Leap Year is the first romantic comedy of 2010, and my first movie of the year. This movie goes down the same road as many movies like this one have traveled down before. There are no surprises and the plot offers nothing new. But thank goodness this movie was able to get Amy Adams. She definitely keeps the movie from being terrible, and her chemistry with Matthew Goode works well.
This reminds me of New In Town that came out around this time last year starring Renée Zellweger. They are both about women who are city girls and are put into a situation that is out of their comfort zone. I can say that this movie is better than New In Town for sure, but that is not saying a lot.
Anna (Adams) has been told by her dad (John Lithgow) about this tradition in Ireland that once every four years a woman can propose to a man on February 29. Leap year. She has been with her boyfriend for over four years and desperately wants a ring on her finger. And there is no sign of him asking her anytime soon. So when he has to go away to Dublin on business, Anna decides to go there and try out that old tradition she has heard about.
Of course, she plans on flying right into Dublin and that is just way too easy. A storm makes her flight land early, and then she meets the pub owner/taxi driver Declan (Goode). Since he needs money for his pub, he decides to take her to Dublin for a price. Over the course of their journey, their car is destroyed, they have to share a bed, and crash a wedding. Anna and Declan do not like each other, but we know this will change by the end of the movie.
Leap Year is not a laugh-out-loud movie. Most of the humorous scenes are in the previews. However, the ending is sweet and makes a good point about the relationship she has been in for a few years. I’m not talking about the cheesy final scene of the movie. It’s before that one.
Amy Adams and Matthew Goode have to carry this movie on their shoulders. Adams has hit a certain point in her career where she is capable of doing so. Goode plays his part well, but Adams uses her charm and talent to prevent this movie from failing completely.
Leap Year goes in the exact direction you think it will. But the two main stars work well enough together onscreen to make the movie enjoyable enough to which you won’t hate it. At the same time, you definitely won’t remember it by the end of the year. I’ll give it until the summer just to be nice.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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