The Vow
Screen Gems | Release Date: February 10, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
43
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
17
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ObserverRex ReedFeb 15, 2012
The Vow is not exactly a woman's picture. It's more about how a man falls in love, loses his love and gives up everything in life to focus on regaining his love. Maybe it's a woman's picture from a male point of view. However you slice it, it's a welcome loaf-far from perfect, but as filling as a home-cooked meal. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartFeb 10, 2012
These two stars bring believable chemistry and emotion to a film that might otherwise wilt under the weight of so much melodrama. Read full review
65
MovielineAlison WillmoreFeb 10, 2012
Doesn't turn out to be as gauzily sentimental as its beginning (or its marketing materials) suggests. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertFeb 9, 2012
It's pleasant enough as a date movie, but that's all. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 9, 2012
It's quite watchable date-night cheese - the kind of movie you can simultaneously snort at and enjoy. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaFeb 9, 2012
Ready-made for Valentine's Day, The Vow is, like the offerings at Cafe Mnemonic, a total sugar overload. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 9, 2012
The Vow is agreeable enough. It may be puddin'-headed but it's not soul-crushing. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 8, 2012
The Vow represents that most welcome kind of Valentine's Day offering, focusing on the feelings that bring couples closer. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraFeb 6, 2012
The few weaknesses in the plot can be overlooked as The Vow makes for a wonderful - if a bit teary - romance that is brilliantly acted. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie OgleFeb 16, 2012
The good news is, The Vow is not excruciating. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterFeb 9, 2012
While The Vow will give heart palpitations to fans of its charming co-stars Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, this amnesia-themed romance is the kind of featherweight fare that is enjoyed in the moment and forgotten soon after the end credits roll. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsFeb 9, 2012
It's unashamedly escapist, but a turn for the serious as The Vow nears the finish line only underscores its essential silliness and what a poor job the film has done making it seem like its characters need each other for reasons beyond looking good together. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigFeb 9, 2012
It may appeal to the most rabid fans of tearjerk romances like "The Notebook," but it's a hard-to-swallow, maudlin tale. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephanie Merry Feb 9, 2012
The romantic drama The Vow looks like the kind of annual Valentine's Day staple that arrives just as calls start flooding flower shops and chocolate bonbon displays invade your local CVS. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundFeb 9, 2012
Very fortunately, there's an alternate universe swirling in the eye of The Vow's synthetic storm, a place occupied only by Tatum and McAdams, where the link between them cuts down the filmmakers' bad instincts. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyFeb 8, 2012
Such heart-tuggers have their appeal to some people in any era, but earnest hokum of this nature has become increasingly rare. And for a reason. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesFeb 15, 2012
Perhaps Sucsy was overwhelmed by his immersion in such colorful and outré material; he's chosen for his followup, the I Can't Believe It's Not Nicholas Sparks weepie The Vow, the cinematic equivalent of a lie-down. Read full review
40
TimeMary PolsFeb 13, 2012
This sugary sweet chick flick is so rich in its ripeness and full in its foolishness that I look forward to groaning in happy horror when I inevitably see it again, whether while drinking or when laid low by the kind of flu whose symptoms include a desire to watch Meg Ryan rom coms on cable. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichFeb 13, 2012
Credit the appealingly paired McAdams and Tatum for making this Valentine's-month hokum watchable. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyFeb 9, 2012
This is a movie that leaves you wanting more. To care more, to cry more, to love more. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 9, 2012
When they are on the screen together here, there is enough physical charm and emotional warmth to distract from the threadbare setting and the paper-thin plot. But those defects ultimately get in the way of the stars and leave you wondering: Is this a romance about neurological impairment or a neurologically impaired romance? Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineJames RocchiFeb 9, 2012
The Vow proves that love can't conquer bad writing. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanFeb 9, 2012
As the world's most chipper recovering coma patient, 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. So it's a good thing Tatum steps up to add a little depth to this unabashedly lightweight venture. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderBen SachsFeb 9, 2012
Most of the time it plays like the movie adaptation of a Land's End catalogue, making monogamy seem essential by associating it with high-end interior design. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 10, 2012
The Vow is a sopping hankie of a romance for women who love to suffer and the men who love them. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 9, 2012
The only reason any male could have for seeing The Vow is the hope of getting laid afterwards. The only reason any female could have for seeing The Vow is if she views the plots of Harlequin romance novels as the height of modern storytelling. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumFeb 10, 2012
It's a tragedy, really: According to the hapless team who made the movie, Our Paige is a relatively interesting young liberal who knows her own mind before the accident and a rather tedious, girlish conservative who fusses about keeping her hair smooth afterwards. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleLouis B. ParksFeb 9, 2012
Even viewers who are an easy touch for romance movies will find this heavy-handed. Read full review
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