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| “I cannot wait to see you. You have no idea what I’ve been through.” — Anna Brady (Amy Adams).
Amy Adams is a film fan’s dream. Not only is she a terrific actress in virtually everything she appears in, she is engaging, watchable, and the camera simply loves her. Nominated for 2 Oscars and proving herself adept at virtually any type of role, it was, I suppose, a natural progression in Amy Adams’ career that she make the plunge into the big studio romantic comedy. What we get is “Leap Year”, an opposites attract fish-out-of-water story that is nothing more than a paint-by-numbers, mediocre disappointment. As Anna Brady, Adams plays a high-end real estate stager for Boston’s finest realtors. A control freak and Type-A personality with a capital A, Anna must be in charge of every aspect and detail of her life. Her boyfriend of four years, Jeremy (Adam Scott), a wealthy cardiologist, has been spotted leaving a jewelry store by Anna’s sister. When Anna and Jeremy meet for dinner later that evening, Anna is convinced that she knows what’s coming. With things not turning out as she anticipated and Jeremy aloof to her disappointment, Anna is heartbroken. As Jeremy races off to a medical conference in Dublin, Ireland, Anna is reminded by her father (John Lithgow — here for all of 2 minutes?!) that her grandmother proposed on Leap Day to her grandfather – the Irish tradition where on February 29th, occurring every four years during a Leap Year, the woman can propose to the man. Determined to get married to Jeremy and with Leap Day right around the corner, Anna sets off to surprise Jeremy and pop the question. Oh those best laid plans… A volatile storm forces Anna to land in Wales and after hitching an expensive ride on a fishing vessel, Anna is dumped off in a coastal Irish village, nowhere near Dublin. Anna meets Declan (Matthew Goode), the owner of a small inn and Declan agrees to drive Anna to Dublin for a substantial amount of money. The trip planned and things seemingly back on track, Anna and Declan set off on their journey to Dublin and wacky hijinks ensue. This is absolutely 100% top-to-bottom, assembly line filmmaking 101. Anna Brady lives in high society and money is very much an afterthought in her life and her future with Jeremy. Meanwhile, Declan cannot make the monthly rent payment to keep his inn operating. Naturally, these two would find each other and despise one another…at first. Since the wealthy must suffer in romantic comedies, we must endure Anna being humiliated and humbled time and time again, while we are expected to laugh and swoon along with Declan in her fish-out-of-water situations. All the while, Declan is witty, handsome, brooding, and packs on a sly smile. So if, at some point during this road trip to Dublin, they fall for one another…well, perhaps I have shared too much. “Leap Year” becomes nothing more than a series of misadventures; a road trip film infused with those “magical” moments, which are really only special to two fictional characters named Anna and Declan. Despite Adams and Goode generating some nice chemistry and being pleasant together on screen, I could not connect at all with their lives or their respective situations. Then again, knowing where this is going the moment Anna gets dropped off in that village, I don’t think it really matters whether I connected to the film or not. I have no idea whether people are going to be interested in this. All I know is that Amy Adams is much better than this kind of flimsy and uninspired storytelling and Matthew Goode deserves better as well. “Leap Year” is watchable from beginning to end and I will admit to a chuckle on occasion along the way. If you go, see it for Amy Adams. Or, if you see it on a date night, you will probably have an alright time. Predictable and instantly forgettable, “Leap Year” takes no discernible leap of any kind whatsoever. |
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Should I See It? |
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| YES
Romantic comedies have their fans and this has all the components – sexy leading man, beautiful leading actress, and light comedy and drama. Cue the broken record – but Amy Adams is such an engaging actress that simply appearing in a film makes it watchable and she tries her best here to give you something for your dollar spent. “Leap Year” is rated PG and despite some innuendo, this could be a family movie night if you have run out of animated films or have older kids who want to go to then movies. You just love romantic comedies no matter what. |
NO The trailer reveals everything. So, the question really becomes whether you would rather spend 2 mins. on the Internet watching the trailer or drop the coin for the full 97 minute experience. I cannot stress enough that if you watch any movies with any regularity at all, you have seen this many times before. Ultimately, does that matter to you? The screenwriters have also written the films: “Made Of Honor”, “Surviving Christmas”, “Josie and the Pussycats”, “The Flintstones In Viva Rock Vegas”, “Can’t Hardly Wait”, and “A Very Brady Sequel.” Enough said, I think.
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