Cultural Event Number One

      The first cultural event that I went to was the 10:00 showing of The Vow at the Penn State HUB. It was one of those romantic movies that all my friends wanted to go to and needless to say NEEDED me to go see as well. Even though I hadn't wanted to, I decided to take this "Study Break" and go see it anyway.

      After showing my ID to the man outside, I entered into the almost full auditorium. Turns out everyone else had the same "study break" idea. I could just say that the movie was a typical romance about how a man tries to win the love of his life back again. However, there is something about this movie that sets it apart from all the others. It could be that Channing Tatum plays his part so earnestly that we can feel the pain he feels as he realizes that his wife no longer loves him.

      The movie starts off with this married couple parked at a stop sign and the wife Paige (Rachel McAdams) takes off her seat belt to give her husband Leo (Tatum) a kiss. One can hear some gasps in the audience as people know what is about to happen but cannot stop it. From behind, comes a huge truck that slams into the back of the parked car and Paige goes flying out of the front of the vehicle. We find out that she has suffered brain hemorrhaging and does not remember ever loving Leo. To make matters worse, the last man she remembers was being in law school and being in love with was her ex-fiance. At first she tries living with Leo but since she is so scared and confused she eventually goes back and lives with her parents. Finally accepting that his wife doesn't remember him, Leo decides to start from the beginning and ask her on dates. The movie progresses like this for awhile but then she finds out that her father cheated on her mother (a fact she had known before but forgot through her brain hemorrhaging) and moves back into the city. The movie twist at the end is that Paige never falls back in love with Leo and they can never be more than friends.

      Though I hate the typical movies where everything goes exactly like the other romance movies, I was a little disappointed that things didn't work out for them in the end. This sad but necessary plot twist is what sets the movie apart from all the rest and along with McAdam's and Tatum's brilliant acting, The Vow is sure to be a movie to please.