credibility points for a passing grade."

"It's unashamedly escapist, but a turn for the serious as The Vow nears the finish line only underscores its essential silliness."