By Michael Huckaby / movie reviews

Vivacious Rachel McAdams and “boy next door” Channing Tatum are perfectly cast for a serious romantic drama. But the dimpled McAdams and clean-cut Tatum chemistry can’t overcome a ridiculously contrived and cliché-ridden plot – a shallow groaner. They star as Leo and Paige, a couple whose marriage is torn asunder when a head injury gives her amnesia. However, her peculiar brain trauma is selective, conveniently wiping out only the most recent and happy years of her memory. Leo’s ill-advised but noble way of handling this five-year gap is the sputtering engine that drives the story.

The supporting cast is an underutilized asset, most notably Jessica Lange and Sam Neill as Paige’s self-centered parents Rita and Bill. Set in Chicago, the locales are interesting and the production values good. While the flashbacks provide the movie’s most engaging scenes, Leo’s narrative intros – philosophical attempts to be profound — are distracting.

The opening scene introduces Paige and Leo as they leave the old landmark Music Box movie house snuggling on a snowy evening. After scraping their car windows, they take off and – while being lovey-dovey at a stoplight — are rammed from behind by a snowplow. Paige goes flying (in slow motion) through the windshield. Knocked unconscious, Leo’s injuries are superficial.

What Paige remembers when she wakes up in the hospital is being the socialite daughter of a wealthy Lake Forest attorney. A law student at Northwestern, she is happily engaged to Jeremy (Scott Speedman). She mistakes her husband of four years for her surgeon. Nor does she remember being estranged from her parents, dropping out of law school, enrolling at the Chicago Art Institute and becoming a renowned sculptor with a commission backlog.

When Rita and Bill arrive at the hospital, Leo meets them for the first time. Aware of the extent of Paige’s amnesia, they take advantage of her memory loss and attempt to persuade her to come home. Convinced her memory will come back, Paige agrees to live chastely with Leo, the owner of a small recording studio.

Though Paige is put off by a welcome home party of friends she doesn’t remember, Leo convinces her they were happy, visiting their favorite romantic haunts and showing her photos of their unconventional wedding.

Cluttered with antiques, the charming Café Mnemonic provides the setting for one of the best romantic scenes. For dessert, they liked to split and sample a box of chocolates – another magic moment she doesn’t recall. As for their quirky art museum wedding, the museum was forbidden and the entire wedding party had to hightail it when a guard appeared.

Drawn to Lake Forest by the coming wedding of sister Gwen (Jessica McNamee), Paige identifies more with her childhood environment than the Bohemian lifestyle she has forgotten.

Meanwhile, Leo and his stalwart assistant (Tatiana Maslany) have a business to run. Always ready to make Paige his priority, Leo just looks on as her parents gain the upper hand – knowing but unwilling to tell her why she avoided her entire family for the last five years. Can the marriage be saved when Gwen slips and reveals the truth?

Inspired by a true story, only the outcome is comparable.

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Chemistry not enough to overcome ‘Vow’ clichés