This movie was definitely Nicholas Sparksy.  If you’re a fan of movies like Dear John and The Notebook, then you’ll probably enjoy this movie.  For me personally, I almost enjoyed it as much as The Notebook.  The ending was the only part that ruined it for me though, but before I get to that, I just want to say that I love Rachel McAdams.  After watching this movie, I feel like there’s definitely something charming about her acting in romantic movies.  I think she brings out the best in her co-stars, and I definitely think she drew out good things out of Channing Tatum for this movie.  (While I like looking at Tatum, I haven’t really seen him act in anything all that impressive.  I actually really liked his acting in this movie though.)

The movie is apparently based off the true story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter.  I haven’t read the book the movie is based on though (it has the same title as the movie).  The story is about what a couple goes through after a car accident that leaves the wife unable to remember her husband and memories of her life after a certain point in time.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this movie.  Maybe it’s partially because I’m a girl, but I couldn’t help but laugh at all the little “relationshippy” moments that happened—the interactions between Tatum and McAdams were believable and not too over the top gushy for me.  I also think the way they each coped with the situation after McAdams’ character lost her memory was pretty believable as well.

Again, the only real disappointment I had with the movie was the ending.  Maybe it’s because this was based on a true story, but usually even movies that are based on a true story have some kind of exaggerated ending, if you know what I mean by that.  Maybe that’s what I was expecting, and that could very well be why I felt the ending was a little anti-climactic.  However, on the other hand, the way it ended was more realistic in a way—real life experiences don’t always end with a “wow” moment.  Other than that, I pretty much enjoyed this movie.  It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a Friday morning.

Now that I think about it, I didn’t really care too much for the supporting actors either, but they at least served their purpose for the story.  The acting between Tatum and McAdams more than made it up for me though.

(Also, ending spoiler: I felt like a mini-message of the movie was to enforce the cliché that everything happens for a reason.  McAdams’ character by the end of the film reverts to mostly how she was before the accident with two stark differences—she never got her memory back and she was able to reconcile her rocky relationship with her family.  In a way, the second part was a big thing because I don’t think she ever would have made any attempt to patch up that relationship had she not lost her memory.  The way things panned out, I couldn’t help but feel like the accident was probably meant to be in her life for that reason.)

Here’s my ratings break-down for this movie:

Originality: N/A – I don’t think I can really rate the originality of real-life events, lol.
Picture: ****
Sound: ****
Story: ***
Casting: Toss up between 3 and 4 stars here.  I think Tatum and McAdams were great, but I didn’t really feel any spark from the supporting cast.
Re-watch Factor: ***
Overall: ***

FINAL VERDICT: B-

If you’re looking for a romantic movie to watch for Valentine’s Day and you haven’t seen this one yet, you might want to give it a go.  Speaking of Valentine’s Day movies though, I’m really looking forward to seeing This Means War, just because the lame humor in it seems to be right up my alley, hahaha.  Not going to be able to watch it when it comes out though, since I promised my friend I’d wait to watch it with her.

I watched another movie this weekend too, but I’ll have to wait until after work to plug out that entry, so see you all then!