Review of Leap Year (2010) by Lewis C — 04 Jan 2011

Amy Adams is one of the few actresses that I would watch in absolutely anything. She could be starring in a movie about cold sores, and I'd still check it out. How could you not love her? She's gorgeous, a great actress, and she makes even a middle-of-the-road romantic comedy like Leap Year worth watching for someone like me who only occasionally finds something in the genre that can hold my interest for me than four minutes.

Adams stars as Anna, a woman who concocts a plan to travel to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend (who seems reluctant to pop the question after four years) on February 29, the day when Irish women are traditionally allowed to propose to men.

Of course, her flight into Dublin is postponed, and in the intrest of making it to her destination on time, she has to rely on a local young innkeeper named Declan (that she initially doesn't get along with, naturally) to drive her from his small town to Dublin. At that point, Leap Year essentially becomes a road trip movie, as Anna and Declan have various misadventures throughout the beautiful Irish countryside and, well, I'm sure you can guess what else happens.

As far as romantic comedies go, Leap Year is mildly funny, mildly entertaining, and mildly predictable. It's not quite as fresh as a movie like Adam, but not nearly as bland or cloying as recent bottom-tier efforts like Letters to Juliet. The end goes on far too long to reach it's obvious conclusion, but I guess that just comes with the territory. It's not a bad movie at all, though I'll admit that I probably wouldn't have found it as interesting (or perhaps seen it at all) without Adams in the lead role. Fans of hers can watch this without fear that you'll die from a banality overdose before it's done.