( CNN ) -- A love story released in time for Valentine 's Day , bringing together the stars of `` The Notebook '' ( Rachel McAdams ) and `` Dear John '' ( Channing Tatum ) ? Sounds like a cookie-cutter chick flick , for sure . But `` The Vow '' surpasses low expectations , for this male film critic at any rate , if only because it hits on an intriguing yarn and plays it out with some respect for the characters involved . Tatum is Leo , a young man whose blissfully happy marriage is rear-ended by a snowplow -- propelling wife Paige ( McAdams ) through the windscreen and into a brain trauma unit . When she wakes up , she 's okay -- except that she 's wiped out the last five years entirely . She does n't know Leo , does n't remember dropping out of law school and switching to art classes , and does n't like anything she finds in her wardrobe . She also does n't remember cutting off her parents and her sister -- Leo 's never even met them before -- or why she broke up with her fiancÃ© , Jeremy . Amnesia often figures as a handy crutch for thriller writers who love teasing out doubt and deception , but Michael Sucsy 's movie is a different beast , a romance first and foremost , but a romance that claims to be inspired by a true story . Sucsy ( who directed Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange in `` Grey Gardens '' ) plays down the condition 's inherent paranoia , in part by drawing us in through the eyes of the husband , Leo . Here 's a guy who loves his wife , but who finds himself alone in the marriage because everything they shared as a couple has been erased . For Paige , home is the house she grew up in and the parents she remembers -- wealthy , privileged suburbanites who are only too keen to set back the clock and pretend their little girl never strayed across the tracks . An actor who finds `` perplexed and concerned '' well within his limited range , Channing Tatum is a good fit for the bruised and brooding Leo , and the lively Rachel McAdams has some nice moments as the ( blank ? ) Paige -- but flashbacks to happier days try too hard to force a chemistry that remains more theoretical than felt . Still , the scenario ( Sucsy is one of five credited writers ) throws up some arresting questions about the nature of love . How can Leo still be in love with this woman who is a stranger to herself ? Can he make her fall back in love with him ? Is it even fair to try ? Because these ideas are also emotional dilemmas the movie works surprisingly well despite its shortcuts and shortcomings . It certainly is n't subtle about its preference for the sympathetic Leo -- and by extension , the vegan , tattooed , artistic Paige who voted for Obama -- over her domineering father , played by Sam Neill , and the conservative values he represents -- even though the uptown scenes are generally better written and more convincingly played than what amounts to a sitcom notion of bohemian chic . Of course it 's more than a little convenient that Paige never stops to ask why she walked out on the life she was groomed for -- the story 's second , hidden trauma . If she had , the whole construct falls apart . But let that go . This is mostly a poignant and touching effort . Just as Leo woos his estranged wife with `` Chocolate roulette '' ( not a game Rachel McAdams plays very often I 'm betting ) , given the choice between hard edges and gooey centers , Sucsy invariably heads for the fudge : it 's sweet and chewy and fun to share .
`` The Vow '' hits on an intriguing yarn and plays it out . Michael Sucsy 's movie is a different beast , a romance first and foremost . Channing Tatum is a good fit for the bruised and brooding Leo .