Metacritic reviews

The Vow is agreeable enough. It may be puddin'-headed but it's not soul-crushing.

Ready-made for Valentine's Day, The Vow is, like the offerings at Cafe Mnemonic, a total sugar overload.

It's quite watchable date-night cheese - the kind of movie you can simultaneously snort at and enjoy.

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.

The Vow represents that most welcome kind of Valentine's Day offering, focusing on the feelings that bring couples closer.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Vow proves that love can't conquer bad writing.