Movie Review: Leap Year

Mar 3 2010 by Ian Bunting, Airdrie & Coatbridge

Leap Year

LEAP Year is a romantic comedy starring Amy Adams as Anna, a woman with a plan to propose to her boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) on the Irish tradition Leap Day, held on February 29.

Anna travels to Dublin to surprise Jeremy but her flight is grounded in Cardiff, meaning a race against time to reach him.

She enlists the help of Irish innkeeper Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her to Dublin but their journey doesn't go as planned and the pair have to spend a lot of time together.

Leap Year is a sweet enough film but probably more one for the girls. It’s not as sickly syrupy as a lot of rom-coms but there are few surprises on show.

Behind the camera, director Anand Tucker keeps things simple, with the Irish scenery providing a picturesque backdrop, but makes an inferior second stab at romance after 2005’s Steve Martin-starring Shopgirl.

The film is full of ideas and scenes that we’ve seen before. There’s the rich girl like a fish out of water, culture clashes, strangers having to share a bed and pubs falling silent during a private conversation.

Luckily Tucker has two leads on fine form. Adams is perky and has a knack for physical comedy. Despite Anna initially appearing to be a bit of a snob, she brings warmth to her character and reminded me of Reese Witherspoon in many of her earlier films.

Goode, Watchmen’s Ozymandias, has plenty of charm but suffers from a slightly off-key Irish accent. However, he’s much more watchable than the likes of Hugh Grant and Orlando Bloom have been in similar roles.

As likeable as Adams and Goode are, they are on-screen for most of the running time and don’t quite hold your attention or interest for the full 95 minutes.

Leap Year is like an extended version of the Irish-set scenes in 2007’s P.S. I Love You, complete with non-Irish lead actor trying his hand at the accent (Gerard Butler on that occasion).

Not for the first time in cinema history the Irish fall into familiar stereotypes. There are plenty of “to be sure’s”, “top of the morning’s”, punch-ups and the token drunken males. It falls just shy of offensive but grates a little.

The movie has the odd chuckle but is definitely more ‘rom’ than ‘com.’ A weird dinner table ‘kiss-a-thon’ is unnecessary but moonlight chats and wedding dances will keep romance fans happy.

Anna briefly touches on a difficult past involving her dad but this film is never headed anywhere else other than its very predictable climax.

Leap Year is a safe, solid addition to the romantic comedy field. It doesn’t cater to both genders and feature the originality of movies like (500) Days of Summer and Knocked Up.

A chick flick, then, but one that ticks most of the right boxes. Goode and Adams share terrific chemistry but this isn’t a film to leap out and grab you.

Rating - 6 out of 10.