Leap Year is a conventional rom-com that makes all the prescribed moves and is entirely predictable; only its two likeable leads and excellent cinematography save it from being an absolute failure.
Amy Adams and Matthew Goode are just to fine of actors to be in this trivial and run of the mill premise where the only fresh thing about the picture is its Irish setting. The gimmick of this film is that Amy Adams’s character, Anna, decides to go to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on the one day that it is apparently ok for the woman to propose in the relationship; February 29th, Leap Day. Her boyfriend is a good guy, just lacks emotional initiative, her trip to Dublin doesn’t go as planned though and she takes a very roundabout way to get there in which she runs into a handsome Irish man, Declan (Goode); guess where this is going. The two then slowly trek their way to Dublin as a number of unfortunate incidents force them to bond and get closer to each other than they hoped for.
The film follows all of the conventions of the genre and it’s a real shame they couldn’t take the film in more interesting places with such strong leads. Adams and Goode are both charming enough and fine enough actors for us to go along with most of the genre’s shenanigans, but even they can’t overcome the contrived turns at the end. This film also another victim of completely victimizing a poor undeserving sap that gets tossed aside for doing nothing of consequence. Why do the guys that get dumped not do horrible things to deserve it anymore in romantic comedies? Now all it takes to leave a guy it seems is a bit of an accent and rugged looks and women are completely ok with the stars of these films dumping their men.
I will say though, Leap Year on more than one occasion really wowed me with some of the camera work on display. Director Anand Tucker really captures the beauty of the Irish countryside and the films locations are a real love letter to the country and its nature. I wish Tucker would have taken his visual inspiration and put it into his storytelling and given us something more original. In fact, the leap the film takes with the couple getting invited to a wedding is quite the stretch and the final gag of the segment is at the expense of another innocent victim that is really upsetting to an extent.
Amy Adams is a great actress, but sadly here she plays a bit to much to type but she is still charming enough to forgive her a bit. Goode on the other hand is quite good and a blast to watch and is the most rewarding part of the film. His charisma is infectious and he is quite funny most of the time perfectly delivering some potentially dreadful jokes so that they don’t fall flat. Adam Scott successfully plays the boyfriend in question, though as an actor he doesn’t do anything terribly different than what he has before and far less funny and edgy which is when he is at his best.
In the end, Leap Year is nothing new for the genre but at least does the genre well. With that said, I don’t think we can really reward a film for going through the paces even if they do it solidly. Goode and Adams are both solid, with Goode really standing out but they can’t save the film from mediocrity. With that said, people who like this genre will probably find little to complain about and the film doesn’t fail as a romantic comedy it just doesn’t do anything new for it.
Leap Year is a D